Hugh A. Butler

Who was Hugh A. Butler?

Hugh Alfred Butler was a Nebraska Republican politician.

He was born on a farm near Missouri Valley, Iowa on February 28, 1878. He graduated from Doane College at Crete, Nebraska in 1900. he became a construction engineer with the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad from 1900 to 1908. He entered into politics by become a member of the city board of Curtis, Nebraska from 1908 to 1913 and becoming a member of the board of education of Omaha, Nebraska later on. Meanwhile from 1908 to 1940 he worked in flour-milling and in the grain business.

He became a member of the Republican National Committee in 1936 and served until 1940 when he was elected to the United States Senate. He was reelected twice, in 1946 and 1952. he served as the chairman of the Committee on Public Lands in the Eightieth United States Congress and the chairman of the Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs in the Eighty-third United States Congress. A steadfast opponent of statehood for the Alaska Territory during most of his career in the Senate, he changed his mind during the last few months of his life. He died in office on the night of July 1, 1954, following a stroke that had occurred earlier in the day.