Owen Brewster
Encyclopedia
Ralph Owen Brewster was an American politician
from Maine
. Brewster, a Republican
, was solidly conservative
. Brewster was a close confidant of Joseph McCarthy
of Wisconsin
and an antagonist of Howard Hughes
.
, the son of William Edmund Brewster, a member of the Maine House of Representatives
, and Carrie S. Bridges. He was a direct lineal descendant of both Love Brewster
, a passenger aboard the Mayflower and a founder of the town of Bridgewater, Massachusetts
; and of Elder William Brewster
, the Pilgrim colonist leader and spiritual elder of the Plymouth Colony
, and passenger aboard the Mayflower
and one of the signers of the Mayflower Compact
.
He graduated summa cum laude
from Bowdoin College
in 1909, a member of the Phi Beta Kappa Society
and Delta Kappa Epsilon
. From 1909 to 1910, Brewster was the principal of Castine High School, and then attended Harvard Law School
, graduating in 1913.
In 1915, he married Dorothy Foss; from 1915 to 1923, he was a member of the Portland School Committee. From 1914 to 1925, Brewster was a lawyer for the Chapman and Brewster law firm
in Portland
.
(1917–18), but resigned to enlist in the U.S. Army
(Third Infantry unit of the Maine National Guard
) when the nation entered World War I
. He served successively as private
, second lieutenant
, captain, and regimental adjutant, and returned to the State House after the war ended. He continued to be a State House member from 1921 to 1922, when he was elected to the Maine Senate
.
Brewster served in the State Senate until 1925 where he clashed with Sen. Clyde Smith
, an ardent opponent of the Ku Klux Klan
, whose members openly campaigned for Brewster although he denied any involvement with them. Brewster was a proponent of a bill that would disallow any state funding for parochial schools, a measure considered to be aimed at Maine's growing Catholic School system. When he ran for Governor of Maine
in 1924, his Democratic opponent William Robinson Pattangall
, made Klan support for Brewster the centerpiece of his campaign. Pattangall lost, but Brewster was also accused of Klan sympathies from within his own party, most notably by former Maine governor Percival Baxter. His governorship would so split the Maine Republican Party that Brewster denounced his own party's candidate in a U.S. Senatorial election in 1926. Arthur R. Gould
won anyway after an anti-Klan campaign, which signalled the limits of the Klan's power in Maine politics (see Ku Klux Klan in Maine
)
Brewster entered the Republican primary for the U.S. Senate seat held by Sen. Frederick Hale
in 1928, but Hale triumphed. This was the last time that the Maine Ku Klux Klan openly campaigned for Brewster, and his loss led to the resignation of Grand Dragon DeForest H. Perkins
.
, after a bitterly-fought campaign against Democrat John G. Utterback
from Bangor
where Brewster also had a law office. Although Bangor was the largest city in Brewster's congressional district, his support came mainly from smaller towns. As one Maine newspaper put it in 1923, "the rank and file (of Republicans in Bangor) are decidedly, positively, and all-the-time anti-Brewster". Brewster accused Utterback and the Democratic Party of throwing the vote in certain predominantly Franco-American (i.e. Catholic-majority) towns in Aroostook County, and took that accusation first to state authorities and then to the U.S. Congress itself, where he tried to prevent Utterback from being seated. Although unsuccessful, Utterback was kept so much on the defensive that Brewster managed to defeat him in the 1934 election. Brewster served in the House until 1941, when he went on to the U.S. Senate
. Brewster was re-elected to the Senate in 1946.
Roosevelt's New Deal
. As Senator, Brewster sat on several committees, notably the Special Senate Committee to Investigate the National Defense Program (the Truman Committee), and the Joint Committee to Investigate the Pearl Harbor Attack. At the time these were very high profile and Brewster's work on those committees did much to raise his profile in Washington.
