Prentiss M. Brown | |
|---|---|
 | |
| United States Senator fromMichigan | |
| In office November 19, 1936 – January 3, 1943 | |
| Preceded by | James J. Couzens |
| Succeeded by | Homer S. Ferguson |
| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromMichigan's11th district | |
| In office March 4, 1933 – November 18, 1936 | |
| Preceded by | Frank P. Bohn |
| Succeeded by | John F. Luecke |
| Administrator of theOffice of Price Administration | |
| In office 1943 | |
| President | Franklin D. Roosevelt |
| Preceded by | Leon Henderson |
| Succeeded by | Chester Bowles |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Prentiss Marsh Brown (1889-06-18)June 18, 1889 |
| Died | December 19, 1973(1973-12-19) (aged 84) |
| Resting place | Lakeside Cemetery |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse | Marion Walker |
| Children | Mariana Rudolph, Ruth Evashevski, James J. Brown, Barbara Laing, Patricia Watson, Prentiss M. Brown, Jr., and Paul Walker Brown |
| Alma mater | University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Albion College |
Prentiss Marsh Brown (June 18, 1889 – December 19, 1973) was an American lawyer and politician who served three full and one partial term as aDemocraticU.S. Representative andSenator from thestate ofMichigan from 1936 to 1943.
Brown was born inSt. Ignace, Michigan and attended the public schools there. He attended theUniversity of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and graduated fromAlbion College inAlbion, Michigan in 1911. He studied law and was admitted to thebar in 1914 and commenced practice in St. Ignace.
Brown married Marion Walker in 1916.[1] The couple had a total of seven children.[2]They are Mariana Rudolph, Ruth Evashevski, James J. Brown, Barbara Laing, Patricia Watson, Prentiss M. Brown, Jr., and Paul Walker Brown.
Brown was prosecuting attorney ofMackinac County from 1914 to 1926 and the city attorney of St. Ignace from 1916 to 1928.
He was an unsuccessful candidate for election in 1924 to theUnited States House of Representatives and in 1928 for election as justice of theMichigan Supreme Court. He was a member of the State Board of Law Examiners from 1930 to 1942.
Brown was elected as aDemocrat fromMichigan's 11th congressional district to theUnited States House of Representatives for the73rd Congress and was reelected to the74th Congress, serving from March 4, 1933, until his resignation, effective November 18, 1936.
He was elected as aDemocrat on November 3, 1936, to theUnited States Senate for the term beginning January 3, 1937, but was subsequently appointed to the United States Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the death ofJames Couzens for the term ending January 3, 1937. In total, he served from November 19, 1936, to January 3, 1943.
He was chairman of theU.S. Senate Committee on Claims in theSeventy-seventh Congress. He was also a member of theBanking and Currency Committee, and in this capacity was instrumental in helpingFranklin D. Roosevelt achieve his desired wage and farm price controls.[3] He was an unsuccessful candidate for re-election in 1942.
In December 1942, Roosevelt selected Brown to take over as administrator of theOffice of Price Administration, replacingLeon Henderson, whose tenure as administrator was listed as one of the major reasons for Democratic losses in the 1942 elections.[3] In 1943 he resumed the practice of law in bothWashington, D.C., andDetroit, Michigan. He also served as chairman of theDetroit Edison Company.
In 1951, Brown was named chairman of the newMackinac Bridge Authority and served until his death. During his chairmanship, this authority oversaw the construction of Michigan'sMackinac Bridge. He once stated during a radio interview that he came up with the idea for the Mackinac Bridge after an unusually bitter winter one day disrupted his commute to work by ferry and forced him to cross the strait on the brittle icy lake surface.
Brown died in St. Ignace at the age of 84 and is interred there at Lakeside Cemetery.
Two of Brown's children were also active in Democratic party politics. His son, Prentiss M. Brown, Jr., ran unsuccessfully for Congress several times, in 1952, 1956, 1958, and 1960,[1] and was the city attorney for St. Ignace for 50 years.[2] Paul Walker Brown was a member of theBoard of Regents of the University of Michigan from 1971 until 1994, and ran unsuccessfully forlieutenant governor in 1974.[1]
Media related toPrentiss M. Brown at Wikimedia Commons| Party political offices | ||
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| Preceded by | Democratic nominee for U.S. SenatorfromMichigan (Class 2) 1936,1942 | Succeeded by |
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
| Preceded by | Member of the U.S. House of Representatives fromMichigan's 11th congressional district March 4, 1933 – November 18, 1936 | Succeeded by |
| U.S. Senate | ||
| Preceded by | U.S. senator (Class 2) from Michigan November 19, 1936 – January 3, 1943 Served alongside:Arthur Vandenberg | Succeeded by |
| Government offices | ||
| Preceded by | Administrator of theOffice of Price Administration 1943 | Succeeded by |
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| Class 2 | ||
| International | |
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| People | |
| Other | |
