Rudy Boschwitz

Rudolph Ely “Rudy” Boschwitz (born November 7, 1930) is an American politician and businessman from the state of Minnesota. A member of the Republican Party, he served as a member of the United States Senate from 1978 to 1991. From 1987 to 1989, Boschwitz served as the chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee.

Boschwitz was born in Berlin to a Jewish family. When he was two years old, he and his family fled the country due to Adolf Hitler's rise to power. He grew up in New Rochelle, New York, and graduated with a Juris Doctor degree from New York University School of Law in 1953. Boschwitz moved to Minnesota, where he started a retail lumber store chain, Plywood Minnesota (later renamed Home Valu). He grew it into a successful business with 70 stores. Boschwitz became well known for starring in Plywood Minnesota's television commercials, wearing his signature plaid flannel shirts. Home Valu Interiors went out of business in May 2010.

Boschwitz first ran for elected office in Minnesota's 1978 U.S. Senate election and defeated Democratic incumbent Wendell R. Anderson. He was reelected in 1984 by a landslide. From 1987 to 1989, he chaired the National Republican Senatorial Committee. Boschwitz ran for reelection to a third term in the 1990 election against Democrat Paul Wellstone. He significantly outspent Wellstone and was expected to win, but lost in an upset. He was defeated again by Wellstone (who was re-elected) in a rematch in 1996. Boschwitz was later appointed to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights by President of the United States George W. Bush, and served on the commission from 2005 until 2006. As of 2025, Boschwitz is the oldest living former elected U.S. senator since the death of Daniel J. Evans.

Early life and education

Boschwitz was born November 7, 1930, in Berlin, Germany, the son of Lucy (née Dawidowicz) and Eli Boschwitz. In 1933, when he was two years old, his Jewish family fled Nazi Germany for 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.

Career

Boschwitz 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 from 1954 to 1955, becoming a private first class. He was the founder and chairman of a plywood and home improvement retailer, Plywood Minnesota, which later became Home Valu Interiors. He returned to the company after his political career, and led it until it went out of business in May 2010.

Boschwitz was elected as a Republican to the United States Senate in November 1978 and appointed on December 30, 1978, to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Wendell R. Anderson, who was appointed to fill the seat after Walter Mondale was elected Vice President of the United States in 1976. Boschwitz was well known in Minnesota for operating a "flavored milk" booth at the Minnesota State Fair.

Boschwitz voted in favor of the Passage of Martin Luther King Jr. Day to establish Martin Luther King Jr. Day as a federal holiday and the Civil Rights Restoration Act of 1987 (as well as to override President of the United States Ronald Reagan's veto). He voted to confirm Robert Bork Supreme Court nomination, which failed when Robert Bork was unconfirmed.

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.

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

In 1991 he traveled to Ethiopia as the emissary of U.S. President George H. W. Bush. The negotiations Boschwitz led in Ethiopia resulted in Operation Solomon. Over 14,000 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.

Boschwitz was a top "Bush Pioneer" in 2000, 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.

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.

Later life

Boschwitz supported John McCain in the 2008 presidential election. He later served on the board of directors of the Jewish Institute for National Security of America, was a board member of the AIPAC (American Israel Public Affairs Committee), and was a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Upon the death of Daniel J. Evans in September 2024, Boschwitz became the oldest living person to have served as an elected member of the U.S. Senate.

Personal life

Boschwitz married his wife, the former Ellen Antoinette Loewenstein, in 1956, and they had four sons, Gerry (died December 30, 2018), Kenneth, Daniel, and Thomas. Together, they also had two granddaughters and four grandsons.

Electoral history

* 1978 Race for U.S. Senate
**Rudy Boschwitz (R), 57%
** Wendell Anderson (DFL) (inc.), 40%
* 1984 Race for U.S. Senate
**Rudy Boschwitz (R) (inc.), 58%
** Joan Anderson Growe (DFL), 41%
* 1990 Race for U.S. Senate
**Paul Wellstone (DFL), 50%
**Rudy Boschwitz (R) (inc.), 48%
* 1996 Race for U.S. Senate
**Paul Wellstone (DFL) (inc.), 50%
**Rudy Boschwitz (R), 41%
** Dean Barkley (Ref.), 7%

See also

* List of Jewish members of the United States Congress
* List of United States senators born outside the United States

Notes

References

External links

Rudy Boschwitz: An Inventory of His Papers at the Minnesota Historical Society
*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boschwitz, Rudy
1930 births
20th-century American Jews
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20th-century American lawyers
21st-century American businesspeople
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Businesspeople from Minnesota
Hudson Institute
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Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to the United States
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New York University Stern School of Business alumni
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Republican Party United States senators from Minnesota
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