Arthur H. Vandenberg
Encyclopedia
Arthur Hendrick Vandenberg (March 22, 1884 April 18, 1951) was a Republican
Senator
from the U.S. state of Michigan
who participated
in the creation of the United Nations
.
.
Vandenberg attended public schools there and studied law at the University of Michigan
(1900–1901), where he was a member of Delta Upsilon
.
After a brief stint working in New York at Collier
s magazine, he returned home in 1906 to marry his childhood sweetheart, Elizabeth Watson. They had three children. She died in 1917, and in 1918 Vandenberg married Hazel Whittaker. They had no children.
From 1906 to 1928, he worked as a newspaper reporter, editor, and publisher at the Grand Rapids Herald, which was owned by William Alden Smith
, who served as a Republican in the U.S. Senate from 1907 to 1919."Vandenberg [was] . . . best known for [authoring] his Alexander Hamilton
: The Greatest American.
Vandenberg was a Mason
, Shriner, Elk
and Woodman
.
On March 31, 1928, Governor Fred Green
appointed 44-year-old Vandenberg, a Republican, to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Senator Woodbridge Nathan Ferris
, a Democrat, from pneumonia
. Green made the appointment reluctantly under considerable political pressure. Vandenberg immediately declared his intention to stand for election to both the short, unexpired term and the full six-year term. Though once a friend and admirer of President Woodrow Wilson
, his ties to the Republican Party were well established.
He became the fifth journalist in the U.S. Senate. Governor Green "stressed the advantage of youth as a qualification for the rough-and-tumble of life in Washington committee rooms" which was deemed an explanation for over the aged Joseph Warren Fordney for the position. "Fellow Republican publishers to whom he can look from behind his horn-rimmed glasses for encouragement in his maiden speech are Cutting
of New Mexico, Capper
of Kansas, La Follette
of Wisconsin. Senator-publisher Carter Glass
of Virginia sits across the aisle among the Democrats."
In November 1928, Vandenberg was handily elected for a full term. In the Senate, he piloted into law the Reapportionment Act of 1929
, which provided for the automatic redistricting of the House of Representatives
after each national census. He was at first an ardent supporter of President Herbert Hoover
but he became discouraged by Hoover's intransigence and failures in dealing with the Great Depression
.
After the election of Franklin D. Roosevelt
in 1932, Vandenberg went along with most of the early New Deal
measures, except for the NIRA
and AAA
. With the exception of his amendment to the 1933 Glass–Steagall Banking Act, which created the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
, Vandenberg failed to secure enactment of any significant legislative proposals. By the 1934 election, his own political position was precarious, and although he lost his home district he was reelected by 52,443 votes.
. He pursued a policy of what he called fiscal responsibility, a balanced budget
, states' rights
, and reduced taxation. He felt that Roosevelt had usurped the powers of Congress, and he spoke of the dictatorship of Franklin Roosevelt. But at the 1936 Republican National Convention
, Vandenberg refused to permit the party to nominate him for Vice President, anticipating Roosevelt's victory that year.
As part of the conservative coalition of Republicans and Democrats in the Senate, Vandenberg helped defeat Roosevelt's plan to pack the Supreme Court
. He helped defeat the Passamaquoddy Bay and Florida Canal projects, voted against the National Labor Relations Act
, various New Deal tax measures, and the Hours and Wages Act.
, but the situation in Europe moved him towards isolationism. Also his experiences during the Nye Committee
hearings on the munitions industry, of which he was the Senate co-sponsor, convinced him that entry into World War I had been a disastrous error. He supported the isolationist Neutrality Acts of the 1930s but sponsored more severe bills which were designed to renounce all traditional neutral "rights" and restrict and prevent any action by the President that might cause the United States to be drawn into war. He was one of the most effective of the die-hard isolationists in the Senate. Except for advocating aid to Finland after the Soviet invasion
of that country and urging a quid pro quo
in the Far East to prevent a war with Japan over the Manchuria-China question, his position was consistently isolationist. In mid-1939. he introduced legislation nullifying the 1911 Treaty of Navigation and Commerce with Japan and urged that the administration to negotiate a new treaty with Japan recognizing the status quo
with regard to Japan's occupation of Chinese territory. Instead, Roosevelt and Secretary of State Cordell Hull
used the resolution as a pretext for giving Japan the required six months' notice of intent to cancel the treaty, thus beginning the policy of putting pressure on Japan that led to the Attack on Pearl Harbor
.
, Vandenberg's position on American foreign policy changed radically. Although he continued to vote with the conservative coalition against Roosevelt's domestic proposals, Vandenberg gradually abandoned his isolationism to become an architect of a bipartisan foreign policy, which he defined as a consensus developed by consultation between the President, the State Department, and congressional leaders from both parties, especially those in the Senate. On January 10, 1945, he delivered a celebrated "speech heard round the world" in the Senate Chamber, publicly announcing his conversion from "isolationism
" to "internationalism
." In 1947, at the start of the Cold War, Vandenberg became chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. In that position, he cooperated with the Truman
administration in forging bipartisan support for the Truman Doctrine
, the Marshall Plan
, and NATO, including presenting the critical Vandenberg resolution
.
As chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, he asserted that "politics stops at the water's edge," and cooperated with the Truman administration in forging bipartisan support. Francis O. Wilcox
, first chief of staff of the Foreign Relations Committee, recalls that Vandenberg's Senate career stands as a monument to bipartisanship in American foreign policy. “[H]is legacy continues. Recently, "the Senate bestowed a unique honor on the Michigan senator," voting to add his portrait to a “very select collection” in the United States Senate Reception Room.
. He died on April 18, 1951, and is buried in Oak Hill Cemetery in Grand Rapids.
was named for Vandenberg.
On September 14, 2004, a portrait of Vandenberg, along with one of Senator Robert F. Wagner
, was unveiled in the Senate Reception room. The new portraits joined a group of distinguished former Senators, including Henry Clay
, Daniel Webster
, John C. Calhoun
, Robert M. La Follette, Sr.
, and Robert A. Taft. Portraits of this group of Senators, known as the "Famous Five", were unveiled on March 12, 1959. A statue dedicated to Vandenberg was unveiled in May 2005 in downtown Grand Rapids on Monroe Street north of Rosa Parks Circle.
Senator Vandenberg is memorialized in a Michigan historical marker for the Arthur Hendrick Vandenberg / Vandenberg Center in Grand Rapids
Vandenberg Hall at Oakland University
is named in his honor.
(1907—1968), the Senator's son, worked for the Senator for more than a decade. In 1952 President Eisenhower appointed him Appointments Secretary, but he took a leave of absence for health reasons before Eisenhower was inaugurated. In 1964, first press reports and then President Lyndon Johnson revealed that Vandenberg Jr. had been unable to pass a security test because of his homosexuality.
Senator Vandenberg's nephew, U.S. Air Force General Hoyt S. Vandenberg, served as Air Force Chief of Staff and Director of Central Intelligence. Vandenberg Air Force Base
was named in his honor.
Senator Vandenberg's great nephew, Hoyt S. Vandenberg, Jr.
, served as a Major General in the Air Force.
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
Senator
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
from the U.S. state of Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
who participated
United Nations Conference on International Organization
The United Nations Conference on International Organization was a convention of delegates from 50 Allied nations that took place from 25 April 1945 to 26 June 1945 in San Francisco, California. At this convention, the delegates reviewed and rewrote the Dumbarton Oaks agreements...
in the creation of the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
.
Early life and family
Arthur Vandenberg was born to Aaron and Alpha Hendrick Vandenberg and raised in Grand Rapids, MichiganGrand Rapids, Michigan
Grand Rapids is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. The city is located on the Grand River about 40 miles east of Lake Michigan. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 188,040. In 2010, the Grand Rapids metropolitan area had a population of 774,160 and a combined statistical area, Grand...
.
Vandenberg attended public schools there and studied law at the University of Michigan
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...
(1900–1901), where he was a member of Delta Upsilon
Delta Upsilon
Delta Upsilon is the sixth oldest international, all-male, college Greek-letter organization, and is the oldest non-secret fraternity in North America...
.
After a brief stint working in New York at Collier
Collier's Weekly
Collier's Weekly was an American magazine founded by Peter Fenelon Collier and published from 1888 to 1957. With the passage of decades, the title was shortened to Collier's....
s magazine, he returned home in 1906 to marry his childhood sweetheart, Elizabeth Watson. They had three children. She died in 1917, and in 1918 Vandenberg married Hazel Whittaker. They had no children.
From 1906 to 1928, he worked as a newspaper reporter, editor, and publisher at the Grand Rapids Herald, which was owned by William Alden Smith
William Alden Smith
William Alden Smith was a U.S. Representative and U.S. Senator from the state of Michigan.-Early career:Smith was born in Dowagiac, Michigan and attended the common schools. He moved with his parents to Grand Rapids in 1872, where he attended school, sold popcorn, and was a newsboy and messenger boy...
, who served as a Republican in the U.S. Senate from 1907 to 1919."Vandenberg [was] . . . best known for [authoring] his Alexander Hamilton
Alexander Hamilton
Alexander Hamilton was a Founding Father, soldier, economist, political philosopher, one of America's first constitutional lawyers and the first United States Secretary of the Treasury...
: The Greatest American.
Vandenberg was a Mason
Freemasonry
Freemasonry is a fraternal organisation that arose from obscure origins in the late 16th to early 17th century. Freemasonry now exists in various forms all over the world, with a membership estimated at around six million, including approximately 150,000 under the jurisdictions of the Grand Lodge...
, Shriner, Elk
Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks
The Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks is an American fraternal order and social club founded in 1868...
and Woodman
Woodmen of the World
Woodmen of the World is a fraternal organization based in Omaha, Nebraska, United States, that operates a large privately held insurance company for its members....
.
Senate career 1928-1935
Fred Green
-Military service and legal work:Green served in the U.S. Army during the Spanish-American War. He was a first lieutenant in the 31st Michigan Volunteer Infantry and later was promoted to battalion adjutant. After the war, he returned to Ypsilanti as the city attorney, as well as attorney for the...
appointed 44-year-old Vandenberg, a Republican, to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Senator Woodbridge Nathan Ferris
Woodbridge Nathan Ferris
Woodbridge Nathan Ferris was an educator from New York, Illinois and Michigan, as well as Democratic statesman and the 28th Governor of Michigan .-Early life in New York, Michigan and Illinois:...
, a Democrat, from pneumonia
Pneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung—especially affecting the microscopic air sacs —associated with fever, chest symptoms, and a lack of air space on a chest X-ray. Pneumonia is typically caused by an infection but there are a number of other causes...
. Green made the appointment reluctantly under considerable political pressure. Vandenberg immediately declared his intention to stand for election to both the short, unexpired term and the full six-year term. Though once a friend and admirer of President Woodrow Wilson
Woodrow Wilson
Thomas Woodrow Wilson was the 28th President of the United States, from 1913 to 1921. A leader of the Progressive Movement, he served as President of Princeton University from 1902 to 1910, and then as the Governor of New Jersey from 1911 to 1913...
, his ties to the Republican Party were well established.
He became the fifth journalist in the U.S. Senate. Governor Green "stressed the advantage of youth as a qualification for the rough-and-tumble of life in Washington committee rooms" which was deemed an explanation for over the aged Joseph Warren Fordney for the position. "Fellow Republican publishers to whom he can look from behind his horn-rimmed glasses for encouragement in his maiden speech are Cutting
Bronson M. Cutting
Bronson Murray Cutting was a United States Senator from New Mexico, publisher, and military attaché.-Biography:Bronson Cutting was born in Great River, Long Island, New York, on June 23, 1888 at his family's country seat of Westbrook. He was the third of four children born to William Bayard...
of New Mexico, Capper
Arthur Capper
Arthur Capper was an American politician from Kansas. He was the 20th Governor of Kansas from 1915 to 1919 and a United States Senator from 1919 to 1949....
of Kansas, La Follette
William La Follette
William Leroy La Follette was a member of the United States House of Representatives representing Washington. He represented the 3rd District from 1911 to 1915, and the 4th District from 1915 to 1919....
of Wisconsin. Senator-publisher Carter Glass
Carter Glass
Carter Glass was a newspaper publisher and politician from Lynchburg, Virginia. He served many years in Congress as a member of the Democratic Party. As House co-sponsor, he played a central role in the development of the 1913 Glass-Owen Act that created the Federal Reserve System. Glass...
of Virginia sits across the aisle among the Democrats."
In November 1928, Vandenberg was handily elected for a full term. In the Senate, he piloted into law the Reapportionment Act of 1929
Reapportionment Act of 1929
The Reapportionment Act of 1929 was a combined census and reapportionment bill passed by the United States Congress that established a permanent method for apportioning a constant 435 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives according to each census...
, which provided for the automatic redistricting of the House of Representatives
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
after each national census. He was at first an ardent supporter of President Herbert Hoover
Herbert Hoover
Herbert Clark Hoover was the 31st President of the United States . Hoover was originally a professional mining engineer and author. As the United States Secretary of Commerce in the 1920s under Presidents Warren Harding and Calvin Coolidge, he promoted partnerships between government and business...
but he became discouraged by Hoover's intransigence and failures in dealing with the Great Depression
Great Depression in the United States
The Great Depression began with the Wall Street Crash of October, 1929 and rapidly spread worldwide. The market crash marked the beginning of a decade of high unemployment, poverty, low profits, deflation, plunging farm incomes, and lost opportunities for economic growth and personal advancement...
.
After the election of Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt , also known by his initials, FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war...
in 1932, Vandenberg went along with most of the early New Deal
New Deal
The New Deal was a series of economic programs implemented in the United States between 1933 and 1936. They were passed by the U.S. Congress during the first term of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The programs were Roosevelt's responses to the Great Depression, and focused on what historians call...
measures, except for the NIRA
National Industrial Recovery Act
The National Industrial Recovery Act , officially known as the Act of June 16, 1933 The National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA), officially known as the Act of June 16, 1933 The National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA), officially known as the Act of June 16, 1933 (Ch. 90, 48 Stat. 195, formerly...
and AAA
Agricultural Adjustment Act
The Agricultural Adjustment Act was a United States federal law of the New Deal era which restricted agricultural production by paying farmers subsidies not to plant part of their land and to kill off excess livestock...
. With the exception of his amendment to the 1933 Glass–Steagall Banking Act, which created the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation is a United States government corporation created by the Glass–Steagall Act of 1933. It provides deposit insurance, which guarantees the safety of deposits in member banks, currently up to $250,000 per depositor per bank. , the FDIC insures deposits at...
, Vandenberg failed to secure enactment of any significant legislative proposals. By the 1934 election, his own political position was precarious, and although he lost his home district he was reelected by 52,443 votes.
Opposing the New Deal 1935-1939
When the new Congress convened in 1935, there were only twenty-five Republican senators, and Vandenberg was one of the most effective opponents of the second New Deal. He voted against most Roosevelt-sponsored measures, notable exceptions being the Banking Act of 1935 and the Social Security ActSocial Security (United States)
In the United States, Social Security refers to the federal Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance program.The original Social Security Act and the current version of the Act, as amended encompass several social welfare and social insurance programs...
. He pursued a policy of what he called fiscal responsibility, a balanced budget
Balanced budget
A balanced budget is when there is neither a budget deficit or a budget surplus – when revenues equal expenditure – particularly by a government. More generally, it refers to when there is no deficit, but possibly a surplus...