Brewster played a role in defeating the signature New Deal project in his own district of Maine, a multi-billion dollar tidal power development planned for Passamaquoddy Bay
. Supported by President Roosevelt, whose summer home on Campobello
was within sight of the project area, Brewster initially seemed to be an ally. In 1935, however, he publicly accused a New Deal attorney, Thomas Corcoran
, of threatening to kill the project unless Brewster favored the administration on a related vote reigning in private utilities. Corcoran denied the charge in the public hearing that followed, Brewster shouting out "liar" at one point in the proceedings. While Brewster's accusation made it appear that he was still supportive, and that the Roosevelt administration was placing the development in jeopardy, the project's supporters believed he was playing a double game. In the town of Lubec
, adjacent to the development site, a crowd of over 200 hung Brewster in effigy with a sign around his neck reading "our double-crossing Congressman".
In the post-war Senate, Brewster became good friends with Joseph McCarthy
of Wisconsin
. His association with McCarthyism
eroded Brewster's political support as McCarthy's anti-communist excesses became increasingly unpopular. His earlier association with the Ku Klux Klan
had already cost him support in liberal Republican circles. One of McCarthy's major opponents was another Republican member of Maine's congressional delegation, Margaret Chase Smith
, whose late husband Clyde Smith
had been a foe of Brewster and the Klan in the Maine State Legislature of the 1920s.
, America's wealthiest person at the time. Brewster was chairman of a special Senate committee investigating defense procurement during World War II
. He claimed concern that Hughes had received $40 million from the Defense Department without actually delivering the aircraft he had contracted to provide, but Brewster may have had an ulterior motive. Incidentally, Hughes stated that the H-4 Hercules cost far more, with the balance coming from his own funds.
Hughes aggressively combatted the inquiring Brewster, alleging corruption on the part of Brewster. Memoirs by Hughes right-hand man Noah Dietrich
and syndicated newspaper columnist Jack Anderson each sketched Brewster as, in Dietrich's words, "an errand boy for Juan Trippe
and Pan American World Airways
," who pushed for legislation that would give Pan Am the single-carrier international air monopoly
for the U.S. The Martin Scorsese
movie The Aviator portrays Brewster (played by Alan Alda
) similarly, as corrupt and in the pocket of Pan Am, the rival of Hughes' TWA
. Hughes spread rumors about Brewster's close association with Pan Am, alleging that he received free flights and hospitality in return for legislation such as his bill to withdraw government approval for TWA flights across the Atlantic.
In a Senate hearing that electrified the nation, Hughes repeated his accusations that Brewster had promised an end to the Senate inquiry if Hughes would agree to merging TWA with Pan Am. (Dietrich wrote that Hughes, in a bid to stall for time before the hearing, went so far as to launch negotiations with Trippe about such a merger.) In response, Brewster, stung by the allegations, stood aside from chairing the inquiry and became instead a witness before the committee — which also allowed Hughes to question Brewster directly. Brewster denied Hughes' allegations and made several counter-claims, but by the time the hearing ended Brewster's reputation had suffered greatly. Paradoxically, Hughes, for all his wealth, came across as what Dietrich described as the "little guy" who "fought City Hall and won."
In 1952, Hughes worked hard to ensure Brewster's political demise, persuading the then Governor of Maine, Frederick G. Payne
, to challenge him for the Republican Senate nomination. Armed with practically unlimited campaign funds from Hughes, Payne challenged Brewster's connection with McCarthyism and racist
groups, and also took up Hughes' claims that Brewster was corrupt. This led to the unusual defeat of an incumbent Senator in his own primary
; Payne would only last one term, being defeated by Ed Muskie in 1958.
, Grange
, the American Legion
, the Freemasons
, the Elks
, the Odd Fellows
, and Delta Kappa Epsilon
.
Brewster died unexpectedly of cancer
on Christmas Day, 1961 in Brookline
, Massachusetts
. He was buried at Mount Pleasant Cemetery in Dexter, Maine
where his home was converted to the Brewster Inn, a bed and breakfast
.
in The Aviator. Alda was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
for his performance, but lost to Morgan Freeman
for Million Dollar Baby
.
Footage of Brewster as a senator was included in the documentary
'Atomic Cafe" Brewster is giving a portion of a McCarthyite speech about communism
.
