Bertrand W. Gearhart
Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromCalifornia's9th district
In office January 3, 1935 – January 3, 1949
Preceded by	Denver S. Church
Succeeded by	Cecil F. White
Personal details
Born	Bertrand Wesley Gearhart (1890-05-31)May 31, 1890 Fresno, California
Died	October 11, 1955(1955-10-11) (aged 65) San Francisco, California
Resting place	Mountain View Cemetery
Political party	Republican

Bertrand Wesley "Bud" Gearhart (May 31, 1890 – October 11, 1955) was an Americanlawyer andpolitician. Gearhart, aRepublican, served seven terms as theUnited States representative forCalifornia's 9th congressional district from 1935 to 1949.^[1]

Gearhart was born the son of John Wesley Gearhart and Mary Elizabeth Johnson Gearhart inFresno, California on May 31, 1890.^[1] After attending public school in Fresno, he went on to Boone's University School inBerkeley, California and graduated from there in 1910. He then went toUniversity of Southern California Law School to obtain hisBachelor of Laws degree, which he completed in 1914. While he was there, Gearhart was a member ofPhi Delta Phi andZeta Psi fraternities.^[1]

Gearhart was admitted to the California state bar the previous year, and had commenced hislaw practice in Fresno. DuringWorld War I, he served overseas as a second lieutenant in the609th Aero Squadron from 1917 to 1919.^[2] Gearhart was one of the founders of theAmerican Legion, an organization of war veterans, in 1919.^[1] After the war, he first served as the assistant district attorney, and later thedistrict attorney ofFresno County until 1923. In 1932, he served as a member of the board of directors of the California Veterans' Home.

A year later, Gearhart ran for theUnited States House of Representatives seat inCalifornia's 9th congressional district for the74th United States Congress.Democratic incumbentDenver S. Church was not a candidate for renomination in1934, and so Gearhart ran unopposed in the election.^[3] He captured all 77,650 votes cast in the election.^[4] Gearhart ran unopposed and captured nearly 100% of the vote in1936,^[5]1938,^[6]1940,^[7]1942^[8] and1944.^[9] In Congress, he was known as being a staunch Republicanconservative, and asHarry S. Truman said, Gearhart was "one of the worst obstructionists in Congress".^[10] Gearhart was one of the few strong supporters of the Merchant Seamen's Bill of Rights.^[11] He faced his first Democratic challenger in the1946 United States House elections when he was put up against Democrat Hubert Phillips. Gearhart defeated Phillips in the election,^[12] capturing 53.7% of the votes cast, in comparison to Phillips' 46.3%.^[13]

In a personal jab at Gearhart,President Truman said, "You have got a terrible Congressman here. He has done everything he possibly could do to cut the throats of the farmer and the laboring man."^[14] Months later, Gearhart was beaten in the1948 House elections by a political newcomer, 47-year-old Democratic cotton rancherCecil F. White,^[14] with the seven-term representative obtaining only 46.9% of the vote while White received 51.3%.^[15]

After losing the election, Gearhart went back to Fresno to resume his law practice until his death.

Bertrand W. Gearhart died age 65 on October 11, 1955, in aSan Francisco hospital.^[2] He was then interred inMountain View Cemetery in Fresno.^[2]

• United States Congress."Bertrand W. Gearhart (id: G000111)".Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
• The Political Graveyard profile for Bertrand W. Gearhart
• Bertrand W. Gearhart atFind a Grave

• USC Gould School of Law alumni
• 1890 births
• 1955 deaths
• San Francisco Bay Area politicians
• Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from California
• 20th-century American lawyers
• Lawyers from Fresno, California
• 20th-century members of the United States House of Representatives

• CS1: unfit URL
• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata