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I've been reading Kitty Kelly's book about the Bush's. Here is some of what I've learned (she was well referenced for the book).
Prescott was not born rich, but his parents were upper middle class. They were progressives!! Prescott's dad built housing (good quality stuff) for his workers and paid them well. Prescotts parents were pillars of the community (kind and generous souls....they were happily married). I think his Mom may have doted on him too much.
As an adult, Prescott was a snob, and he was also an alcoholic. He went to Yale and was a prominant skull and bones man. He married Dorothy Walker and her family was very rich. Herbert "Bert" Walker helped to set up Prescott with an investment banking position (before that he was a door to door salesman). This allowed Prescott a comfortable upper-middle class income (about $400K per year in today's money), but he was not rich like his in-laws. In fact, he lost loads of money during WWII and went into debt. One of his investments was with a company that was fronted by some guy from (Denmark?)...and he was one of Hitler's money guys. That country got invaded by Hitler, and the US froze all the assets and Prescott lost out big time. Kitty Kelly pretty much said that in those days, it was business. Prescott Bush was not a fascist or fascist lover or Nazi. He was doing what he was supposed to do (for his investors), and he was not paying much attention to the issues associated with the Hitler supporter (which he should have).
His record on politics is proof that Prescott (politically speaking) was more like John McCain. He was willing to go against his party and stand on principle. He was a devotee to Eisenhower (the guy who warned us about the military industrial complex). He didn't like fascist types. For example, he stood up AGAINST McCarthy and voted to have him censured, despite the perception that it was political suicide to do so (he voted on conscience). And he was FOR CIVIL RIGHTS! This is back in the '50s, when most in his party were against it. One thing he did that impressed the hell out of me was that he stood up against oil company deregulation. His son, George H.W., was begging his dad to vote for it. It didn't work. Prescott was convinced deregulation would lead to price gouging, and he told George that he would not do that to the working people who couldn't afford to pay higher prices for fuel. Then his son told his Dad that his job (at the oil company) was being threatened (by loss of business) if his Dad didn't vote for it. Prescott told Ike about the threats to his son and this started Ike thinking that perhaps it wasn't a good idea to deregulate the oil industry (and even cited Prescotts story as a big factor in his judgement). Ike vetoed the bill and there were not enough votes to override the veto.
So, Prescott was a mixed bag. As a senator, he was a good guy. Most who knew him admired his couragous political stances. But, he was an alcoholic and a snob. Despite that he was very much for civil rights, he didn't mind belonging to country clubs that discriminated (he was a schmoozer).
I've been dying to correct the record on Prescott. Kitty Kelly quotes people (over and over) saying that Prescott was an honorable man, that H.W. was not (he would take almost any position to get power.. for example he came out against civil rights, because that was the 'popular' position).....and of course, everyone who knows the Bush's hates "W". Hating W is normal, since W is the very type of fascist that Prescott loathed when he was a senator.
Prescott was a moderate. He hated FDR and the new deal, but he hated extremism on the right wing too.
I think its important to have an accurate picture.
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