Politics of the United States
The United States is a federal constitutional republic, in which the President of the United States , Congress, and judiciary share powers reserved to the national government, and the federal government shares sovereignty with the state governments.The executive branch is headed by the President...
from Maine
Maine
Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...
. Brewster, a Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
, was solidly conservative
Conservatism
Conservatism is a political and social philosophy that promotes the maintenance of traditional institutions and supports, at the most, minimal and gradual change in society. Some conservatives seek to preserve things as they are, emphasizing stability and continuity, while others oppose modernism...
. Brewster was a close confidant of Joseph McCarthy
Joseph McCarthy
Joseph Raymond "Joe" McCarthy was an American politician who served as a Republican U.S. Senator from the state of Wisconsin from 1947 until his death in 1957...
of Wisconsin
Wisconsin
Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...
and an antagonist of Howard Hughes
Howard Hughes
Howard Robard Hughes, Jr. was an American business magnate, investor, aviator, engineer, film producer, director, and philanthropist. He was one of the wealthiest people in the world...
.
Early years
Owen (he preferred to be known by his middle name) Brewster was born in Dexter, MaineDexter, Maine
Dexter is a town in Penobscot County, Maine, United States. The population was 3,890 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Bangor, Maine metropolitan statistical area...
, the son of William Edmund Brewster, a member of the Maine House of Representatives
Maine House of Representatives
The Maine House of Representatives is the lower house of the Maine Legislature. The House consists of 151 members representing an equal amount of districts across the state. Each voting member of the House represents around 8,450 citizens of the state...
, and Carrie S. Bridges. He was a direct lineal descendant of both Love Brewster
Love Brewster
Elder Love Brewster was an early American settler, the son of Elder William Brewster and his wife, Mary Brewster. He traveled with his father, mother and brother, Wrestling, on the Mayflower reaching what became the Plymouth Colony in Massachusetts in 1620...
, a passenger aboard the Mayflower and a founder of the town of Bridgewater, Massachusetts
Bridgewater, Massachusetts
For geographic and demographic information on the census-designated place Bridgewater, please see the article Bridgewater , Massachusetts.The Town of Bridgewater is a city in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States, 28 miles south of Boston. At the 2000 Census, the population was 25,185...
; and of Elder William Brewster
William Brewster (Pilgrim)
Elder William Brewster was a Mayflower passenger and a Pilgrim colonist leader and preacher.-Origins:Brewster was probably born at Doncaster, Yorkshire, England, circa 1566/1567, although no birth records have been found, and died at Plymouth, Massachusetts on April 10, 1644 around 9- or 10pm...
, the Pilgrim colonist leader and spiritual elder of the Plymouth Colony
Plymouth Colony
Plymouth Colony was an English colonial venture in North America from 1620 to 1691. The first settlement of the Plymouth Colony was at New Plymouth, a location previously surveyed and named by Captain John Smith. The settlement, which served as the capital of the colony, is today the modern town...
, and passenger aboard the Mayflower
Mayflower
The Mayflower was the ship that transported the English Separatists, better known as the Pilgrims, from a site near the Mayflower Steps in Plymouth, England, to Plymouth, Massachusetts, , in 1620...
and one of the signers of the Mayflower Compact
Mayflower Compact
The Mayflower Compact was the first governing document of Plymouth Colony. It was written by the colonists, later together known to history as the Pilgrims, who crossed the Atlantic aboard the Mayflower...
.
He graduated summa cum laude
Latin honors
Latin honors are Latin phrases used to indicate the level of academic distinction with which an academic degree was earned. This system is primarily used in the United States, Canada, and in many countries of continental Europe, though some institutions also use the English translation of these...
from Bowdoin College
Bowdoin College
Bowdoin College , founded in 1794, is an elite private liberal arts college located in the coastal Maine town of Brunswick, Maine. As of 2011, U.S. News and World Report ranks Bowdoin 6th among liberal arts colleges in the United States. At times, it was ranked as high as 4th in the country. It is...
in 1909, a member of the Phi Beta Kappa Society
Phi Beta Kappa Society
The Phi Beta Kappa Society is an academic honor society. Its mission is to "celebrate and advocate excellence in the liberal arts and sciences"; and induct "the most outstanding students of arts and sciences at America’s leading colleges and universities." Founded at The College of William and...
and Delta Kappa Epsilon
Delta Kappa Epsilon
Delta Kappa Epsilon is a fraternity founded at Yale College in 1844 by 15 men of the sophomore class who had not been invited to join the two existing societies...
