John Milan Ashbrook (September 21, 1928 – April 24, 1982) was an American politician and newspaper publisher. A member of the
Republican Party, he served 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 chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...
from
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 ...
from 1961 until his death.
["John M. Ashbrook"]
Ashbrook Center biography. The Reagan quote came from "a statement released upon learning of the passing of John Ashbrook"; ''On Principle'', Special Edition, 15th Anniversary of the Ashbrook Center (c. 1998), p. 15. Ashbrook was associated with the
New Right
New Right is a term for various right-wing political groups or policies in different countries during different periods. One prominent usage was to describe the emergence of certain Eastern European parties after the collapse of the Soviet Uni ...
, and he ran against President
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...
in the
1972 Republican Party presidential primaries
From March 7 to June 6, 1972, voters of the Republican Party chose its nominee for president in the 1972 United States presidential election. Incumbent President Richard Nixon was again selected as the nominee through a series of primary elect ...
, attempting to appeal to voters who believed Nixon was insufficiently conservative, but he failed to win any statewide contests. At the time of his death, he was running for U.S. Senate in Ohio in the
1982 election.
Early life
John Milan Ashbrook was born on September 21, 1928, in Johnstown, Ohio to
William A. Ashbrook, a newspaper editor, businessman, and U.S. representative, and Marie Swank. Ashbrook graduated from
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...
in 1952 and later from
Ohio State University
The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...
's law school in 1955. In 1953, Ashbrook became the publisher of his father's newspaper, the ''Johnstown Independent''. On July 3, 1948, he married Joan Needles and later had three children with her before they divorced in 1971. In 1974, he remarried to
Jean Spencer.
Career
He was elected to the
Ohio House of Representatives
The Ohio House of Representatives is the lower house of the Ohio General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Ohio; the other house of the bicameral legislature being the Ohio Senate.
The House of Representatives first met in Ch ...
in 1956, and served two terms. In 1960, the seat that his father had once held in the House of Representatives was vacated and Ashbrook ran for and won it.
1964 presidential election
With
William Rusher
William Allen Rusher (July 19, 1923 – April 16, 2011) was an American lawyer, author, activist, and Conservatism in the United States, conservative columnist. He was one of the founders of the Conservatism in the United States, conservative mo ...
and
F. Clifton White, associates from the
Young Republicans
The Young Republican National Federation, commonly referred to as the Young Republicans or YRNF, is a 527 organization for members of the Republican Party of the United States between the ages of 18 and 40. It has both a national organization ...
in the 1950s, Ashbrook was involved in the start-up of the
Draft Goldwater Committee The Draft Goldwater Committee was the organization primarily responsible for engineering the nomination of Arizona Senator Barry Goldwater for President of the United States on the 1964 Republican Party ticket.
Beginnings
The effort to draft Gold ...
in 1961.
In 1966, journalist
Drew Pearson reported that Ashbrook was one of a group of Congressman who had received the "Statesman of the Republic" award from
Liberty Lobby
Liberty Lobby was a far-right think tank and lobby group founded in 1958 by Willis Carto. Carto was known for his promotion of antisemitic conspiracy theories, white nationalism, and Holocaust denial.
The organization produced a daily five-mi ...
for his "right-wing activities".
1972 presidential election
![Johnashbrook1972](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a2/Johnashbrook1972.gif)
Despite having supported Richard Nixon during the
1968 presidential election Ashbrook turned against him during his presidency. On December 29, 1971 he announced that he would oppose Nixon in the
Republican primaries as an alternative
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 in ...
candidate and received support from conservative figures like
William F. Buckley Jr.
William Frank Buckley Jr. (born William Francis Buckley; November 24, 1925 – February 27, 2008) was an American public intellectual, conservative author and political commentator. In 1955, he founded ''National Review'', the magazine that stim ...
His slogan "No Left Turns" was illustrated by a mock traffic symbol of a left-turn arrow with a superimposed
No symbol
The general prohibition sign, also known informally as the no symbol, 'do not' sign, circle-backslash symbol, nay, interdictory circle, prohibited symbol, don't do it symbol, or universal no, is a red circle with a 45-degree diagonal line insid ...
. It was meant to symbolize the frustration of some conservatives with Nixon, whom they saw as having abandoned conservative principles and "turned left" on issues such as
budget deficits
The government budget balance, also alternatively referred to as general government balance, public budget balance, or public fiscal balance, is the overall difference between government revenues and spending. A positive balance is called a '' ...
,
affirmative action, the creation of the
Environmental Protection Agency,
wage and price controls
Incomes policies in economics are economy-wide wage and price controls, most commonly instituted as a response to inflation, and usually seeking to establish wages and prices below free market level.
Incomes policies have often been resorted to ...
, and most of all, improving relations with the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
and the People's Republic of China with his policy of
détente
Détente (, French: "relaxation") is the relaxation of strained relations, especially political ones, through verbal communication. The term, in diplomacy, originates from around 1912, when France and Germany tried unsuccessfully to reduce ...
.
Ashbrook competed in the New Hampshire (9.8% of the vote), Florida (9%), and California (10%) primaries. He withdrew from the race after the California primary and "with great reluctance" supported Nixon. His campaign, although of minimal immediate impact, is remembered fondly by conservatives who admire Ashbrook for having stood for their principles. Ashbrook said in criticism of the Nixon administration,"I still believe it in the best American tradition to speak out even when it is in criticism of your party's actions."
When Nixon became mired in the
Watergate scandal
The Watergate scandal was a major political scandal in the United States involving the administration of President Richard Nixon from 1972 to 1974 that led to Nixon's resignation. The scandal stemmed from the Nixon administration's contin ...
, Ashbrook became the first House Republican to call for the President's resignation.
Death and legacy
In
1982, Ashbrook announced his intention to seek the Republican nomination to challenge incumbent
Democratic Senator
Howard Metzenbaum
Howard Morton Metzenbaum (June 4, 1917March 12, 2008) was an American politician and businessman who served for almost 20 years as a Democratic member of the U.S. Senate from Ohio (1974, 1976–1995). He also served in the Ohio Hous ...
and polls showed him winning the primary with a plurality. However, on April 24, 1982, he suffered a
gastric hemorrhage at the offices of ''The Johnstown Independent'', and died at Licking Memorial Hospital in
Newark, Ohio
Newark ( ) is a city serving as the county seat of Licking County, Ohio, United States, east of Columbus, at the junction of the forks of the Licking River. The population was 49,934 at the 2020 census, which makes it the 15th largest city in O ...
, aged 53. President
Ronald Reagan memorialized him, saying: "John Ashbrook was a man of courage and principle. He served his constituents and his country with dedication and devotion, always working towards the betterment of his fellow man. His patriotism and deep belief in the greatness of America never wavered and his articulate and passionate calls for a return to old-fashioned American values earned him the respect of all who knew him."
Ashbrook's widow,
Jean Spencer Ashbrook
Emily Jean Spencer Ashbrook (née Spencer; born September 21, 1934) is a former American politician. She is the widow of Congressman John M. Ashbrook, a Republican from Ohio. She then completed her late husband's final term of office, also as a ...
, was chosen in
a special election to serve the remaining seven months of his congressional term.
The Ashbrook Center for Public Affairs at
Ashland University was named for Ashbrook in 1983. A periodic John M. Ashbrook Memorial Dinner at the center features leading conservative speakers from President
Ronald Reagan (first dinner; dedication of the Center, in 1983) and
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. She was the first female British prime ...
(1993) to
Mitt Romney (April 2010) and
John Boehner (June 2011).
"John M. Ashbrook Memorial Dinner"
website of the Ashbrook Center at Ashland University. Retrieved July 20, 2011.
Electoral history
See also
* List of United States Congress members who died in office (1950–99)
* List of United States representatives from Ohio
* List of members of the House Un-American Activities Committee
This list of members of the House Un-American Activities Committee details the names of those members of the United States House of Representatives who served on the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) from its formation as the "Special ...
References
External links
Biography at the Ashbrook Center for Public Affairs at Ashland University
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ashbrook, John M.
1928 births
1982 deaths
20th-century American newspaper publishers (people)
20th-century American politicians
Candidates in the 1972 United States presidential election
Candidates in the 1982 United States elections
Deaths from ulcers
Harvard College alumni
Republican Party members of the Ohio House of Representatives
New Right (United States)
Ohio State University Moritz College of Law alumni
People from Licking County, Ohio
Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Ohio