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Rudy Boschwitz

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Rudy Boschwitz
United States Ambassador to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights
In office
2005–2006
PresidentGeorge W. Bush
Preceded byRichard S. Williamson
Succeeded byEileen Donahoe
United States Senator
from Minnesota
In office
December 30, 1978 – January 3, 1991
Preceded byWendell Anderson
Succeeded byPaul Wellstone
Personal details
Born
Rudolph Ely Boschwitz

(1930-11-07) November 7, 1930 (age 93)
Berlin, Weimar Germany
Political partyRepublican
SpouseEllen Boschwitz
Alma materNew York University (BS, JD)
Military service
Allegiance United States
Branch/serviceUnited States Army
Years of service1954–1955
UnitSignal Corps

Rudolph Ely Boschwitz (born November 7, 1930)[1] is an American politician and former Independent-Republican United States Senator from Minnesota. He served in the Senate from December 1978 to January 1991, in the 96th, 97th, 98th, 99th, 100th, and 101st congresses. In 1990 he was defeated by Paul Wellstone.

Life and career

Boschwitz with Ronald Reagan and Gretchen Carlson in 1988

Boschwitz was born November 7, 1930 in Berlin, Weimar Germany, the son of Lucy (née Dawidowicz) and Eli Boschwitz.[2] In 1933, when he was three years old, his Jewish family fled from Nazi Germany to the United States, settling in New Rochelle, New York, where he grew up. A graduate of The Pennington School, he attended Johns Hopkins University and graduated from the New York University Stern School of Business in 1950 and the New York University School of Law in 1953.

He was admitted to the New York State bar in 1954 and the Wisconsin bar in 1959. He served in the United States Army Signal Corps in 1954–55. He was the founder and chairman of a plywood and home improvement retailer, Plywood Minnesota, which later became Home Valu Interiors.[3]

Boschwitz was elected as an Independent-Republican to the United States Senate in November 1978 and was subsequently appointed on December 30, 1978, to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Wendell Anderson, who was appointed to fill the seat after Walter Mondale was elected Vice President two years earlier. Boschwitz was well known in Minnesota for operating a "flavored milk" booth at the Minnesota State Fair.[4]

Boschwitz voted in favor of the bill establishing Martin Luther King Jr. Day as a federal holiday and the Civil Rights Restoration Act of 1987 (as well as to override President Reagan's veto).[5][6][7] Boschwitz voted in favor of the nomination of Robert Bork to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Boschwitz is known for one of the more interesting campaign buttons in Minnesota politics; the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party alleged that Boschwitz's donors were "fat cats," so Boschwitz's campaign created a "skinny cat" campaign button to be worn by those who had donated less than $100 to his campaign.[8]

After his defeat in 1990 by Paul Wellstone, Boschwitz ran against Wellstone again in 1996 but lost.

In 1991 he traveled to Ethiopia as the emissary of President George H. W. Bush. The negotiations Boschwitz led in Ethiopia resulted in Operation Solomon. 14,325 Jewish people were airlifted from Ethiopia to Israel. Operation Solomon took twice as many Beta Israel émigrés to Israel as Operation Moses and Operation Joshua combined.[citation needed]

He was a top "Bush Pioneer" in 2000, fund-raising $388,193, and a "Bush Ranger" in 2004, raising at least $200,000 for George W. Bush's campaign fund in that election cycle.[9]

In 2005, Bush named Boschwitz as the United States Ambassador to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, which met at the U.N. in Geneva, Switzerland.

He also supported John McCain in the 2008 presidential election.[10] He appeared at a McCain Straight Talk Town Hall Meeting in Lakeville, MN on October 10, 2008.

He presently serves on the Board of Directors of the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs, is an AIPAC Board Member, and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Electoral history

See also

References

  1. ^ "BOSCHWITZ, Rudolph Eli (Rudy) (1930-)". bioguideretro.com. Retrieved 4 March 2020.
  2. ^ "Boschwitz, Rudolph Eli - Dictionary definition of Boschwitz, Rudolph Eli - Encyclopedia.com: FREE online dictionary". Retrieved 5 December 2016.
  3. ^ [1] Archived November 10, 2006, at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ "Boschwitz gets reprieve; will have milk at fair". postbulletin.com. Post-Bulletin Company, LLC. Retrieved 4 March 2020.
  5. ^ "TO PASS H.R. 3706. (MOTION PASSED) SEE NOTE(S) 19".
  6. ^ "TO PASS S 557, CIVIL RIGHTS RESTORATION ACT, A BILL TO RESTORE THE BROAD COVERAGE AND CLARIFY FOUR CIVIL RIGHTS LAWS BY PROVIDING THAT IF ONE PART OF AN INSTITUTION IS FEDERALLY FUNDED, THEN THE ENTIRE INSTITUTION MUST NOT DISCRIMINATE".
  7. ^ "TO ADOPT, OVER THE PRESIDENT'S VETO OF S 557, CIVIL RIGHTS RESTORATION ACT, A BILL TO RESTORE BROAD COVERAGE OF FOUR CIVIL RIGHTS LAWS BY DECLARING THAT IF ONE PART OF AN INSTITUTION RECEIVES FEDERAL FUNDS, THEN THE ENTIRE INSTITUTION MUST NOT DISCRIMINATE. TWO-THIRDS OF THE SENATE, HAVING VOTED IN THE AFFIRMATIVE, OVERRODE THE PRESIDENTIAL VETO".
  8. ^ Museum, Hennepin History (27 February 2016). "The Skinny Cats of Minnesota Politics". Retrieved 5 December 2016.
  9. ^ TPJ.org Archived 2007-10-04 at the Wayback Machine
  10. ^ Scheck, Tom. "McCain's Minnesota bundlers". mprnews.org. Retrieved 4 March 2020.
U.S. Senate
Preceded by U.S. senator (Class 2) from Minnesota
1978–1991
Served alongside: David Durenberger 		Succeeded by
Party political offices
Preceded by
Phil Hansen
 Republican nominee for U.S. Senator from Minnesota
(Class 2)
1978, 1984, 1990, 1996 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee
1987–1989 		Succeeded by
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