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Bud Brown (politician)

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(Redirected from Clarence J. Brown Jr.)

Bud Brown
Brown in 1981
United States Secretary of Commerce
Acting
In office
July 25, 1987 – October 19, 1987
PresidentRonald Reagan
Preceded byMalcolm Baldrige Jr.
Succeeded byWilliam Verity Jr.
5th United States Deputy Secretary of Commerce
In office
May 20, 1983 – July 12, 1988
PresidentRonald Reagan
Preceded byGuy W. Fiske
Succeeded byDonna F. Tuttle
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Ohio's 7th district
In office
November 2, 1965 – January 3, 1983
Preceded byClarence J. Brown
Succeeded byMike DeWine
Personal details
Born(1927-06-18)June 18, 1927
Columbus, Ohio, U.S.
DiedJanuary 26, 2022(2022-01-26) (aged 94)
Urbana, Ohio, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
Spouse
Joyce Helen Eldridge
(m. 1955)
Children4, including Clancy
Parent
EducationDuke University (BA)
Harvard University (MBA)
Military service
AllegianceUnited States
Branch/serviceUnited States Navy
Years of service1944–1946
1950–1953
Battles/warsWorld War II
Korean War

Clarence John[citation needed] "Bud" Brown Jr. (June 18, 1927 – January 26, 2022) was an American politician and publisher who served as a Republican United States Representative from the 7th District of Ohio, from 1965 to 1983. He also served as the United States Deputy Secretary of Commerce and Acting Secretary of Commerce in the Reagan administration from 1983 to 1988.

Early life and education

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Brown was born in Columbus, Ohio, the son of Ethel (née McKinney) and United States Representative Clarence J. Brown. He attended Western High School in Washington, D.C., and graduated from Duke University in 1947 and Harvard Business School, with an M.B.A., in 1949.[1]

Career

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Brown served in the United States Navy from 1944 to 1946 (V-12 Navy College Training Program) and again from 1950 to 1953 in the Korean War. Before entering the service, Brown had started working in the newspaper business for his father's family-owned Brown Publishing Company, from youth to 1953, and from 1957 to 2010. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, Brown and his family lived in Urbana, Ohio,[2] 90 miles north of Cincinnati, where the headquarters of the publishing company was based.

Brown served as president from 1965 to 1976, and later as chairman of the board. The company had interests in a wide network of newspapers across the country but, due to the rapidly changing business as a result of technology, it ceased operations in 2010 after 90 years.[3]

Political career

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Brown was first elected to the Eighty-ninth Congress, by special election, to fill the vacancy caused by the death of his father Clarence Brown in 1965, and reelected to the eight succeeding Congresses (November 2, 1965, to January 3, 1983). He was not a candidate for reelection to the Ninety-eighth Congress in 1982, as he ran for Governor of Ohio that year, losing to Richard Celeste.

He became involved in Republican Party politics, serving as a delegate to the Republican National Conventions in 1968, 1972, 1976, and 1984. Ronald Reagan appointed Brown as Deputy Secretary of Commerce and Acting Secretary of Commerce; he served from 1983 to 1988. He was a member of the board of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation from 1988 to 1989, and he was president and chief executive officer of the United States Capitol Historical Society from 1992 to 1999.

Personal life and death

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Brown was married to Joyce Helen (née Eldridge) Brown, a conductor, composer and classical pianist.[4] They married on June 11, 1955 in a garden ceremony at the home of Roy Eldridge and Helen Eldridge in the town Franklin, Ohio, his wife's hometown. They had four children: Beth (c. 1957–1964);[5] Clancy, an actor, Cathy, and Roy, who followed his father into newspaper publishing and politics.

Bud Brown died from complications of COVID-19 in Urbana, Ohio, on January 26, 2022, at the age of 94.[6][7][8]

References

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  1. ^ "Bioguide Search".
  2. ^ Clancy Brown profile, FilmReference.com; accessed March 26, 2015.
  3. ^ "Brown Publishing files for bankruptcy" Archived February 16, 2019, at the Wayback Machine, Business Record, May 3, 2010
  4. ^ "Bus Regulatory Reform Act of 1982: Hearing Before the Subcommittee on Surface Transportation of the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, United States Senate, Ninety-eighth Congress, First Session, on Oversight of the Bus Regulatory Reform Act of 1982, November 1, 1983". U.S. Government Printing Office. September 6, 1984 – via Google Books.
  5. ^ "About Us" Archived February 22, 2014, at the Wayback Machine, Beth Brown Foundation, accessed February 15, 2014
  6. ^ "'Bad guys never think they're bad guys,' says veteran character actor Clancy Brown". NPR. March 14, 2023. Retrieved February 2, 2024.
  7. ^ "Former Congressman, business leader Clarence J. 'Bud' Brown dies". Springfield New Sun. January 27, 2022. Retrieved January 27, 2022.
  8. ^ "Former Congressman Clarence J. 'Bud' Brown, Jr. dies at age 94". Urbana Daily Citizen. January 27, 2022. Retrieved January 27, 2022.
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Public Domain This article incorporates public domain material from the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress

U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Ohio's 7th congressional district

1965–1983
Succeeded by
Party political offices
Preceded by Republican nominee for Governor of Ohio
1982
Succeeded by
Political offices
Preceded by United States Deputy Secretary of Commerce
1983–1988
Succeeded by
Preceded by United States Secretary of Commerce
Acting

1987
Succeeded by