Bertrand W. Gearhart

Infobox Congressman
name=Bertrand W. Gearhart


width=
state=California
district=9th
party=Republican
term=January 1935 - January 1949
preceded=Denver S. Church
succeeded=Cecil F. White
date of birth= birth date|1890|5|31|mf=y
place of birth= Fresno, California
date of death= death date and age|1955|10|11|1890|5|31|mf=y
place of death= San Francisco, California
spouse=
current occupation=

Bertrand Wesley "Bud" Gearhart (May 31 1890 - October 11 1955) was an American lawyer and politician. Gearhart, a Republican, served as the United States Representative for California's 9th congressional district from 1935 to 1949.cite web
title = Bertrand Wesley Gearhart Information
publisher = The Political Graveyard
author = Lawrence Kestenbaum
date =
url = http://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/gayle-geerlings.html
accessdate = 2006-12-31 ]

Background

Gearhart was born the son of John Wesley Gearhart and Mary Elizabeth Johnson Gearhart in Fresno, California on May 31 1890. After attending public school in Fresno, he went on to Boone's University School in Berkeley, California and graduated from there in 1910. He then went to University of Southern California Law School to obtain his Bachelor of Laws degree, which he completed in 1914. While he was there, Gearhart was a member of Phi Delta Phi and Zeta Psi fraternities. Gearhart was admitted to the California state bar the previous year, and had commenced his law practice in Fresno. During World War I, he served overseas as a second lieutenant in the 609th Aero Squadron from 1917 to 1919.cite web
title = Bertrand Wesley Gearhart Profile
publisher = United States Congress
author =
date =
url = http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=G000111
accessdate = 2006-12-31 ] Gearhart was among one of the founders for the American Legion, an organization of war veterans, in 1919. After the war, he first served as the assistant district attorney, and later the district attorney of Fresno County until 1923. In 1932, he served as a member of the board of directors of the California Veterans' Home.

Politics

A year later, Gearhart ran for the United States House of Representatives seat in California's 9th congressional district for the 74th United States Congress. Democratic incumbent Denver S. Church was not a candidate for renomination in 1934, and so Gearhart ran unopposed in the election. [cite web
title = Denver Samuel Church Profile
publisher = United States Congress
author =
date =
url = http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=C000387
accessdate = 2006-12-31 ] He captured all 77,650 votes cast in the election. [cite book |editor=John L. Moore |others= |title=Congressional Quarterly's Guide to U.S. Elections|edition= 3rd |year= 1994 |publisher=Congressional Quarterly |location=Washington, D.C. |id=0-87187-996-4 |pages=1543 pg. 1174] Gearhart ran unopposed and captured nearly 100% of the vote in 1936, [Moore (1994), pg. 1179] 1938, [Moore (1994), pg. 1184] 1940, [Moore (1994), pg. 1189] 1942 [Moore (1994), pg. 1194] and 1944. [Moore (1994), pg. 1199] In Congress, he was known as being a staunch Republican conservative, and as Harry S. Truman said, Gearhart was "one of the worst obstructionists in Congress".cite web
title = Dogi Cligin & the West
publisher = "Time"
author =
date = October 4 1948
url = http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,799225,00.html
accessdate = 2006-12-31 ] Gearhart was one of the few strong supporters of the Merchant Seamen's Bill Of Rights. [cite web
title = List Of Prominent People Who Have Endorsed The Merchant Seamen's Bill Of Rights
publisher = United States Maritime Service Veterans
author =
date = October 10 2000
url = http://www.usmm.net/endorserlist.html
accessdate = 2006-12-31 ] He faced his first Democratic challenger in the 1946 United States House elections when he was put up against Democrat Hubert Phillips. Gearhart defeated Phillips in the election,cite web
title = California: U.S. Representatives, 1940s
publisher = The Political Graveyard
author = Lawrence Kestenbaum
date =
url = http://politicalgraveyard.com/geo/CA/ofc/usrep1940s.html
accessdate = 2006-12-31 ] capturing 53.7% of the votes cast, in comparison to Phillips' 46.3%. [Moore (1994), pg. 1204]

In a personal jab at Gearhart, President Truman said:cquote|You have got a terrible Congressman here. He has done everything he possibly could do to cut the throats of the farmer and the laboring man.cite web
title = Face of the Victor
publisher = "Time"
author =
date = November 15 1948
url = http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,853399,00.html
accessdate = 2006-12-31 ] Months later, Gearhart was beaten in the 1948 House elections by a political newcomer, 47-year-old Democratic cotton rancher Cecil F. White, with the seven-term representative obtaining only 46.9% of the vote while White received 51.3%. [Moore (1994), pg. 1209] After losing the election, Gearhart went back to Fresno to resume his law practice. He continued until the time of his death on October 11 1955 in a San Francisco hospital. He was then interred in Mountain View Cemetery in Fresno.

References

External links

*CongBio|G000111
* [http://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/gayle-geerlings.html The Political Graveyard profile for Bertrand W. Gearhart]

Persondata
NAME=Gearhart, Betrand W.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION=American lawyer and politician
DATE OF BIRTH=May 31 1890
PLACE OF BIRTH=Fresno, California
DATE OF DEATH=October 11 1955
PLACE OF DEATH=San Francisco, California