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Clarence J. Brown | |
|---|---|
 Brown in 1953 | |
| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromOhio's7th district | |
| In office January 3, 1939 – August 23, 1965 | |
| Preceded by | Arthur W. Aleshire |
| Succeeded by | Bud Brown |
| 36th Lieutenant Governor of Ohio | |
| In office January 13, 1919 – January 8, 1923 | |
| Governor | James M. Cox Harry L. Davis |
| Preceded by | Earl D. Bloom |
| Succeeded by | Earl D. Bloom |
| 36th Ohio Secretary of State | |
| In office January 10, 1927 – January 9, 1933 | |
| Governor | A. Victor Donahey Myers Y. Cooper George White |
| Preceded by | Thad H. Brown |
| Succeeded by | George S. Myers |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Clarence James Brown (1893-07-14)July 14, 1893 Blanchester, Ohio, U.S. |
| Died | August 23, 1965(1965-08-23) (aged 72) Bethesda, Maryland, U.S. |
| Resting place | I.O.O.F. Cemetery,Blanchester, Ohio |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse | Ethel McKinney |
| Children | 3, includingBud |
| Relatives | Clancy Brown (grandson) |
| Alma mater | Washington and Lee University School of Law |
Clarence James Brown Sr.[1] (July 14, 1893 – August 23, 1965) was an American politician; he representedOhio as aRepublican in theUnited States House of Representatives from 1939 until his death inBethesda, Maryland in 1965. Long representingconservative views, near the end of his life, he helped gain House passage of theVoting Rights Act of 1965, which he voted for to provide enforcement of the right to vote for all citizens,[2] while also voting in favor of theCivil Rights Act of 1957,[3]1960,[4] and1964.[5]
As president ofBrown Publishing Company from 1920, he created a huge media company that lasted for 90 years. In 1918, at age 25, Brown was elected as the 36thlieutenant governor of Ohio, the youngest man to gain that post.
Brown was born inBlanchester,Clinton County, Ohio[6] orWest Union,Clermont County, Ohio,[7] the son of Owen and Ellen Barerre (née McCoppin) Brown. He attended the Blanchester public schools, and then attended law school atWashington and Lee University, inLexington, Virginia, from 1913 to 1915.
On his twenty-first birthday, Brown married Ethel McKinney. He worked as state statistician in 1915 and 1916 in theOhio Secretary of State's office.
Brown began newspaper work in Blanchester in 1917, where he published several country newspapers. He became president of theBrown Publishing Company in Blanchester, and also owned and operated several large farms in the Blanchester area. He directed Brown Publishing for the rest of his life.
In 1918, at 25, Brown was elected as the 36th Lieutenant Governor of Ohio, serving from 1919 to 1923; he was the youngest man ever to hold the office. In 1926, he was electedOhio Secretary of State and served from 1927 to 1933.
In 1921, at the height of theKu Klux Klan's power in Ohio, Brown supported federal civil rights legislation to stop the lynching of African-Americans.[8] In 1938, prior to his first election as U.S. representative, he was one of only 67 (of 870) candidates for U.S. House along with only 8 (out of 96) sitting Senators to pledge support to theNAACP for federal anti-lynching legislation, the legislative precursor to modern civil rights legislation.[9] In 1940, during debate of the anti-lynching bill he stated:[citation needed]
We hear much of the struggle throughout the world to maintain democracy. From the lips of those who oppose this measure comes... at other times... the loudest protestations of belief in democracy. Let me say, here and now, that if democracy is to continue to live throughout the world, and here in our beloved America, those of us who have the ability and power to do so must see to it that the full rights of the weak and defenseless are safeguarded against the violence and the intolerance of the strong and the mighty.
In 1947, during floor debate involvingAdam Clayton Powell Jr. (D–NY) andJohn E. Rankin (D–MS), Brown forced a rule change from SpeakerJoseph W. Martin Jr. (R–MA) to prohibit racially offensive language from being used on the House floor.
Brown twice ran for governor of Ohio. In 1932, he lost the primary. In 1934, he won the Republican nomination but lost the general election. Brown was a delegate to theRepublican National Conventions in 1936, 1940, 1944 and 1948 and a member of theRepublican National Committee from 1944.
Brown was elected in 1938 as a Republican to theSeventy-sixth and to the thirteen succeeding Congresses, serving from January 3, 1939, until his death in 1965. While in Congress, he was chairman of the Select Committee on Newsprint in theEightieth Congress; he was a personal friend of Democrat Speaker of the HouseSam Rayburn ofTexas.
In the 1930s and 1940s, Brown staunchly opposed PresidentFranklin D. Roosevelt'sNew Deal policies to expand the federal bureaucracy. He also opposed expanding U.S. foreign military entanglements until theattack on Pearl Harbor. However, in March 1941 he voted in favor of providing increased military aid to theUnited Kingdom during that country's war againstNazi Germany.[10] FollowingWorld War II, Brown warned against the continuation and expansion offoreign aid programs that were meant to be temporary. WhenHarry S. Truman became president, Brown opposed hisFair Deal, viewing it as corrupt cronyism through the expansion of federal bureaucracy.
Brown cosponsored legislation to create theHoover Commission to study and reform the federal government and served on the commission, formally the Commission on the Organization of the Executive Branch of Government.
By the 1950s, Brown was the ranking minority member of the importantRules Committee in Congress. In the 1960s, he worked with its chairman, the DemocratHoward W. Smith ofVirginia, to block expansive federal legislation sought by PresidentsJohn F. Kennedy andLyndon B. Johnson. Smith was a senior member of theSouthern Bloc, which was established by whiteDemocrats at the turn of the 20th century, when the formerConfederate Statesdisfranchised blacks. However, near the end of his life, Brown convinced the segregationist Smith to allow landmark civil rights legislation to reach the House floor for a vote.
He checked out of the hospital to help shepherd theVoting Rights Act of 1965 through Smith's Rules Committee, and he contributed to the achievements of theCivil rights movement.
Brown died fromuremic poisoning due tokidney failure atBethesda Naval Hospital,Bethesda, Maryland on August 23, 1965.[11] He is buried in the I.O.O.F. Cemetery,Blanchester, Ohio.
Brown was a member of theMasons,K. of P.,I.O.O.F.,Moose, andM.W.A.[12]
Brown and his wife Ethel had three children — Betty, Dorothy andClarence J. "Bud" Brown Jr.
His son, Bud, won the special election in 1965 to fill his father's seat in Congress. His grandson isClancy Brown, an actor. He is not related to thefilm director of the same name.
This article incorporatespublic domain material fromBiographical Directory of the United States Congress.Federal government of the United States.
april 28 1921 ohio lynching.
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