Wallace F. Bennett

Wallace Foster Bennett (November 13, 1898 – December 19, 1993) was an American businessman and politician. A member of the Republican Party, he served as a US Senator from Utah from 1951 to 1974. He was the father of Bob Bennett, who later held his father's seat in the Senate.<ref name=fathers>Template:Cite news</ref>

Early life and education

Wallace Bennett was born in Salt Lake City, Utah, to John Foster and Rosetta Elizabeth (née Wallace) Bennett.<ref name=death>Template:Cite news</ref> His grandparents were English immigrants who came to the United States in 1868.<ref name=national>Template:Cite book</ref> He received his early education at local public schools and graduated from LDS High School in 1916.<ref name=current>Template:Cite book</ref> He then enrolled at the University of Utah, where he majored in English and won a varsity letter in debate.<ref name=current/>

Bennett, a member of the university's Reserve Officers' Training Corps, interrupted his college education to serve in the US Army during World War I.<ref name=congress>Template:Cite news</ref> He was commissioned as a second lieutenant of the Infantry in September 1918 and was assigned as an instructor in the Student Army Training Corps at Colorado College.<ref name=national/> He later returned to the University of Utah and earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1919.<ref name=congress/> For a year after his graduation, he served as principal of San Luis Stake Academy in Manassa, Colorado.<ref name=utah>Template:Citation</ref>

Family

In 1922, Bennett married Frances Marion Grant, the youngest daughter of Heber J. Grant (who served as President of the LDS Church from 1918 to 1945).<ref name=death/> The couple had three sons, Wallace, David, and Robert; and two daughters, Rosemary and Frances.<ref name=death/>

Frances served for a time as a member of the Primary General Board of the LDS Church.<ref>Ronald Walker, "Jedediah and Heber", Ensign, 1979</ref>

Business career

In 1920, Bennett returned to Salt Lake City and became an office clerk at Bennett's Paint and Glass Company, which his father had established.<ref name=utah/> He was later advanced to cashier, production manager, and sales manager.<ref name=current/> He became secretary-treasurer of the company in 1929 and, after his father's death in 1938, became president and general manager.<ref name=utah/> He served in that position until 1950, when he became chairman of the board.<ref name=national/> In 1938, the company completed what Bennett described as the most modern paint manufacturing plant in the West.<ref name=current/>

In addition to his work in his family's business, Bennett organized a Ford dealership, the Bennett Motor Company, and served as its president from 1939 to 1950.<ref name=utah/> He also served as president of the Cardon Jewelry Company and of the National Glass Distributors Association; vice-president of Glayton Investment Company and of the National Paint, Varnish and Lacquer Association; and director of Zion's Savings Bank and Trust Company, the Utah Oil Refining Company, and the Utah Home Fire Insurance Company.<ref name=current/> In 1949, he was elected president of the National Association of Manufacturers.<ref name=utah/> He spent his year-long tenure as president traveling the country and preached "the partnership of the men who put up the money, the men who do the work, and the men who tie the whole thing together."<ref name=current/>

He hosted a daily one-hour program, The Observatory Hour, on KSL (1932–1933), and was president of the Salt Lake Civic Opera Company (1938–1941) and the Salt Lake Community Chest (1944–1945).<ref name=national/> In 1935, he became treasurer of the Latter-day Saints Sunday School General Board.<ref name=current/> He directed the chorus of student nurses of LDS Hospital (1942–1948) and wrote the words to God of Power, God of Right, which is Hymn #20 in the 1985 Latter-day Saints Hymnal.<ref name=national/> He authored Faith and Freedom (1950) and Why I am a Mormon (1958).<ref name=utah/>