. From 1909 to 1910, Brewster was the principal of Castine High School, and then attended Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School is one of the professional graduate schools of Harvard University. Located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, it is the oldest continually-operating law school in the United States and is home to the largest academic law library in the world. The school is routinely ranked by the U.S...
, graduating in 1913.
In 1915, he married Dorothy Foss; from 1915 to 1923, he was a member of the Portland School Committee. From 1914 to 1925, Brewster was a lawyer for the Chapman and Brewster law firm
Law firm
A law firm is a business entity formed by one or more lawyers to engage in the practice of law. The primary service rendered by a law firm is to advise clients about their legal rights and responsibilities, and to represent clients in civil or criminal cases, business transactions, and other...
in Portland
Portland, Maine
Portland is the largest city in Maine and is the county seat of Cumberland County. The 2010 city population was 66,194, growing 3 percent since the census of 2000...
.
Early political career and Klan support
Brewster was elected to a two-year term as a member of the Maine House of RepresentativesMaine House of Representatives
The Maine House of Representatives is the lower house of the Maine Legislature. The House consists of 151 members representing an equal amount of districts across the state. Each voting member of the House represents around 8,450 citizens of the state...
(1917–18), but resigned to enlist in the U.S. Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
(Third Infantry unit of the Maine National Guard
Maine National Guard
The Maine Department of Defense, Veterans, and Emergency Management is a government agency of Maine. It comprises the two components of the Maine National Guard, the Maine Army National Guard and the Maine Air National Guard, the Bureau of Veterans' Affairs, and the Maine Emergency Management...
) when the nation entered World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. He served successively as private
Private (rank)
A Private is a soldier of the lowest military rank .In modern military parlance, 'Private' is shortened to 'Pte' in the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth countries and to 'Pvt.' in the United States.Notably both Sir Fitzroy MacLean and Enoch Powell are examples of, rare, rapid career...
, second lieutenant
Second Lieutenant
Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces.- United Kingdom and Commonwealth :The rank second lieutenant was introduced throughout the British Army in 1871 to replace the rank of ensign , although it had long been used in the Royal Artillery, Royal...
, captain, and regimental adjutant, and returned to the State House after the war ended. He continued to be a State House member from 1921 to 1922, when he was elected to the Maine Senate
Maine Senate
The Maine Senate is the upper house of the Maine Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Maine. The Senate currently consists of 35 members representing an equal number of districts across the state, though the Maine Constitution allows for "an odd number of Senators, not less than...
.
Brewster served in the State Senate until 1925 where he clashed with Sen. Clyde Smith
Clyde Smith
Clyde Harold Smith was a United States Representative from Maine.Born on a farm near Harmony, Maine, he moved with his parents to Hartland, Maine in 1891. He attended the rural schools and Hartland Academy, and taught school...
, an ardent opponent of the Ku Klux Klan
Ku Klux Klan in Maine
Although the Ku Klux Klan is popularly associated with white supremacy, the revived Klan of the 1920s was also anti-Catholic. In the State of Maine, with a negligible African-American population but a burgeoning number of French-Canadian and Irish immigrants, the Klan revival of the 1920s was...
, whose members openly campaigned for Brewster although he denied any involvement with them. Brewster was a proponent of a bill that would disallow any state funding for parochial schools, a measure considered to be aimed at Maine's growing Catholic School system. When he ran for Governor of Maine
Governor of Maine
The governor of Maine is the chief executive of the State of Maine. Before Maine was admitted to the Union in 1820, Maine was part of Massachusetts and the governor of Massachusetts was chief executive....
in 1924, his Democratic opponent William Robinson Pattangall
William Robinson Pattangall
William Robinson Pattangall was a Maine politician, particularly known for his support of public schools and opposition to the Ku Klux Klan. He was later the Chief Justice of the Maine Supreme Court retiring on July 16, 1935....
