View source for Howard Buffett

{{Short description|American businessman (1903–1964)}}
{{about||his grandson, Warren Buffett's elder son|Howard Graham Buffett|his great-grandson, Howard Graham Buffett's son|Howard Warren Buffett}}

{{Infobox officeholder
|name         = Howard Buffett
|image        = Howard Buffett.jpg
|state        = [[Nebraska]]
|district     = {{ushr|NE|2|2nd}}
|term_start   = January 3, 1951
|term_end     = January 3, 1953	
|predecessor  = [[Eugene D. O'Sullivan]]
|successor    = [[Roman L. Hruska]]
|term_start1  = January 3, 1943
|term_end1    = January 3, 1949 
|predecessor1 = [[Charles F. McLaughlin]]
|successor1   = [[Eugene D. O'Sullivan]]
|birth_name   = Howard Horman Buffett
|birth_date   = {{birth date|1903|8|13}}
|birth_place  = [[Omaha, Nebraska]], U.S.
|death_date   = {{death date and age|1964|4|30|1903|8|13}}
|death_place  = Omaha, Nebraska, U.S.
|restingplace = [[Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Omaha, Nebraska)|Forest Lawn Memorial Park]]
|party        = [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]]
|spouse       = {{marriage|Leila Stahl|1925}}
|children     = 3, including [[Doris Buffett|Doris]], [[Warren Buffett|Warren]]
|education    = [[University of Nebraska–Lincoln|University of Nebraska]] <small>([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]])</small>
}}
'''Howard Homan Buffett''' (August 13, 1903 – April 30, 1964) was an American businessman, investor, and politician. He was a four-term [[United States Republican Party|Republican]] [[United States House of Representatives|United States Representative]] for the state of [[Nebraska]]. He was the father of [[Warren Buffett]], the billionaire businessman and investor.

==Early life==
Howard Buffett was born in [[Omaha, Nebraska]], to Henrietta Duvall Buffett and [[Ernest P. Buffett]], owners of a grocery business. Ernest P. Buffett's parents were [[Cousin|second cousins]], both having mainly English descent. The Buffet surname (renamed to Buffett) originates in [[France]] with a [[Huguenot]] weaver, named John Buffett, who became Buffett's first American Buffett ancestor when he immigrated to [[New York (state)|New York]] in the late-1600s.<ref>Roger Lowenstein, ''Buffett: the making of an American capitalist'' (2013), p. 5</ref> 

Howard Buffett attended [[Public school (government funded)|public schools]] and graduated from the [[University of Nebraska–Lincoln|University of Nebraska]] in [[Lincoln, Nebraska]], in 1925. While a student, Buffett was a brother of the [[Alpha Sigma Phi]] fraternity. He married Leila Stahl on December 27, 1925. The Buffetts were active members of the Dundee [[Presbyterianism|Presbyterian]] Church.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dpcomaha.org/|title=Dundee Presbyterian Church, Omaha website|access-date=2 August 2018}}</ref> After failing to secure a job in the family [[Grocery store|grocery]] business, he started a small stock brokerage firm.<ref>Alice Schroeder, The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life  (Random House, Inc., 2009) books.google.com/books?id=OdpWOjo7EeQC&source=gbs_navlinks_s ({{ISBN|0553384619}}, {{ISBN|978-0-553-38461-1}})</ref>

==Career==
Entering the [[investment]] business, Buffett also served on the Omaha [[board of education]] from 1939 to 1942. In 1942 he ran for the U.S. House of Representatives in the Nebraska district in which Omaha was located. In that election, Buffett was seen as "a Republican [[sacrificial lamb]] in [[Nebraska's 2nd congressional district|Nebraska's second district]] when [[Franklin D. Roosevelt|FDR]] was a popular wartime leader."<ref name=Klein>Klein, Philip (2011-09-20) [http://campaign2012.washingtonexaminer.com/blogs/beltway-confidential/buffett-vs-buffett Buffett's dad was the Ron Paul of his day] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120119122137/http://campaign2012.washingtonexaminer.com/blogs/beltway-confidential/buffett-vs-buffett |date=2012-01-19 }}, ''[[Washington Examiner]]''</ref> Nevertheless, he went on to win the Republican nomination in the [[Partisan primary|primary]] and then the subsequent [[general election]].

He was reelected twice. In 1948 he again was the Republican nominee for another term, but was defeated for reelection; however, he was the Republican nominee for the office again in 1950 and won the office back. In 1952 Buffett decided against seeking another term and returned to his investment business in Omaha, [[Buffett-Falk & Co.]], in which he worked until shortly before his death.<ref>"Howard Buffett." ''Biographical Directory of the United States Congress''.[http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=B001039]</ref> He also served as the campaign manager for conservative Senator [[Robert A. Taft]] in Taft's [[Republican Party (United States) presidential primaries, 1952|1952 presidential campaign]].<ref name=Dionne/>

