Rush Dew Holt Sr. (June 19, 1905 – February 8, 1955) was an American politician who was a United States senator from West Virginia (1935–1941) and a member of the West Virginia House of Delegates (1931–1935, 1942–1950, 1954–1955).

Early life and family

thumb|left|upright=0.8|Holt's father Matthew in a 1928 [[Socialist Party of America|Socialist Party publication]]

Holt was born in Weston, Lewis County, West Virginia, on June 19, 1905. His parents were Chilela (née Dew) and Dr. Matthew Samuel Holt, a small-town physician and horse trader. Matthew Holt was an atheist, who shifted his political support from the Republican Party to William Jennings Bryan in the 1890s, and then to Socialist candidate Eugene Debs; Matthew Holt attended the Socialist Party's 1917 convention, where he participated in condemning American involvement in World War I.

Rush Holt attended the public schools and West Virginia University at Morgantown; he graduated from Salem College in 1924. He became a high school teacher and athletic coach, then an instructor at Salem College.

Throughout his Senate career, Holt was a staunch isolationist. He was impressed by the findings of the Nye Committee (1934–1936) and by H. C. Engelbrecht's and F. C. Hanighen's book, Merchants of Death (1934). Holt began making a number of public appearances in support of antiwar causes, including several radio addresses for the National Council for Prevention of War. He supported the Neutrality Acts of 1935, 1936, and 1937, and also every amendment aimed at making those acts more stringent. During the Spanish Civil War, Holt declared himself in favor of "strict, mandatory neutrality." He opposed increases in military spending, threatening to filibuster the 1938 Naval Expansion Bill. Holt did not favor American participation in international organizations, voting against World Court membership, and not supporting membership in the League of Nations. He opposed reciprocal trade agreements and "faithfully represented" West Virginia's pro-tariff glass industry. During the Winter War, despite being sympathetic to Finland, Holt voted against a loan to that country. Holt opposed the Selective Training and Service Act of 1940 (also known as the Burke-Wadsworth Act), which instigated peace-time conscription, actively participating in the long (six weeks) and often vitriolic debate on the act; the act eventually passed, 58–31, Holt voting against.

Holt received a high level of media attention during his Senate years and was the subject of hundreds of political cartoons from across America.

Holt unsuccessfully sought the Democratic gubernatorial nomination in 1944 and the Democratic nomination for United States Senator in 1948. He switched to the Republican Party in 1949, and was an unsuccessful Republican candidate for election to the Eighty-second Congress in 1950. He was interred in Macpelah Cemetery in Weston, West Virginia.

His son, Rush D. Holt Jr., later served as a U.S. Representative from New Jersey.

References

Bibliography

  • "Unsworn Senators", Time, January 14, 1935. Article about Holt and Richard C. Hunter.
  • The Rush Dew Holt Political Cartoon Collection at the West Virginia & Regional History Center
  • The West Virginia & Regional History Center at West Virginia University houses the Rush Dew Holt papers in two collections, A&M 873 and A&M 3943