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George H. Bender
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George H. Bender
George Harrison Bender (September 29, 1896 – June 18, 1961) was an American politician who served as a U.S. Senator for Ohio from 1954 to 1957. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served in the United States House of Representatives from 1939 to 1949 and again from 1951 to 1954.
George was born in Cleveland, Ohio, to Czech immigrants Joseph Bender, an employee at General Electric, and Anna Šírová (1866–1933). Anna was born in Fryšava pod Žákovou horou to Jan Šír and Anna Slámová, baptized under the Calvinist Helvetian Reform church in Nové Město na Moravě. Bender attended West Commerce High School, graduating in 1914. Bender was of Czech descent.
With an early interest in politics, at 15, he collected 10,000 signatures on a petition encouraging former president Theodore Roosevelt to run for the presidency in 1912. Bender presented the petition to Roosevelt personally and was rewarded when Roosevelt wrote him with news of his candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination, shortly before it was publicly announced. In 1916, Bender served as a delegate to the abortive Progressive Party convention, which voted to dissolve rather than nominate its own presidential candidate. During the November election, Bender campaigned for Republican Party candidates. His shifting party orientation reflected the internal divisions between "progressive" and "Old Guard" Republicans from 1912 to 1916.
In 1920, as a Republican, he became the youngest person to win a seat in the Ohio Senate to that time. Serving until 1930, he had limited influence. He pushed unsuccessfully for the introduction of teacher tenure. Initially a strong supporter of Prohibition, he changed his attitude after the police had received an anonymous tip and raided his house in search of liquor. They found nothing, but Bender thereafter vehemently opposed the alcohol ban. In 1934, he founded the National Republican and the Ohio Republican magazines, which he also edited and published.
After losing four bids for the U.S. House of Representatives in 1930, 1932, 1934, and 1936, he at last won in 1938. He was re-elected until 1948, a Democratic electoral year. He won the seat back in 1950 and retained it for four more years.
Strongly opposed to President Franklin Roosevelt's foreign and domestic policies, Bender articulated his criticism in the polemical The Challenge of 1940 (1940). The only aspects of Roosevelt's agenda that escaped Bender's censure were some humanitarian New Deal programs, notably the Works Progress Administration, which he accepted only as a temporary measure. With the onset of the Cold War after 1945, Bender opposed the Marshall Plan and the Truman Doctrine.
He did not question the necessity of helping European countries devastated by the war, but he disagreed with the idea that the US government should take a direct role in channeling the relief aid. He argued that assistance for European recovery should come through the United Nations or private relief organizations. He also fervently opposed aid to Greece and Turkey, where British influence had been strong, on the premise that US involvement in the region only accommodated the "needs of a collapsing British empire" but did not benefit the United States.
His reputation for strong party loyalty brought Bender the job of organizer for Ohio Senator Robert A. Taft's candidacy for the presidential nomination at the 1948 and 1952 Republican National Conventions. His public role included arranging musical entertainment, conducting singing, leading demonstrations, and ringing cowbells. His often-comic antics led to many unfairly dismissive jokes, as his opponents quickly dubbed him the "Clown Prince." That mockery did not diminish the fact that he remained a serious and influential political figure.
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George H. Bender
George Harrison Bender (September 29, 1896 – June 18, 1961) was an American politician who served as a U.S. Senator for Ohio from 1954 to 1957. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served in the United States House of Representatives from 1939 to 1949 and again from 1951 to 1954.
George was born in Cleveland, Ohio, to Czech immigrants Joseph Bender, an employee at General Electric, and Anna Šírová (1866–1933). Anna was born in Fryšava pod Žákovou horou to Jan Šír and Anna Slámová, baptized under the Calvinist Helvetian Reform church in Nové Město na Moravě. Bender attended West Commerce High School, graduating in 1914. Bender was of Czech descent.
With an early interest in politics, at 15, he collected 10,000 signatures on a petition encouraging former president Theodore Roosevelt to run for the presidency in 1912. Bender presented the petition to Roosevelt personally and was rewarded when Roosevelt wrote him with news of his candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination, shortly before it was publicly announced. In 1916, Bender served as a delegate to the abortive Progressive Party convention, which voted to dissolve rather than nominate its own presidential candidate. During the November election, Bender campaigned for Republican Party candidates. His shifting party orientation reflected the internal divisions between "progressive" and "Old Guard" Republicans from 1912 to 1916.
In 1920, as a Republican, he became the youngest person to win a seat in the Ohio Senate to that time. Serving until 1930, he had limited influence. He pushed unsuccessfully for the introduction of teacher tenure. Initially a strong supporter of Prohibition, he changed his attitude after the police had received an anonymous tip and raided his house in search of liquor. They found nothing, but Bender thereafter vehemently opposed the alcohol ban. In 1934, he founded the National Republican and the Ohio Republican magazines, which he also edited and published.
After losing four bids for the U.S. House of Representatives in 1930, 1932, 1934, and 1936, he at last won in 1938. He was re-elected until 1948, a Democratic electoral year. He won the seat back in 1950 and retained it for four more years.
Strongly opposed to President Franklin Roosevelt's foreign and domestic policies, Bender articulated his criticism in the polemical The Challenge of 1940 (1940). The only aspects of Roosevelt's agenda that escaped Bender's censure were some humanitarian New Deal programs, notably the Works Progress Administration, which he accepted only as a temporary measure. With the onset of the Cold War after 1945, Bender opposed the Marshall Plan and the Truman Doctrine.
He did not question the necessity of helping European countries devastated by the war, but he disagreed with the idea that the US government should take a direct role in channeling the relief aid. He argued that assistance for European recovery should come through the United Nations or private relief organizations. He also fervently opposed aid to Greece and Turkey, where British influence had been strong, on the premise that US involvement in the region only accommodated the "needs of a collapsing British empire" but did not benefit the United States.
His reputation for strong party loyalty brought Bender the job of organizer for Ohio Senator Robert A. Taft's candidacy for the presidential nomination at the 1948 and 1952 Republican National Conventions. His public role included arranging musical entertainment, conducting singing, leading demonstrations, and ringing cowbells. His often-comic antics led to many unfairly dismissive jokes, as his opponents quickly dubbed him the "Clown Prince." That mockery did not diminish the fact that he remained a serious and influential political figure.
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