According to [[Warren Buffett]] biographer [[Roger Lowenstein]]:{{cquote|'Unshakably ethical, Howard refused offers of junkets and even turned down a part of his pay. During his first term, when congressional salary was raised from $10,000 to $12,500, Howard left the extra money in the Capitol disbursement office, insisting that he had been elected at the lower salary.' His wife said he considered only one issue when deciding whether or not to vote for a bill: 'Will this add to, or subtract from, human liberty?'<ref name=Klein/>}}

===Political philosophy===
Howard Buffett is remembered for his highly [[Libertarianism|libertarian]] [[Old Right (United States)|Old Right]] stance, having maintained a friendship with [[Murray Rothbard]] for a number of years.<ref>[[Joseph R. Stromberg|Stromberg, Joseph]], [http://www.antiwar.com/stromberg/?articleid=3398 The Old Cause, "Howard Homan Buffett: An American Original" (April 24, 2001)], ''[[Antiwar.com]]''</ref> He "would invariably draw 'zero' ratings from the [[Americans for Democratic Action]] and other [[Left-wing politics|leftist]] groups."<ref name=Chronicles>Rothbard, Murray. [http://archive.lewrockwell.com/rothbard/rothbard45.html Life in the Old Right], ''[[LewRockwell.com]]'', first published in ''[[Chronicles (magazine)|Chronicles]]'', August 1994</ref>

Buffett was a vocal critic of the [[Truman Doctrine]] and the [[Marshall Plan]].<ref name=Klein/> Of the Truman Doctrine, he said: "Our Christian ideals cannot be exported to other lands by dollars and guns."<ref>Vance, Laurence (2006-12-04) [http://archive.lewrockwell.com/vance/vance98.html Bill Kauffman: American Anarchist], ''[[LewRockwell.com]]''</ref>  Buffett was also "one of the major voices in Congress opposed to the [[Korean War|Korean adventure]],"<ref name=Chronicles/> and "was convinced that the United States was largely responsible for the eruption of [[Korean War|conflict in Korea]]; for the rest of his life he tried unsuccessfully to get the [[United States Senate Committee on Armed Services|Senate Armed Services Committee]] to declassify the testimony of [[CIA]] head Admiral [[Roscoe H. Hillenkoetter]], which Buffett told [Rothbard] established American responsibility for the Korean outbreak."<ref name=Rothbard>[[Murray Rothbard|Rothbard, Murray N.]] [https://www.mises.org/story/1842 Confessions of a Right-Wing Liberal], ''[[Ludwig von Mises Institute]]''</ref> The CIA failed to predict the Marxist invasion of the Republic of Korea in 1950, just as it had failed to predict the Soviet Atomic Bomb the previous year, it was these intelligence failures that Rear Admiral Hillenkoetter testified about.

Speaking on the floor of Congress, he opposed [[military interventionism]]:
{{cquote|Even if it were desirable, America is not strong enough to police the world by military force. If that attempt is made, the blessings of liberty will be replaced by coercion and tyranny at home. Our Christian ideals cannot be exported to other lands by dollars and guns. Persuasion and example are the methods taught by the Carpenter of Nazareth, and if we believe in Christianity we should try to advance our ideals by his methods. We cannot practice might and force abroad and retain freedom at home. We cannot talk world cooperation and practice power politics.<ref name=Rothbard/><ref>[[Bill Kauffman]], [https://books.google.com/books?id=4OrJGe4qA04C Ain't my America: the long, noble history of antiwar conservatism and Middle American anti-imperialism] (Macmillan, 2008), pg. 114   ({{ISBN|0805082441}}, {{ISBN|978-0-8050-8244-9}})</ref>}}

In the summer of 1962, he wrote "an impassioned plea... for the abolition of the [[Conscription in the United States|draft]]" in the ''New Individualist Review''.<ref name=Dionne>[[E.J. Dionne|Dionne, E.J.]], [https://books.google.com/books?id=pQMAsT7HlEsC&dq=%22E.J.+Dionne%22+%22Murray+Rothbard%22&pg=PA265 Why Americans Hate Politics], pg. 265</ref> Buffett wrote:

{{cquote|When the American government conscripts a boy to go 10,000 miles to the jungles of Asia without a declaration of war by Congress (as required by the Constitution) what freedom is safe at home? Surely, profits of [[U.S. Steel]] or your private property are not more sacred than a young man's right to life.<ref name=Dionne/>}}

In addition to non-interventionism overseas,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://townhall.com/columnists/ryanjamesgirdusky/2012/02/01/the-other-buffett-rule-n1298094|title=The Other Buffett Rule|first=Ryan James|last=Girdusky|date=February 2012 |access-date=2 August 2018}}</ref> Howard Buffett strongly supported the [[gold standard]] because he believed it would limit the ability of government to inflate the money supply and spend beyond its means.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://archive.lewrockwell.com/orig12/buffett1.1.1.html|title=Human Freedom Rests on Gold Redeemable Money - LewRockwell LewRockwell.com|access-date=2 August 2018}}</ref> His son [[Warren Buffett]] is not an advocate of the gold standard.<ref>French, Doug (2009-04-03) [http://archive.lewrockwell.com/french/french112.html The Trouble With Warren Buffett], ''[[LewRockwell.com]]''</ref><ref>[[Gary North (economist)|North, Gary]] (2010-05-29) [http://archive.lewrockwell.com/north/north849.html The Wall Street Journal's War On Gold], ''[[LewRockwell.com]]''</ref>

