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Styles Bridges: Information from Answers.com

This article is about the Governor of New Hampshire and U.S. senator. For the English architect, see Henry Bridges.

Henry Styles Bridges


In office
January 3, 1937 – November 26, 1961
Preceded by Henry W. Keyes
Succeeded by Maurice J. Murphy, Jr.

In office
January 3, 1953 – January 3, 1955
Preceded by Kenneth McKellar
Succeeded by Walter F. George

In office
January 8, 1952 – January 3, 1953
Deputy Leverett Saltonstall (whip)
Preceded by Kenneth S. Wherry
Succeeded by Lyndon B. Johnson

In office
January 3, 1935 – January 7, 1937
Preceded by John G. Winant
Succeeded by Francis P. Murphy

Born September 9, 1898
Pembroke, Maine
Died November 26, 1961
Concord, New Hampshire
Nationality American
Political party Republican
Spouse(s) (1) Sally Clement
(2) Doloris Thauwald

Henry Styles Bridges (September 9, 1898 – November 26, 1961) was an American teacher, editor, and Republican Party politician from Concord, New Hampshire. He served one term as Governor of New Hampshire before a twenty-four year career in the United States Senate.

Bridges was born in West Pembroke, Maine. He attended the public schools in Maine. He attended the University of Maine at Orono until 1918. From 1918 he held a variety of jobs, including teaching, newspaper editing, business and state government. He was an instructor at Sanderson Academy, Ashfield, Massachusetts from 1918 to 1919. He was a member of the extension staff of the University of New Hampshire at Durham from 1921 until 1922. He was the secretary of the New Hampshire Farm Bureau Federation from 1922 until 1923, and the editor of the Granite Monthly Magazine from 1924 until 1926. Meanwhile, He was the director and secretary of the New Hampshire Investment Corporation from 1924 until 1929. He was then a member of the New Hampshire Public Service Commission from 1930 until 1934.

Bridges ran for the position of governor of New Hampshire in 1934, and won, becoming the nation's youngest governor at the time, according to John Gunther's book, Inside U.S.A.. He was elected to the United States Senate in 1936, and would serve until his death in 1961. In 1937 he retired from the Army Reserve Corps, in which he had served as a Lieutenant since 1925. In 1940 he attempted to win the Republican nomination for President; the nomination was eventually won by Wendell Willkie. Bridges broke his hip on New Year's Eve 1941 and missed several months of the next Senate session.

In the Senate, John Gunther wrote, Bridges was "an aggressive reactionary on most issues...and he is pertinaciously engaged in a continual running fight with the CIO, the Roosevelt family and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics." (Inside U.S.A., p. 471)

Bridges was reelected to four subsequent six-year terms in 1942, 1948, 1954 and again in 1960, although he did not complete his final term due to his death. He became the highest-ranking Republican senator, serving as chairman of the Joint Committee on Foreign Economic Cooperation when the Republicans had control of the Senate from 1947 until 1949, Senate Minority Leader from 1952 until 1953, President pro tempore of the United States Senate when the Republicans had control of it from 1953 until 1955, chairman of the Joint Committee on Inaugural Arrangements for both of the inaugurations of President Dwight Eisenhower, Chairman of the Committee on Appropriations when the Republicans had control of the Senate from 1947-1949 and 1953-1955, and Chairman of the Republican Policy Committee from 1954 until his death.

Part of Interstate 93 in New Hampshire is named the Styles Bridges Highway.

Blackmail of Senator Lester Hunt

In 1954, Bridges delivered a blackmail threat to Wyoming Democratic Senator Lester C. Hunt. He threatened to expose Hunt's son as a homosexual if Hunt did not leave the Senate. Hunt announced his retirement, then committed suicide. This incident was later fictionalized by Allen Drury in his novel Advise and Consent.

Death and burial

Bridges died in East Concord and is buried in Pine Grove Cemetery there.

In 1961, after Bridges' death, his widow received six large envelopes that, per rumor, contained unreported cash contributions from lobbyists and corporations, according to Lewis L. Gould's book The Most Exclusive Club. The book cites as a reference on the charge the biography Styles Bridges: Yankee Senator, by James J. Kiepper, Phoenix Publishing (2001) ISBN 0-914659-93-6. Many critics have stated Kiepper's inability to successfully grasp Bridges's life in his biography. It is a shame that it took over thirty years to write such a poor portrayal of Senator Bridges.

External links

Political offices
Preceded by
John G. Winant
Governor of New Hampshire
1935 – 1937
Succeeded by
Francis P. Murphy
Preceded by
Kenneth McKellar
Tennessee
Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee
1947 – 1949
Succeeded by
Kenneth McKellar
Tennessee
Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee
1953 – 1955
Succeeded by
Carl T. Hayden
Arizona
President pro tempore of the United States Senate
1953 – 1955
Succeeded by
Walter F. George
Georgia
United States Senate
Preceded by
Henry W. Keyes
United States Senator (Class 2) from New Hampshire
1937 – 1961
Served alongside: Fred H. Brown, Charles W. Tobey,
Robert W. Upton, Norris Cotton
Succeeded by
Maurice J. Murphy, Jr.
Party political offices
New title Chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee
1949 – 1951
Succeeded by
Ralph Owen Brewster
Maine
Preceded by
Kenneth S. Wherry
Nebraska
Senate Republican Leader
1952 – 1953
Succeeded by
Robert A. Taft
Ohio

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United States Senators from New Hampshire
Class 2

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United States Senate
Class 3

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Presidents pro tempore of the United States Senate

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Seal of the United States Senate President Pro Tempore

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United States Senate Minority Leaders

UnderwoodRobinsonMcNaryAustinMcNaryWhiteBarkleyWherryBridgesJohnsonKnowlandDirksenScottBakerByrdDoleDaschleLottDaschleLottFristDaschleReidMcConnell

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Republican Party Leaders in the United States Senate

Lodge • Curtis • Watson • McNary • Austin • McNary • White • Wherry • Bridges • Taft • Knowland • Dirksen • Scott • Baker • Dole • Lott • Frist • McConnell

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Governors of New Hampshire

Weare · Langdon · Sullivan · Langdon · Sullivan · J. Bartlett · Gilman · Langdon · J. Smith · Langdon · Plumer · Gilman · Plumer · S. Bell · Woodbury · Morril · Pierce · J. Bell · Pierce · Harvey · Dinsmoor · Badger · Hill · Page · Hubbard · Steele · Colby · Williams · Dinsmoor Jr. · Martin · Baker · Metcalf · Haile · Goodwin · Berry · Gilmore · Smyth · Harriman · Stearns · Weston · Straw · Weston · Cheney · Prescott · Head · C. Bell · Hale · Currier · Sawyer · Goodell · Tuttle · J. B. Smith · Busiel · Ramsdell · Rollins · Jordan · Bachelder · McLane · Floyd · Quinby · Bass · Felker · R. Spaulding · Keyes · J. H. Bartlett · A. Brown · F. Brown · Winant · H. Spaulding · Tobey · Winant · Bridges · Murphy · Blood · Dale · Adams · H. Gregg · Dwinell · Powell · King · Peterson · Thomson · Gallen · Roy · Sununu · J. Gregg · Merrill · Shaheen · Benson · Lynch

Seal of New Hampshire

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Chairs of the National Republican Senatorial Committee

BridgesBrewsterDirksenGoldwaterDirksenSchoeppelGoldwaterMortonMurphyTowerDominickBrockStevensPackwoodHeinzPackwoodLugarHeinzBoschwitzNicklesGrammD'AmatoMcConnellFristAllenDoleEnsignCornyn

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