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Clarence James Brown, Sr. (July 14, 1893 – August 23, 1965), was an American
newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, sports a ...
publisher and politician; he represented
Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...
as a
Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
in the
United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...
from 1939 until his death in
Bethesda, Maryland Bethesda () is an unincorporated, census-designated place in southern Montgomery County, Maryland. It is located just northwest of Washington, D.C. It takes its name from a local church, the Bethesda Meeting House (1820, rebuilt 1849), which in ...
in 1965. Long representing
conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...
views, near the end of his life, he helped gain House passage of the
Voting Rights Act of 1965 The Voting Rights Act of 1965 is a landmark piece of federal legislation in the United States that prohibits racial discrimination in voting. It was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson during the height of the civil rights movement ...
, which he voted for to provide enforcement of the right to vote for all citizens, while also voting in favor of the
Civil Rights Act of 1957 The Civil Rights Act of 1957 was the first federal civil rights legislation passed by the United States Congress since the Civil Rights Act of 1875. The bill was passed by the 85th United States Congress and signed into law by President Dwigh ...
,
1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Ja ...
, and
1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 - In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patriarch ...
. As president of
Brown Publishing Company Brown Publishing Company was a privately owned Cincinnati, Ohio, newspaper business started by Congressman Clarence J. Brown in Blanchester, Ohio in 1920. It ended 90 years of operations in August/September 2010 with its bankruptcy and sale of ass ...
from 1920, he created a huge media company that lasted for 90 years. In 1918, at age 25, Brown was elected as the 36th
lieutenant governor of Ohio The position of lieutenant governor of Ohio was established in 1852. The lieutenant governor becomes governor if the governor resigns, dies in office or is removed by impeachment. Before 1852, the president of the Ohio State Senate would serve a ...
, the youngest man to gain that post.


Life and career

Brown was born in Blanchester,
Clinton County, Ohio Clinton County is a county located in the U.S. state of Ohio. As of the 2020 census, the population was 42,018. The county seat is Wilmington. The county is named for former U.S. Vice President George Clinton. Clinton County comprises the ...
or West Union,
Clermont County, Ohio Clermont County, popularly called Clermont ( ), is a county in the U.S. state of Ohio. As of the 2020 census, the population was 208,601. Ordinanced in 1800 as part of the Virginia Military District, Clermont is Ohio's eighth oldest county, the ...
, the son of Owen and Ellen Barerre (McCoppin) Brown. His middle name "J" did not stand for anything. He attended the Blanchester public schools, and then attended law school at
Washington and Lee University , mottoeng = "Not Unmindful of the Future" , established = , type = Private liberal arts university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $2.092 billion (2021) , president = William C. Dudley , provost = Lena Hill , city = Lexingto ...
, in
Lexington, Virginia Lexington is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. At the 2020 census, the population was 7,320. It is the county seat of Rockbridge County, although the two are separate jurisdictions. The Bureau of Economic Analysis combines ...
, from 1913 to 1915. On his twenty-first birthday, Brown married Ethel McKinney. He worked as state statistician in 1915 and 1916 in the
Ohio Secretary of State The Secretary of State of Ohio is an elected statewide official in the State of Ohio. The Secretary of state is responsible for overseeing elections in the state; registering business entities (corporations, etc.) and granting them the author ...
's office. Brown began newspaper work in Blanchester in 1917, where he published several country newspapers. He became president of the
Brown Publishing Company Brown Publishing Company was a privately owned Cincinnati, Ohio, newspaper business started by Congressman Clarence J. Brown in Blanchester, Ohio in 1920. It ended 90 years of operations in August/September 2010 with its bankruptcy and sale of ass ...
in Blanchester, and also owned and operated several large farms in the Blanchester area. He directed Brown Publishing for the rest of his life.