== Personal life ==
Buffett married Leila Stahl Buffett (March 18, 1904 – August 30, 1996). Together, they had three children, one son and two daughters:

* [[Doris Buffett]] (1928–2020), a philanthropist who was married four times.<ref name="DBObit2020">{{cite news |last1=Roberts |first1=Sam |title=Doris Buffett, Her Family’s ‘Retail Philanthropist,’ Dies at 92 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/05/business/doris-buffett-her-familys-retail-philanthropist-dies-at-92.html?searchResultPosition=1 |access-date=5 May 2025 |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=5 August 2020}}</ref>
* [[Warren Buffett]] (b. 1930), a [[businessman]], [[investor]], and [[philanthropist]], Chairman & CEO of [[Berkshire Hathaway]].
* Roberta "Bertie" Buffett (b. 1933), a philanthropist who has been married three times; first to Charlie Snorf in 1955, then to Dr. Hilton Bialek. Upon his death in 2002, she married David Elliott, in 2007. He died in 2017.<ref name="BB2024">{{cite news |title=Who Is Bertie Buffett, Warren Buffett’s Sister Mentioned 20 Times In His Annual Letter? |url=https://observer.com/2024/03/bertie-buffett-warren-buffett-sister/ |access-date=5 May 2025 |work=[[The Observer|Observer]] |date=1 March 2024}}</ref>

He died on May 30, 1964 at the age of 60, from cancer.<ref>{{cite news|title=Congressmen Pay Tribute to Buffett|url=http://newspapers.com/article/star-herald-obituary-for-howard-buffett/148521376/|newspaper=Star-Herald|location=Scottsbluff, Nebraska|page=15}}</ref><ref name="1964Obit">{{cite news |title=HOWARD BUFFETT, 60, AN EX‐CONGRESSMAN |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1964/04/30/archives/howard-buffett-60-an-excongressman.html?searchResultPosition=1 |access-date=5 May 2025 |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=30 April 1964}}</ref>

==Publications==
* Buffett, Howard Homan. [https://freedom-school.com/money/human-freedom-rests-on-gold-redeemable-money.pdf Human Freedom Rests on Gold Redeemable Money] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210118135030/https://freedom-school.com/money/human-freedom-rests-on-gold-redeemable-money.pdf |date=2021-01-18 }}, Financial Chronicle 5/6/48
* Buffett, Howard Homan. ''The Evil Men in the Kremlin Must Be Chortling as Militarism Runs Wild in America''. Washington, U.S. Government Printing Office, 1952.<ref name="NNDB">Cf. [http://www.nndb.com/people/332/000160849/ Howard Homan Buffett] –  entry at the [[NNDB]]</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* "[http://www.antiwar.com/stromberg/pf/p-s042401.html Howard Homan Buffett: Old Rightist Extraordinaire]" by Joseph R. Stromberg
* "[https://mises.org/story/3745 Howard Buffett: A Man of the Old Right]" by Noah M. Clarke
* {{Find a Grave|13075}}
{{CongBio|B001039}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-par|us-hs}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Charles F. McLaughlin]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=Member of the [[List of United States Representatives from Nebraska|U.S. House of Representatives]]<br>from [[Nebraska's 2nd congressional district]]|years=1943–1949}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Eugene D. O'Sullivan]]}}
|-
{{s-bef|before=[[Eugene D. O'Sullivan]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=Member of the [[List of United States Representatives from Nebraska|U.S. House of Representatives]]<br>from [[Nebraska's 2nd congressional district]]|years=1951–1953}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Roman L. Hruska]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{NebraskaUSRepresentatives}}
{{Buffett Family}}
{{USCongRep-start
| congresses= 78th–80th & 82nd [[United States Congress]]
| state= [[United States congressional delegations from Nebraska|Nebraska]]}}
{{USCongRep/NE/78}}
{{USCongRep/NE/79}}
{{USCongRep/NE/80}}
{{USCongRep/NE/82}}
{{USCongRep-end}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Buffett, Howard}}
[[Category:1903 births]]
[[Category:1964 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century American businesspeople]]
[[Category:20th-century Presbyterians]]
[[Category:American chief executives of financial services companies]]
[[Category:American investors]]
[[Category:American libertarians]]
[[Category:American people of Scandinavian descent]]
[[Category:American Presbyterians]]
[[Category:American stockbrokers]]
[[Category:Buffett family|Howard Buffett]]
[[Category:Businesspeople from Omaha, Nebraska]]
[[Category:Christian libertarians]]
[[Category:John Birch Society members]]
[[Category:Monetary reformers]]
[[Category:Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Nebraska]]
[[Category:School board members in Nebraska]]
[[Category:Stock and commodity market managers]]
[[Category:University of Nebraska–Lincoln alumni]]
[[Category:Non-interventionism]]
[[Category:20th-century United States representatives]]
[[Category:Old Right (United States)]]