, states' rights
States' rights
States' rights in U.S. politics refers to political powers reserved for the U.S. state governments rather than the federal government. It is often considered a loaded term because of its use in opposition to federally mandated racial desegregation...
, and reduced taxation. He felt that Roosevelt had usurped the powers of Congress, and he spoke of the dictatorship of Franklin Roosevelt. But at the 1936 Republican National Convention
1936 Republican National Convention
The 1936 Republican National Convention was held in Cleveland, Ohio at the Public Auditorium, from June 9 to June 12, 1936. It nominated Governor Alfred Landon of Kansas for President and Frank Knox of Illinois for Vice-President....
, Vandenberg refused to permit the party to nominate him for Vice President, anticipating Roosevelt's victory that year.
As part of the conservative coalition of Republicans and Democrats in the Senate, Vandenberg helped defeat Roosevelt's plan to pack the Supreme Court
Judiciary Reorganization Bill of 1937
The Judicial Procedures Reform Bill of 1937, frequently called the court-packing plan, was a legislative initiative proposed by U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt to add more justices to the U.S. Supreme Court. Roosevelt's purpose was to obtain favorable rulings regarding New Deal legislation that...
. He helped defeat the Passamaquoddy Bay and Florida Canal projects, voted against the National Labor Relations Act
National Labor Relations Act
The National Labor Relations Act or Wagner Act , is a 1935 United States federal law that limits the means with which employers may react to workers in the private sector who create labor unions , engage in collective bargaining, and take part in strikes and other forms of concerted activity in...
, various New Deal tax measures, and the Hours and Wages Act.
American foreign policy
Vandenberg became a member of the United States Senate Foreign Relations Committee in 1929. A modified internationalist, he voted in favor of United States membership on the World CourtPermanent Court of International Justice
The Permanent Court of International Justice, often called the World Court, was an international court attached to the League of Nations. Created in 1922 , the Court was initially met with a good reaction from states and academics alike, with many cases submitted to it for its first decade of...
, but the situation in Europe moved him towards isolationism. Also his experiences during the Nye Committee
Nye Committee
The Nye Committee, officially known as the Special Committee on Investigation of the Munitions Industry, was a committee of the United States Senate which studied the causes of United States' involvement in World War I...
hearings on the munitions industry, of which he was the Senate co-sponsor, convinced him that entry into World War I had been a disastrous error. He supported the isolationist Neutrality Acts of the 1930s but sponsored more severe bills which were designed to renounce all traditional neutral "rights" and restrict and prevent any action by the President that might cause the United States to be drawn into war. He was one of the most effective of the die-hard isolationists in the Senate. Except for advocating aid to Finland after the Soviet invasion
Winter War
The Winter War was a military conflict between the Soviet Union and Finland. It began with a Soviet offensive on 30 November 1939 – three months after the start of World War II and the Soviet invasion of Poland – and ended on 13 March 1940 with the Moscow Peace Treaty...
of that country and urging a quid pro quo
Quid pro quo
Quid pro quo most often means a more-or-less equal exchange or substitution of goods or services. English speakers often use the term to mean "a favour for a favour" and the phrases with almost identical meaning include: "give and take", "tit for tat", "this for that", and "you scratch my back,...
in the Far East to prevent a war with Japan over the Manchuria-China question, his position was consistently isolationist. In mid-1939. he introduced legislation nullifying the 1911 Treaty of Navigation and Commerce with Japan and urged that the administration to negotiate a new treaty with Japan recognizing the status quo
Status quo
Statu quo, a commonly used form of the original Latin "statu quo" – literally "the state in which" – is a Latin term meaning the current or existing state of affairs. To maintain the status quo is to keep the things the way they presently are...
with regard to Japan's occupation of Chinese territory. Instead, Roosevelt and Secretary of State Cordell Hull
Cordell Hull
Cordell Hull was an American politician from the U.S. state of Tennessee. He is best known as the longest-serving Secretary of State, holding the position for 11 years in the administration of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt during much of World War II...
used the resolution as a pretext for giving Japan the required six months' notice of intent to cancel the treaty, thus beginning the policy of putting pressure on Japan that led to the Attack on Pearl Harbor
Attack on Pearl Harbor
The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike conducted by the Imperial Japanese Navy against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on the morning of December 7, 1941...