Political career

In 1918, at 25, Brown was elected as the 36th Lieutenant Governor of Ohio, serving from 1919 to 1923; he was the youngest man ever to hold the office. In 1926, he was elected
Ohio Secretary of State The Secretary of State of Ohio is an elected statewide official in the State of Ohio. The Secretary of state is responsible for overseeing elections in the state; registering business entities (corporations, etc.) and granting them the author ...
and served from 1927 to 1933. In 1921, at the height of the
Ku Klux Klan The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to the KKK or the Klan, is an American white supremacist, right-wing terrorist, and hate group whose primary targets are African Americans, Jews, Latinos, Asian Americans, Native Americans, and ...
's power in Ohio, Brown supported federal civil rights legislation to stop the lynching of African-Americans. In 1938, prior to his first election as U.S. representative, he was one of only 67 (of 870) candidates for U.S. House along with only 8 (out of 96) sitting Senators to pledge support to the
NAACP The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is a civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E.&nb ...
for federal anti-lynching legislation, the legislative precursor to modern civil rights legislation. In 1940, during debate of the anti-lynching bill he stated: In 1947, during floor debate involving
Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Adam Clayton Powell Jr. (November 29, 1908 – April 4, 1972) was an American Baptist pastor and politician who represented the Harlem neighborhood of New York City in the United States House of Representatives from 1945 until 1971. He was t ...
(D–NY) and
John E. Rankin John Elliott Rankin (March 29, 1882 – November 26, 1960) was a Democratic politician from Mississippi who served sixteen terms in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1921 to 1953. He was co-author of the bill for the Tennessee Valley A ...
(D–MS), Brown forced a rule change from then-Speaker
Joseph W. Martin Jr. Joseph William Martin Jr. (November 3, 1884 – March 6, 1968) was an American Republican Party (United States), Republican politician who served as the List of speakers of the United States House of Representatives, 44th speaker of the United Sta ...
(R–MA) to prohibit racially offensive language from being used on the House floor. Brown twice ran for governor of Ohio: in 1932, he lost the primary; in 1934, he won the Republican nomination but lost the general election. Brown was a delegate to the
Republican National Convention The Republican National Convention (RNC) is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1856 by the United States Republican Party. They are administered by the Republican National Committee. The goal of the Repu ...
s in 1936, 1940, 1944 and 1948 and a member of the
Republican National Committee The Republican National Committee (RNC) is a U.S. political committee that assists the Republican Party of the United States. It is responsible for developing and promoting the Republican brand and political platform, as well as assisting in fu ...
beginning in 1944. Brown was elected in 1938 as a Republican to the Seventy-sixth and to the thirteen succeeding Congresses, serving from January 3, 1939 until his death in 1965. While in Congress, he was chairman of the Select Committee on Newsprint in the Eightieth Congress; he was a personal friend of Democrat Speaker of the House
Sam Rayburn Samuel Taliaferro Rayburn (January 6, 1882 – November 16, 1961) was an American politician who served as the 43rd speaker of the United States House of Representatives. He was a three-time House speaker, former House majority leader, two-time ...
of
Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
. In the 1930s and 1940s, Brown staunchly opposed President
Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...
's
New Deal The New Deal was a series of programs, public work projects, financial reforms, and regulations enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the United States between 1933 and 1939. Major federal programs agencies included the Civilian Cons ...
policies to expand the federal bureaucracy. He also opposed expanding U.S. foreign military entanglements until the
attack on Pearl Harbor The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service upon the United States against the naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii, j ...
. However, in March 1941 he voted in favor of providing increased military aid to the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
during that country's war against
Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
. Following
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, Brown warned against the continuation and expansion of
foreign aid In international relations, aid (also known as international aid, overseas aid, foreign aid, economic aid or foreign assistance) is – from the perspective of governments – a voluntary transfer of resources from one country to another. Ai ...
programs that were meant to be temporary. When
Harry S. Truman Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884December 26, 1972) was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. A leader of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 34th vice president from January to April 1945 under Franklin ...
became president, Brown opposed his
Fair Deal The Fair Deal was a set of proposals put forward by U.S. President Harry S. Truman to Congress in 1945 and in his January 1949 State of the Union address. More generally. the term characterizes the entire domestic agenda of the Truman administra ...
, viewing it as corrupt cronyism through the expansion of federal bureaucracy. Brown cosponsored legislation to create the
Hoover Commission The Hoover Commission, officially named the Commission on Organization of the Executive Branch of the Government, was a body appointed by President Harry S. Truman in 1947 to recommend administrative changes in the Federal Government of the Unite ...
to study and reform the federal government and served on the commission, formally the Commission on the Organization of the Executive Branch of Government. By the 1950s, Brown was the ranking minority member of the important Rules Committee in Congress. In the 1960s, he worked with its chairman, Democrat
Howard W. Smith Howard Worth Smith (February 2, 1883 – October 3, 1976) was an American politician. A Democratic U.S. Representative from Virginia, he was a leader of the informal but powerful conservative coalition. Early life and education Howard W ...
of
Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...
, to block expansive federal legislation sought by presidents
John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination ...
and
Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), often referred to by his initials LBJ, was an American politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. He had previously served as the 37th vice ...
. Smith was a senior member of the Southern Bloc, established by white Democrats at the turn of the 20th century, when the former
Confederate states The Confederate States of America (CSA), commonly referred to as the Confederate States or the Confederacy was an unrecognized breakaway republic in the Southern United States that existed from February 8, 1861, to May 9, 1865. The Confeder ...
disfranchised blacks. However, near the end of his life, Brown convinced the segregationist Smith to allow landmark civil rights legislation to reach the House floor for a vote. He checked out of the hospital to help shepherd the
Voting Rights Act of 1965 The Voting Rights Act of 1965 is a landmark piece of federal legislation in the United States that prohibits racial discrimination in voting. It was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson during the height of the civil rights movement ...
through Smith's Rules Committee, and he contributed to the achievements of the
Civil rights movement The civil rights movement was a nonviolent social and political movement and campaign from 1954 to 1968 in the United States to abolish legalized institutional Racial segregation in the United States, racial segregation, Racial discrimination ...
. Brown died from
uremic poisoning Acute kidney injury (AKI), previously called acute renal failure (ARF), is a sudden decrease in kidney function that develops within 7 days, as shown by an increase in serum creatinine or a decrease in urine output, or both. Causes of AKI are cla ...
due to
kidney failure Kidney failure, also known as end-stage kidney disease, is a medical condition in which the kidneys can no longer adequately filter waste products from the blood, functioning at less than 15% of normal levels. Kidney failure is classified as eit ...
at
Bethesda Naval Hospital The Walter Reed National Military Medical Center (WRNMMC), formerly known as the National Naval Medical Center and colloquially referred to as the Bethesda Naval Hospital, Walter Reed, or Navy Med, is a United States' tri-service military medi ...
,
Bethesda, Maryland Bethesda () is an unincorporated, census-designated place in southern Montgomery County, Maryland. It is located just northwest of Washington, D.C. It takes its name from a local church, the Bethesda Meeting House (1820, rebuilt 1849), which in ...
on August 23, 1965.Veteran Congressman Clarence Brown Dies; Van Wert Times Bulletin; Van Wert, Ohio; Page 1; August 23, 1965 He was buried in the I.O.O.F. Cemetery,
Blanchester, Ohio Blanchester is a village in Clinton and Warren counties in the U.S. state of Ohio. The population was 4,243 at the 2010 census. Blanchester is part of the Wilmington, Ohio Micropolitan Statistical Area, which is also included in the Cincinnati- ...
. Brown was a member of the Masons, K. of P., I.O.O.F.,
Moose The moose (in North America) or elk (in Eurasia) (''Alces alces'') is a member of the New World deer subfamily and is the only species in the genus ''Alces''. It is the largest and heaviest extant species in the deer family. Most adult mal ...
, and M.W.A. Brown and his wife Ethel had three children — Betty, Dorothy and Clarence J. "Bud" Brown Jr. His son, Bud, won the special election in 1965 to fill his father's seat in Congress. His grandson is
Clancy Brown Clarence John "Clancy" Brown III (born January 5, 1959) is an American actor. Prolific in film and television since the 1980s, Brown is often cast in villainous and authoritative roles. Brown's film roles include Viking Lofgren in ''Bad Boys'' ...
, an actor. He is not related to the
film director A film director controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfilment of that vision. The director has a key role in choosing the cast members, p ...
of the same name. File:Brown Headstone.JPG, Brown family headstone at I.O.O.F. Cemetery in Blanchester, Ohio. File:Clarence J. Brown.JPG, Gravemarker of Clarence J. Brown.


See also

* List of United States representatives from Ohio *
List of United States Congress members who died in office (1950–99) There are several lists of United States Congress members who died in office. These include: * List of United States Congress members who died in office (1790–1899) *List of United States Congress members who died in office (1900–1949) *List o ...


References


Notes


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Clarence J. 1893 births 1965 deaths Lieutenant Governors of Ohio Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Ohio 20th-century American newspaper publishers (people) American newspaper chain founders People from Blanchester, Ohio Secretaries of State of Ohio Washington and Lee University School of Law alumni Old Right (United States) Activists for African-American civil rights American anti-lynching activists Clarence J.