, made Klan support for Brewster the centerpiece of his campaign. Pattangall lost, but Brewster was also accused of Klan sympathies from within his own party, most notably by former Maine governor Percival Baxter. His governorship would so split the Maine Republican Party that Brewster denounced his own party's candidate in a U.S. Senatorial election in 1926. Arthur R. Gould
Arthur R. Gould
Arthur Robinson Gould was a United States Senator from Maine.Born in Corinth, Maine, he attended the common schools and East Corinth Academy. He moved first to Bangor, Maine, where he opened a candy factory and met and married his wife, and then to Presque Isle, Maine, in 1887...
won anyway after an anti-Klan campaign, which signalled the limits of the Klan's power in Maine politics (see Ku Klux Klan in Maine
Ku Klux Klan in Maine
Although the Ku Klux Klan is popularly associated with white supremacy, the revived Klan of the 1920s was also anti-Catholic. In the State of Maine, with a negligible African-American population but a burgeoning number of French-Canadian and Irish immigrants, the Klan revival of the 1920s was...
)
Brewster entered the Republican primary for the U.S. Senate seat held by Sen. Frederick Hale
Frederick Hale
Frederick Hale was a politician from the U.S. state of Maine, representing the state in the United States Senate from 1917 to 1941. He was the son of Eugene Hale, the grandson of Zachariah Chandler, both also U.S. Senators, brother of diplomat Chandler Hale, and the cousin of U.S...
in 1928, but Hale triumphed. This was the last time that the Maine Ku Klux Klan openly campaigned for Brewster, and his loss led to the resignation of Grand Dragon DeForest H. Perkins
DeForest H. Perkins
Deforest H. Perkins was the Grand Dragon of the Ku Klux Klan in Maine from 1925 to 1928. This was the high period of the Klan's ascendency nationally, and in Maine. He resigned in 1928 after a Klan-backed Republican candidate for U.S. Senator, Owen Brewster, lost his primary contest to Sen...
.
Contested election of 1932
Brewster served two terms as Governor, leaving office in 1929 after he lost the Republican nomination for a third term. In 1932, he was defeated for a seat in the U.S. House of RepresentativesUnited States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
, after a bitterly-fought campaign against Democrat John G. Utterback
John G. Utterback
John Gregg Utterback was a U.S. Representative from Maine, and cousin of Hubert Utterback.Born in Franklin, Indiana, Utterback attended the public schools of his native city.He was employed in a carriage factory 1889-1892....
from Bangor
Bangor, Maine
Bangor is a city in and the county seat of Penobscot County, Maine, United States, and the major commercial and cultural center for eastern and northern Maine...
where Brewster also had a law office. Although Bangor was the largest city in Brewster's congressional district, his support came mainly from smaller towns. As one Maine newspaper put it in 1923, "the rank and file (of Republicans in Bangor) are decidedly, positively, and all-the-time anti-Brewster". Brewster accused Utterback and the Democratic Party of throwing the vote in certain predominantly Franco-American (i.e. Catholic-majority) towns in Aroostook County, and took that accusation first to state authorities and then to the U.S. Congress itself, where he tried to prevent Utterback from being seated. Although unsuccessful, Utterback was kept so much on the defensive that Brewster managed to defeat him in the 1934 election. Brewster served in the House until 1941, when he went on to the U.S. Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
. Brewster was re-elected to the Senate in 1946.
Congressional career, opposition to New Deal, and post-war McCarthyism
During his time in Congress, Brewster worked on legislation to provide old-age pensions (the forerunner of Social Security) although he was a prominent opponent of welfare and spending programs in PresidentPresident of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
Roosevelt's New Deal
New Deal
The New Deal was a series of economic programs implemented in the United States between 1933 and 1936. They were passed by the U.S. Congress during the first term of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The programs were Roosevelt's responses to the Great Depression, and focused on what historians call...
. As Senator, Brewster sat on several committees, notably the Special Senate Committee to Investigate the National Defense Program (the Truman Committee), and the Joint Committee to Investigate the Pearl Harbor Attack. At the time these were very high profile and Brewster's work on those committees did much to raise his profile in Washington.
Brewster played a role in defeating the signature New Deal project in his own district of Maine, a multi-billion dollar tidal power development planned for Passamaquoddy Bay
Passamaquoddy Bay
Passamaquoddy Bay is an inlet of the Bay of Fundy, between the U.S. state of Maine and the Canadian province of New Brunswick, at the mouth of the St. Croix River. Most of the bay lies within Canada, with its western shore bounded by Washington County, Maine. The southernmost point is formed by...
. Supported by President Roosevelt, whose summer home on Campobello
Campobello
Campobello may refer to:* Campobello, South Carolina* Campobello di Mazara, Sicily, Italy* Campobello di Licata, Sicily, Italy* Campobello Island, New Brunswick-People with the surname:...
was within sight of the project area, Brewster initially seemed to be an ally. In 1935, however, he publicly accused a New Deal attorney, Thomas Corcoran
Thomas Gardiner Corcoran
Thomas Gardiner Corcoran was one of several Irish American advisors in President Franklin D. Roosevelt's brain trust during the New Deal, and later, a close friend and advisor to President Lyndon B. Johnson....
, of threatening to kill the project unless Brewster favored the administration on a related vote reigning in private utilities. Corcoran denied the charge in the public hearing that followed, Brewster shouting out "liar" at one point in the proceedings. While Brewster's accusation made it appear that he was still supportive, and that the Roosevelt administration was placing the development in jeopardy, the project's supporters believed he was playing a double game. In the town of Lubec
Lubec, Maine
Lubec is a town in Washington County, Maine, United States. The population was 1,652 at the 2000 census. Lubec is the easternmost town in the contiguous United States . However, the Aleutian Islands in Alaska extend into the eastern hemisphere, and if territories are included, Point Udall in the...
, adjacent to the development site, a crowd of over 200 hung Brewster in effigy with a sign around his neck reading "our double-crossing Congressman".
In the post-war Senate, Brewster became good friends with Joseph McCarthy
Joseph McCarthy
Joseph Raymond "Joe" McCarthy was an American politician who served as a Republican U.S. Senator from the state of Wisconsin from 1947 until his death in 1957...
of Wisconsin
Wisconsin
Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...
. His association with McCarthyism
McCarthyism
McCarthyism is the practice of making accusations of disloyalty, subversion, or treason without proper regard for evidence. The term has its origins in the period in the United States known as the Second Red Scare, lasting roughly from the late 1940s to the late 1950s and characterized by...
eroded Brewster's political support as McCarthy's anti-communist excesses became increasingly unpopular. His earlier association with the Ku Klux Klan
Ku Klux Klan
Ku Klux Klan, often abbreviated KKK and informally known as the Klan, is the name of three distinct past and present far-right organizations in the United States, which have advocated extremist reactionary currents such as white supremacy, white nationalism, and anti-immigration, historically...
had already cost him support in liberal Republican circles. One of McCarthy's major opponents was another Republican member of Maine's congressional delegation, Margaret Chase Smith
Margaret Chase Smith
Margaret Chase Smith was a Republican Senator from Maine, and one of the most successful politicians in Maine history. She was the first woman to be elected to both the U.S. House and the Senate, and the first woman from Maine to serve in either. She was also the first woman to have her name...
, whose late husband Clyde Smith
Clyde Smith
Clyde Harold Smith was a United States Representative from Maine.Born on a farm near Harmony, Maine, he moved with his parents to Hartland, Maine in 1891. He attended the rural schools and Hartland Academy, and taught school...
had been a foe of Brewster and the Klan in the Maine State Legislature of the 1920s.
Opposition to Howard Hughes
Brewster came to national attention due to his opposition to the commercial interests of Howard HughesHoward Hughes
Howard Robard Hughes, Jr. was an American business magnate, investor, aviator, engineer, film producer, director, and philanthropist. He was one of the wealthiest people in the world...
, America's wealthiest person at the time. Brewster was chairman of a special Senate committee investigating defense procurement during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. He claimed concern that Hughes had received $40 million from the Defense Department without actually delivering the aircraft he had contracted to provide, but Brewster may have had an ulterior motive. Incidentally, Hughes stated that the H-4 Hercules cost far more, with the balance coming from his own funds.
Hughes aggressively combatted the inquiring Brewster, alleging corruption on the part of Brewster. Memoirs by Hughes right-hand man Noah Dietrich
Noah Dietrich
Noah Dietrich was an American business executive, who acted as Chief Executive Officer of the Howard Hughes empire from 1925 until 1957, when, according to his own memoir, he left the Hughes operation over a dispute involving putting more of his income on a capital gains basis. The manuscript of...
and syndicated newspaper columnist Jack Anderson each sketched Brewster as, in Dietrich's words, "an errand boy for Juan Trippe
Juan Trippe
Juan Terry Trippe was an American airline entrepreneur and pioneer, and the founder of Pan American World Airways, one of the world's most prominent airlines of the twentieth century.-Early years:...
and Pan American World Airways
Pan American World Airways
Pan American World Airways, commonly known as Pan Am, was the principal and largest international air carrier in the United States from 1927 until its collapse on December 4, 1991...
," who pushed for legislation that would give Pan Am the single-carrier international air monopoly
Monopoly
A monopoly exists when a specific person or enterprise is the only supplier of a particular commodity...
for the U.S. The Martin Scorsese
Martin Scorsese
Martin Charles Scorsese is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and film historian. In 1990 he founded The Film Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to film preservation, and in 2007 he founded the World Cinema Foundation...
movie The Aviator portrays Brewster (played by Alan Alda
Alan Alda
Alphonso Joseph D'Abruzzo , better known as Alan Alda, is an American actor, director, screenwriter, and author. A six-time Emmy Award and Golden Globe Award winner, he is best known for his role as Hawkeye Pierce in the TV series M*A*S*H...
) similarly, as corrupt and in the pocket of Pan Am, the rival of Hughes' TWA
Trans World Airlines
Trans World Airlines was an American airline that existed from 1925 until it was bought out by and merged with American Airlines in 2001. It was a major domestic airline in the United States and the main U.S.-based competitor of Pan American World Airways on intercontinental routes from 1946...
. Hughes spread rumors about Brewster's close association with Pan Am, alleging that he received free flights and hospitality in return for legislation such as his bill to withdraw government approval for TWA flights across the Atlantic.
In a Senate hearing that electrified the nation, Hughes repeated his accusations that Brewster had promised an end to the Senate inquiry if Hughes would agree to merging TWA with Pan Am. (Dietrich wrote that Hughes, in a bid to stall for time before the hearing, went so far as to launch negotiations with Trippe about such a merger.) In response, Brewster, stung by the allegations, stood aside from chairing the inquiry and became instead a witness before the committee — which also allowed Hughes to question Brewster directly. Brewster denied Hughes' allegations and made several counter-claims, but by the time the hearing ended Brewster's reputation had suffered greatly. Paradoxically, Hughes, for all his wealth, came across as what Dietrich described as the "little guy" who "fought City Hall and won."
In 1952, Hughes worked hard to ensure Brewster's political demise, persuading the then Governor of Maine, Frederick G. Payne
Frederick G. Payne
Frederick George Payne was a Republican politician from the U.S. state of Maine. He was born in Lewiston, Maine....
, to challenge him for the Republican Senate nomination. Armed with practically unlimited campaign funds from Hughes, Payne challenged Brewster's connection with McCarthyism and racist
Racism
Racism is the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination. In the modern English language, the term "racism" is used predominantly as a pejorative epithet. It is applied especially to the practice or advocacy of racial discrimination of a pernicious nature...
groups, and also took up Hughes' claims that Brewster was corrupt. This led to the unusual defeat of an incumbent Senator in his own primary
Primary election
A primary election is an election in which party members or voters select candidates for a subsequent election. Primary elections are one means by which a political party nominates candidates for the next general election....
; Payne would only last one term, being defeated by Ed Muskie in 1958.
Retirement and later years
In his retirement Brewster continued active involvement in many conservative organizations. Brewster was a Christian Scientist. He was a member of the American Bar AssociationAmerican Bar Association
The American Bar Association , founded August 21, 1878, is a voluntary bar association of lawyers and law students, which is not specific to any jurisdiction in the United States. The ABA's most important stated activities are the setting of academic standards for law schools, and the formulation...
, Grange
Grange movement
The National Grange of the Order of Patrons of Husbandry, also simply styled the Grange, is a fraternal organization for American farmers that encourages farm families to band together for their common economic and political well-being...
, the American Legion
American Legion
The American Legion is a mutual-aid organization of veterans of the United States armed forces chartered by the United States Congress. It was founded to benefit those veterans who served during a wartime period as defined by Congress...
, the Freemasons
Freemasonry
Freemasonry is a fraternal organisation that arose from obscure origins in the late 16th to early 17th century. Freemasonry now exists in various forms all over the world, with a membership estimated at around six million, including approximately 150,000 under the jurisdictions of the Grand Lodge...
, the Elks
Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks
The Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks is an American fraternal order and social club founded in 1868...
, the Odd Fellows
Independent Order of Odd Fellows
The Independent Order of Odd Fellows , also known as the Three Link Fraternity, is an altruistic and benevolent fraternal organization derived from the similar British Oddfellows service organizations which came into being during the 18th century, at a time when altruistic and charitable acts were...
, and Delta Kappa Epsilon
Delta Kappa Epsilon
Delta Kappa Epsilon is a fraternity founded at Yale College in 1844 by 15 men of the sophomore class who had not been invited to join the two existing societies...
.
Brewster died unexpectedly of cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
on Christmas Day, 1961 in Brookline
Brookline, Massachusetts
Brookline is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States, which borders on the cities of Boston and Newton. As of the 2010 census, the population of the town was 58,732.-Etymology:...
, Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
. He was buried at Mount Pleasant Cemetery in Dexter, Maine
Dexter, Maine
Dexter is a town in Penobscot County, Maine, United States. The population was 3,890 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Bangor, Maine metropolitan statistical area...
where his home was converted to the Brewster Inn, a bed and breakfast
Bed and breakfast
A bed and breakfast is a small lodging establishment that offers overnight accommodation and breakfast, but usually does not offer other meals. Since the 1980s, the meaning of the term has also extended to include accommodations that are also known as "self-catering" establishments...
.
Popular culture
In 2004, Brewster was portrayed by Alan AldaAlan Alda
Alphonso Joseph D'Abruzzo , better known as Alan Alda, is an American actor, director, screenwriter, and author. A six-time Emmy Award and Golden Globe Award winner, he is best known for his role as Hawkeye Pierce in the TV series M*A*S*H...
in The Aviator. Alda was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry. Since its inception, however, the...
for his performance, but lost to Morgan Freeman
Morgan Freeman
Morgan Freeman is an American actor, film director, aviator and narrator. He is noted for his reserved demeanor and authoritative speaking voice. Freeman has received Academy Award nominations for his performances in Street Smart, Driving Miss Daisy, The Shawshank Redemption and Invictus and won...
for Million Dollar Baby
Million Dollar Baby
Million Dollar Baby is a 2004 American sports drama film directed, co-produced, and scored by Clint Eastwood and starring Eastwood, Hilary Swank, and Morgan Freeman...
.
Footage of Brewster as a senator was included in the documentary
Documentary
A documentary is a creative work of non-fiction, including:* Documentary film, including television* Radio documentary* Documentary photographyRelated terms include:...
'Atomic Cafe" Brewster is giving a portion of a McCarthyite speech about communism
Communism
Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
.