Bertrand W. Gearhart

Bertrand Wesley "Bud" Gearhart (May 31, 1890 – October 11, 1955) was an American lawyer and politician. Gearhart, a Republican, served seven terms as the United States representative for California's 9th congressional district from 1935 to 1949.

Background Gearhart was born the son of John Wesley Gearhart and Mary Elizabeth Johnson Gearhart in Fresno, California on May 31, 1890. Gearhart was one of the founders of the American Legion, an organization of war veterans, in 1919. He captured all 77,650 votes cast in the election. Gearhart ran unopposed and captured nearly 100% of the vote in 1936, 1938, 1940, 1942 and 1944. 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". Gearhart was one of the few strong supporters of the Merchant Seamen's Bill of Rights. 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, capturing 53.7% of the votes cast, in comparison to Phillips' 46.3%.

In a personal jab at Gearhart, President Truman said, "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." Months later, Gearhart was beaten in the 1948 House elections by a political newcomer, 47-year-old Democratic cotton rancher Cecil F. White,

Later career After losing the election, Gearhart went back to Fresno to resume his law practice until his death.

Electoral results

Personal life and death

Bertrand W. Gearhart died age 65 on October 11, 1955, in a San Francisco hospital. He was then interred in Mountain View Cemetery in Fresno.