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Arthur Vandenberg
Arthur Hendrick Vandenberg Sr. (March 22, 1884 – April 18, 1951) was an American politician who served as a United States senator from Michigan from 1928 to 1951. A member of the Republican Party, he participated in the creation of the United Nations. He is best known for leading the Republican Party from a foreign policy of isolationism to one of internationalism, and supporting the Cold War, the Truman Doctrine, the Marshall Plan, and NATO. He served as president pro tempore of the United States Senate from 1947 to 1949.
Born and raised in Grand Rapids, Michigan, in a family of Dutch Americans, Vandenberg began his career as a newspaper editor and publisher. In 1928, Republican Governor Fred W. Green appointed Vandenberg to the U.S. Senate to fill the vacancy that arose after the death of Woodbridge N. Ferris. Vandenberg won election to a full term later that year and remained in the Senate until his death in 1951. He supported the early New Deal programs but came to oppose most of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's domestic policies. During the late 1930s, Vandenberg also opposed the United States' becoming involved in World War II and urged Roosevelt to reach an accommodation with Japan.
Vandenberg abandoned his isolationism after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. He became chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in 1947 and supported Democratic President Harry Truman's Cold War policies, asserting that "politics stops at the water's edge." Vandenberg also served as the chairman of the Republican Senate Conference from 1945 to 1947 and as the president pro tempore of the Senate from 1947 to 1949. He unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomination for president in 1940 and 1948.
Vandenberg was born and raised in Grand Rapids, Michigan, the son of Alpha (née Hendrick) and Aaron Vandenberg, of mostly Dutch heritage. Vandenberg attended the public schools of Grand Rapids and graduated from Grand Rapids Central High School in June 1900 ranked first in his class. He then studied law at the University of Michigan (1900–1901), where he was a member of the Delta Upsilon fraternity. After a brief stint working in New York at Collier's Weekly magazine, he returned home in 1906 to marry his childhood sweetheart, Elizabeth Watson. They had three children. She died in 1917, and in 1918 Vandenberg married Hazel Whitaker. They had no children.
From 1906 to 1928, he worked as a newspaper editor and publisher at the Grand Rapids Herald. It was owned by William Alden Smith, who served as a Republican in the U.S. Senate from 1907 to 1919. As publisher, Vandenberg made the paper highly profitable. He wrote most of the editorials, many of which called for more Progressivism in the spirit of his hero Theodore Roosevelt. He supported incumbent President William Howard Taft over Roosevelt in the 1912 election. In 1915 Vandenberg coined the term "loon ship" for Henry Ford's Peace Ship in reaction to Ford's more outlandish ideas.
A talented public speaker, during political campaigns Vandenberg often gave speeches on behalf of Republican candidates. He also attended numerous local, county and state Republican conventions as a delegate, and gave several convention keynote addresses. His work on behalf of the party gave Vandenberg a high public profile, and he was frequently mentioned as a candidate for governor or other offices.
As a widower with three small children, Vandenberg was ineligible for active military service during World War I. To contribute to the war effort, Vandenberg gave speeches at hundreds of Liberty bond rallies in Michigan and Ohio, in which he urged listeners to demonstrate their patriotism by helping finance U.S. military preparedness and combat. In addition, he joined the Michigan State Troops, the volunteer organization that performed many of the National Guard's duties after the Guard was federalized. Appointed a first lieutenant, Vandenberg commanded a company in Grand Rapids until the end of the war. After the war, Vandenberg aided in founding and organizing the Michigan branch of the American Legion.
Vandenberg gained national attention for his 1921 biography The Greatest American: Alexander Hamilton. He followed this in 1923 with If Hamilton Were Here Today: American Fundamentals Applied to Modern Problems; and, in 1926, The Trail of a Tradition, a study of American nationalism and U.S. foreign policy.
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Arthur Vandenberg
Arthur Hendrick Vandenberg Sr. (March 22, 1884 – April 18, 1951) was an American politician who served as a United States senator from Michigan from 1928 to 1951. A member of the Republican Party, he participated in the creation of the United Nations. He is best known for leading the Republican Party from a foreign policy of isolationism to one of internationalism, and supporting the Cold War, the Truman Doctrine, the Marshall Plan, and NATO. He served as president pro tempore of the United States Senate from 1947 to 1949.
Born and raised in Grand Rapids, Michigan, in a family of Dutch Americans, Vandenberg began his career as a newspaper editor and publisher. In 1928, Republican Governor Fred W. Green appointed Vandenberg to the U.S. Senate to fill the vacancy that arose after the death of Woodbridge N. Ferris. Vandenberg won election to a full term later that year and remained in the Senate until his death in 1951. He supported the early New Deal programs but came to oppose most of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's domestic policies. During the late 1930s, Vandenberg also opposed the United States' becoming involved in World War II and urged Roosevelt to reach an accommodation with Japan.
Vandenberg abandoned his isolationism after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. He became chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in 1947 and supported Democratic President Harry Truman's Cold War policies, asserting that "politics stops at the water's edge." Vandenberg also served as the chairman of the Republican Senate Conference from 1945 to 1947 and as the president pro tempore of the Senate from 1947 to 1949. He unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomination for president in 1940 and 1948.
Vandenberg was born and raised in Grand Rapids, Michigan, the son of Alpha (née Hendrick) and Aaron Vandenberg, of mostly Dutch heritage. Vandenberg attended the public schools of Grand Rapids and graduated from Grand Rapids Central High School in June 1900 ranked first in his class. He then studied law at the University of Michigan (1900–1901), where he was a member of the Delta Upsilon fraternity. After a brief stint working in New York at Collier's Weekly magazine, he returned home in 1906 to marry his childhood sweetheart, Elizabeth Watson. They had three children. She died in 1917, and in 1918 Vandenberg married Hazel Whitaker. They had no children.
From 1906 to 1928, he worked as a newspaper editor and publisher at the Grand Rapids Herald. It was owned by William Alden Smith, who served as a Republican in the U.S. Senate from 1907 to 1919. As publisher, Vandenberg made the paper highly profitable. He wrote most of the editorials, many of which called for more Progressivism in the spirit of his hero Theodore Roosevelt. He supported incumbent President William Howard Taft over Roosevelt in the 1912 election. In 1915 Vandenberg coined the term "loon ship" for Henry Ford's Peace Ship in reaction to Ford's more outlandish ideas.
A talented public speaker, during political campaigns Vandenberg often gave speeches on behalf of Republican candidates. He also attended numerous local, county and state Republican conventions as a delegate, and gave several convention keynote addresses. His work on behalf of the party gave Vandenberg a high public profile, and he was frequently mentioned as a candidate for governor or other offices.
As a widower with three small children, Vandenberg was ineligible for active military service during World War I. To contribute to the war effort, Vandenberg gave speeches at hundreds of Liberty bond rallies in Michigan and Ohio, in which he urged listeners to demonstrate their patriotism by helping finance U.S. military preparedness and combat. In addition, he joined the Michigan State Troops, the volunteer organization that performed many of the National Guard's duties after the Guard was federalized. Appointed a first lieutenant, Vandenberg commanded a company in Grand Rapids until the end of the war. After the war, Vandenberg aided in founding and organizing the Michigan branch of the American Legion.
Vandenberg gained national attention for his 1921 biography The Greatest American: Alexander Hamilton. He followed this in 1923 with If Hamilton Were Here Today: American Fundamentals Applied to Modern Problems; and, in 1926, The Trail of a Tradition, a study of American nationalism and U.S. foreign policy.