Hugh Alfred Butler
United States Senator fromNebraska
In office January 3, 1941 – July 1, 1954
Preceded by	Edward R. Burke
Succeeded by	Samuel W. Reynolds
Personal details
Born	(1878-02-28)February 28, 1878 Missouri Valley,Iowa, U.S.
Died	July 1, 1954(1954-07-01) (aged 76) Bethesda,Maryland, U.S.
Political party	Republican

Hugh Alfred Butler (February 28, 1878 – July 1, 1954) was an AmericanRepublican politician fromNebraska.

Hugh Butler was born on a farm nearMissouri Valley, Iowa on February 28, 1878. He graduated fromDoane College atCrete, Nebraska in 1900, where, in 1897, he founded the Alpha Omega Fraternity. Butler toiled as aconstruction engineer with theChicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad from 1900 to 1908. He entered politics as a member of the city board ofCurtis, Nebraska from 1908 to 1913 and as a member of the board of education ofOmaha, Nebraska. Meanwhile, from 1908 to 1940, Butler worked in flour-milling and in the grain business.

Hugh Butler became a member of theRepublican National Committee in 1936 and served until 1940 when he was elected to theUnited States Senate. He was reelected twice, in 1946 and 1952. Butler served as the chairman of theCommittee on Public Lands in theEightieth United States Congress (1947 to 1949) and as the chairman of theCommittee on Interior and Insular Affairs in theEighty-third United States Congress. A steadfast opponent of statehood for theAlaska Territory during most of his career in the Senate, he changed his mind during the last few months of his life.^[1] Butler died in office on the night of July 1, 1954, following a stroke that had occurred earlier in the day.

Butler and his Nebraska colleague, SenatorKenneth Wherry, are best known for an intense opposition to international activities by the government, including entry into World War II, the Cold War, and the Korea War. He reflected the isolationism of the largeGerman-American element in Nebraska. He vigorously opposed any loans or aid to Europe, including the Marshall Plan. He did not believe that the Soviet Union threatened Nebraska's interest, and he strongly opposed theTruman Doctrine, and NATO. Whatever the issue, he could be counted on as a strong opponent of thePresidency of Harry Truman.^[2]

Robert B. Crosby, governor of Nebraska at the time of Butler's death, appointedSamuel Williams Reynolds to fill his seat.

• List of members of the United States Congress who died in office (1950–1999)

1. Bernard Lemelin, "Isolationist Voices in the Truman Era: Nebraska Senators Hugh Butler and Kenneth Wherry."Great Plains Quarterly 37.2 (2017): 83-109.
2. "Butler, Hugh Alfred".The Political Graveyard. RetrievedJanuary 11, 2006.
3. "Butler, Hugh Alfred".Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. RetrievedJanuary 11, 2006.

•  This article incorporatespublic domain material fromBiographical Directory of the United States Congress.Federal government of the United States.

• Hugh A. Butler papers atNebraska State Historical Society

• 1878 births
• 1954 deaths
• People from Harrison County, Iowa
• Politicians from Omaha, Nebraska
• Republican Party United States senators from Nebraska
• Nebraska city council members
• School board members in Nebraska
• Nebraska Republicans
• American civil engineers
• Doane University alumni
• 20th-century American engineers
• 20th-century United States senators

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Wikipedia articles incorporating text from the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress