Bud Brown (politician)

Bud Brown
Bud Brown in 1981
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Ohio's 7th district
In office November 2, 1965 – January 3, 1983
Preceded by	Clarence J. Brown
Succeeded by	Mike DeWine
Personal details
Born	(1927-06-18) June 18, 1927 Columbus, Ohio, U.S.
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Joyce Eldridge
Children	4
Alma mater	Duke University Harvard Business School
Military service
Allegiance	United States
Service/branch	United States Navy
Battles/wars	World War II Korean War

Clarence J. "Bud" Brown, Jr. (born June 18, 1927, Columbus, Ohio) is a publisher and politician, a former Republican United States Representative from the 7th District of Ohio, serving from 1965 to 1983. Appointed by President Ronald Reagan, he also served as the United States Deputy Secretary of Commerce and Acting Secretary of Commerce, in total from 1983-1988.

Early life and education

Brown attended the public schools in Blanchester, Ohio. He attended Stoddard Elementary, Gordon Junior High, and Western High School in Washington, D.C.. Brown graduated from Duke University in 1947 and Harvard Business School, with an M.A., in 1949.

Career

Brown served in the United States Navy from 1944 to 1946 (V-12 Navy College Training Program) and again from 1950 to 1953 in the Korean War. Before entering the service, Brown had started working in the newspaper business for his father's family-owned Brown Publishing Company, from youth to 1953, and from 1957 to 2010. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, Brown and his family lived in Urbana, Ohio, 90 miles north of Cincinnati, where the headquarters of the publishing company was based.

Brown served as president from 1965–1976, and later as chairman of the board. The company had interests in a wide network of newspapers across the country but, due to the rapidly changing business as a result of technology, it ceased operations in 2010 after 90 years. He was a co-owner of the Franklin, Ohio Chronicle from 1953-59, and served as general manager of a radio station in Urbana in 1965.

Political career

Brown was first elected to the Eighty-ninth Congress, by special election, to fill the vacancy caused by the death of his father, United States Representative Clarence J. Brown Sr. in 1965, and reelected to the eight succeeding Congresses (November 2, 1965-January 3, 1983). He was not a candidate for reelection to the Ninety-eighth Congress in 1982, as he ran for Governor of Ohio that year. He lost to Richard Celeste.

He became involved in Republican Party politics, serving as a delegate to the Republican National Conventions in 1968, 1972, 1976 and 1984. He was chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee from 1973-75. Ronald Reagan appointed Brown as Deputy Secretary of Commerce and Acting Secretary of Commerce; he served 1983-88. He was a member of the board of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation from 1988 to 1989, and was president and chief executive officer of the United States Capitol Historical Society from 1992-99.

In 2002 he sought the Republican nomination for Ohio's 3rd Congressional District to succeed Democrat Tony Hall, but Mike Turner, mayor of Dayton, won the primary and election.

Personal life

Brown is married to Joyce (née Eldridge) Brown, a conductor, composer and classical pianist. They had four children: Beth (c. 1957-1964); Clancy, an actor, Cathy and Roy, who followed his father into newspaper publishing and politics.

Other

Brown is not related to the film director of the same name.

Sources

• Bud Brown at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress

 This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.