Contents

Bud Brown (politician)

Bud Brown
Brown in 1981
United States Secretary of Commerce
Acting
In office July 25, 1987 – October 19, 1987
President	Ronald Reagan
Preceded by	Malcolm Baldrige Jr.
Succeeded by	William Verity Jr.
5th United States Deputy Secretary of Commerce
In office May 20, 1983 – July 12, 1988
President	Ronald Reagan
Preceded by	Guy W. Fiske
Succeeded by	Donna F. Tuttle
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Ohio's 7th district
In office November 2, 1965 – January 3, 1983
Preceded by	Clarence J. Brown
Succeeded by	Mike DeWine
Personal details
Born	(1927-06-18)June 18, 1927 Columbus, Ohio, U.S.
Died	January 26, 2022(2022-01-26) (aged 94) Urbana, Ohio, U.S.
Political party	Republican
Spouse	Joyce Helen Eldridge ​ ​ (m. 1955)​
Children	4, including Clancy
Parent	Clarence J. Brown (father)
Education	Duke University (BA) Harvard University (MBA)
Military service
Allegiance	United States
Branch/service	United States Navy
Years of service	1944–1946 1950–1953
Battles/wars	World War II Korean War

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Bud Brown (politician).

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[edit]

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[edit]

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[edit]

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 Congressin1982, 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[edit]

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

References[edit]

External links[edit]

• AppearancesonC-SPAN

• United States Congress. "Bud Brown (id: B000910)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.

 This article incorporates public domain material from the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress