Rush Hudson Limbaugh I (September 27, 1891 – April 8, 1996) was an American legislator, and ambassador. His legal career spanned nearly 80 years, and he argued cases before the

Missouri Supreme Court The Supreme Court of Missouri is the highest court in the state of Missouri. It was established in 1820 and is located at 207 West High Street in Jefferson City, Missouri. Missouri voters have approved changes in the state's constitution to giv ...

, Internal Revenue Service Appellate Division,

Interstate Commerce Commission The Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) was a regulatory agency in the United States created by the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887. The agency's original purpose was to regulate railroads (and later trucking) to ensure fair rates, to elimina ...

, and

National Labor Relations Board The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is an independent agency of the federal government of the United States with responsibilities for enforcing U.S. labor law in relation to collective bargaining and unfair labor practices. Under the Nati ...

Biography

Early years

Limbaugh was born near

Sedgewickville, Missouri Sedgewickville is a village in northern Bollinger County in Southeast Missouri, United States. The population was 191 at the 2020 census. Sedgewickville is part of the Cape Girardeau–Jackson, MO- IL Metropolitan Statistical Area. Etymolo ...

, in

Bollinger County, Missouri Bollinger County is a county located in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Missouri. As of the 2020 census, the county's population was 10,567. The county seat is Marble Hill. The county was officially organized in 1851. Bollinger C ...

, the son of Susan Frances (Presnell) and Joseph Headley Limbaugh. He was of part German ancestry. He was initially educated in a one-room schoolhouse near his family farm. In 1914, he entered the University of Missouri School of Law following his attendance at the

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou, MU, or Missouri) is a public land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus University of Missouri System. MU was founded ...

, and although he did not complete law school, he was admitted to the

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar * Chocolate bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud * Bar (un ...

in 1916.

Career

Limbaugh was the city attorney for

Cape Girardeau, Missouri Cape Girardeau ( , french: Cap-Girardeau ; colloquially referred to as "Cape") is a city in Cape Girardeau and Scott Counties in the U.S. state of Missouri. At the 2020 census, the population was 39,540. The city is one of two principal citi ...

, from 1917 till 1919. He began to take an active interest in politics during this period and in 1919 was among those signing a convention call to establish a new

progressive Progressive may refer to: Politics * Progressivism, a political philosophy in support of social reform ** Progressivism in the United States, the political philosophy in the American context * Progressive realism, an American foreign policy par ...

political organization, the

Committee of 48 The Committee of 48 was an American liberal political association established in 1919 in the hope of creating a new political party for social reform to stand in opposition to the increasingly conservatism of both major U.S. political parties, t ...

. Limbaugh began his own law firm in 1923. He served as city councilor of Cape Girardeau from 1924 until 1930. He served in the Missouri State Legislature as a Republican from 1931 to 1932, and during his service advocated the consolidation of Missouri school districts and the formation of the

Missouri State Highway Patrol The Missouri State Highway Patrol (MSHP) is the highway patrol agency for Missouri and has jurisdiction all across the state. It is a division of the Missouri Department of Public Safety. Colonel Eric T. Olson has been serving as the 24th superin ...

. Limbaugh was Chair of the American Bar Association's Section of Real Property, Probate and Trust Law (1954–1955) and President of the Missouri Bar (1955–1956). He also served as an

ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or sov ...

for the U.S. legal system to

India India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...

during the 1950s. When he retired from his law practice at age 102, he was reportedly the oldest practicing attorney in the United States. In addition to his legal career, Limbaugh was active in civic affairs. He was involved in the early development of Southeast Missouri Hospital, was active with the Boy Scout movement and worked with the

Salvation Army Salvation (from Latin: ''salvatio'', from ''salva'', 'safe, saved') is the state of being saved or protected from harm or a dire situation. In religion and theology, ''salvation'' generally refers to the deliverance of the soul from sin and its ...

for nearly fifty years.

Death and legacy

Rush Limbaugh Sr. died on April 8, 1996. He was 104 years old at the time of his death. Limbaugh's descendants include jurists

Stephen N. Limbaugh Sr. Stephen Nathaniel Limbaugh Sr. (born November 17, 1927) is a former United States District Judge who held concurrent appointments to the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri and the United States District Court for the ...

Stephen N. Limbaugh Jr. Stephen Nathaniel Limbaugh Jr. (born January 25, 1952) is a Senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri. From 1992 to 2008, he served as a Judge on the Supreme Court of Missouri. E ...

, and grandsonsGreg Sellnow
"My Brush with the Limbaugh Clan,"
Rochester (MN) ''Post-Bulletin,'' July 28, 2011. radio commentator Rush H. Limbaugh III and attorney and political commentator

David Limbaugh David Scott Limbaugh (born December 11, 1952) is a conservative American political commentator and author who has also worked as a professor and as a lawyer. He is the younger brother of talk radio host Rush Limbaugh. Life and career Limbau ...

. In 2007, a Rush Hudson Limbaugh Sr. United States Courthouse located in Cape Girardeau, Missouri was named after him by the 110th United States Congress via Public Law 110-13.

Biography

Early years

Career

Death and legacy

See also

References

Further reading