US Senate

In March 1950, Bennett announced his candidacy for a seat in the US Senate from Utah.<ref name=national/> After receiving the Republican nomination, he faced three-term Democratic incumbent Elbert D. Thomas in the general election.<ref name=korean>Template:Cite book</ref> During the campaign, he accused Thomas of having communist positions and circulated pamphlets associating Thomas with communist organizations and figures.<ref name=korean/> In November, he defeated Thomas by a margin of 54%–46%.<ref name=senate>Template:Cite news</ref> He was subsequently re-elected to three more terms.<ref name=utah/>

Silver problem

In the late 1950s, the US Treasury became a begrudging supplier of silver at $0.905 an ounce. Bennett warned that the lack of supply for the high demand would cause the deficit to fall on the Treasury Stocks. By 1961, the Treasury Stocks had unnecessarily been depleted. In 1963, the government had only 30 million ounces of free silver, but the annual coinage requirement for the United States was more than 75 million ounces. The price of silver per ounce was now $1.2929, but if the United States bought extra silver, the price would go above $1.29. The Silver Purchase Act of 1963 was supported by Bennett and repealed "existing silver purchase requirements and the transfer of tax of silver bullion."<ref name="Leaders in Profile">Template:Cite book</ref> It also allowed the Federal Reserve to issue $1 and $2 notes to replace "silver certificates or the denominations thus making 1.6 billion ounces of silver available to the United States Treasury."<ref name="Leaders in Profile" />

Bennett spoke at the Convention of the American Mining Congress in 1963 that declared the coin and silver problem had reached a catastrophic level. His views were faced with much criticism. Two years later, to function properly, the Treasury proposed a new set of coins. Bennett joined forces with the administration and worked on a solution, the Coinage Act of 1965, which he got through Congress to be enacted into law.<ref name="Leaders in Profile" />

Leadership

During his 23 years in the Senate, Bennett earned a reputation as a conservative and a pro-business advocate by opposing government regulations and supporting right-to-work laws.<ref name=siracusa>Template:Cite book</ref> He served as a member of the Senate Finance and Banking and Currency Committees, as well as the Joint Committee on Atomic Energy and Defense Production. Bennett was the vice chairman of Senate Ethics Committee.<ref name=nytimes>Template:Cite news</ref> Bennett voted in favor of the Civil Rights Acts of 1957,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 1960,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 1964,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and 1968,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> as well as the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the confirmation of Thurgood Marshall to the US Supreme Court,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> but Bennett did not vote on the 24th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He also supported a measure that prohibited federal aid to schools that practiced racial discrimination.<ref name=siracusa/> He opposed the Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty and the creation of Medicare.<ref name=siracusa/> He also voted against the Equal Rights Amendment.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He was also instrumental in bringing the Central Utah Project and the defense and aerospace industries to Utah.<ref name=utah/> By the end of his political career, Bennett was the ranking Republican on Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, and the Senate Finance Committee. He was "recognized as one of the nations leading fiscal and monetary experts."<ref name="Leaders in Profile" />

Bennett declined to seek re-election in 1974 and resigned on December 20 of that year to let his elected successor, Jake Garn, take office early and gain seniority.<ref name=nytimes/>

Later life

After his departure from the Senate, Bennett returned to Salt Lake City, resumed his business pursuits, and served on a variety of boards.<ref name=congress/> When his son Robert was elected to his former Senate seat in 1992, the elder Bennett said, "Bob and I have made Utah history. We are the first father and son combination to be elected to the U.S. Senate in this state."<ref name=fathers/>

Bennett died at his home in Salt Lake City at the age of 95.<ref name=death/> He is buried at Salt Lake City Cemetery.<ref name=congress/>

See also

• Bennett Amendment
• Wallace F. Bennett Federal Building

Sources

• Bennett, Wallace F. Faith and Freedom: The Pillars of American Democracy, New York: Scribner, 1950.
• Bennett, Wallace F. Why I Am A Mormon, New York: T. Nelson, 1958.

External links

• Template:Commons category-inline
• Template:Internet Archive film clip
• Guide to Wallace F. Bennett papers, MSS 20 at the L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University
• Digitized items from the Wallace F. Bennett papers at L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University