.
United Nations and internationalism 1940-1950
During World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, Vandenberg's position on American foreign policy changed radically. Although he continued to vote with the conservative coalition against Roosevelt's domestic proposals, Vandenberg gradually abandoned his isolationism to become an architect of a bipartisan foreign policy, which he defined as a consensus developed by consultation between the President, the State Department, and congressional leaders from both parties, especially those in the Senate. On January 10, 1945, he delivered a celebrated "speech heard round the world" in the Senate Chamber, publicly announcing his conversion from "isolationism
Isolationism
Isolationism is the policy or doctrine of isolating one's country from the affairs of other nations by declining to enter into alliances, foreign economic commitments, international agreements, etc., seeking to devote the entire efforts of one's country to its own advancement and remain at peace by...
" to "internationalism
Internationalism (politics)
Internationalism is a political movement which advocates a greater economic and political cooperation among nations for the theoretical benefit of all...
." In 1947, at the start of the Cold War, Vandenberg became chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. In that position, he cooperated with the Truman
Harry S. Truman
Harry S. Truman was the 33rd President of the United States . As President Franklin D. Roosevelt's third vice president and the 34th Vice President of the United States , he succeeded to the presidency on April 12, 1945, when President Roosevelt died less than three months after beginning his...
administration in forging bipartisan support for the Truman Doctrine
Truman Doctrine
The Truman Doctrine was a policy set forth by U.S. President Harry S Truman in a speech on March 12, 1947 stating that the U.S. would support Greece and Turkey with economic and military aid to prevent their falling into the Soviet sphere...
, the Marshall Plan
Marshall Plan
The Marshall Plan was the large-scale American program to aid Europe where the United States gave monetary support to help rebuild European economies after the end of World War II in order to combat the spread of Soviet communism. The plan was in operation for four years beginning in April 1948...
, and NATO, including presenting the critical Vandenberg resolution
Vandenberg resolution
The Vandenberg resolution was passed on June 1948. It was proposed by, and named for, Sen. Arthur Vandenberg.Negotiations over the nature and degree of the U.S. commitment to the defense of its North Atlantic allies were complicated by the conflicting desire of the allies for an iron-clad...
.
As chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, he asserted that "politics stops at the water's edge," and cooperated with the Truman administration in forging bipartisan support. Francis O. Wilcox
Francis O. Wilcox
Francis Orlando Wilcox was an official in the United States Department of State.-Biography:Francis O. Wilcox was born in Columbus Junction, Iowa on April 9, 1908. He was educated at the University of Iowa, receiving his A.B. in 1930, his A.M. in 1931, and his Ph.D. in 1933. He then attended the...
, first chief of staff of the Foreign Relations Committee, recalls that Vandenberg's Senate career stands as a monument to bipartisanship in American foreign policy. “[H]is legacy continues. Recently, "the Senate bestowed a unique honor on the Michigan senator," voting to add his portrait to a “very select collection” in the United States Senate Reception Room.
Last years
In 1940 and 1948 Vandenberg was a "favorite son" candidate for the Republican presidential nomination. In 1950 Vandenberg announced that he had developed cancerCancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
. He died on April 18, 1951, and is buried in Oak Hill Cemetery in Grand Rapids.
Legacy
The former Vandenberg Creative Arts Academy of the Grand Rapids Public SchoolsGrand Rapids Public Schools
The Grand Rapids Public Schools is a public education school system covering most of Grand Rapids, Michigan.-High schools:High schools in the Grand Rapids Public Schools include the following:*Central High School*City High-Middle School...
was named for Vandenberg.
On September 14, 2004, a portrait of Vandenberg, along with one of Senator Robert F. Wagner
Robert F. Wagner
Robert Ferdinand Wagner I was an American politician. He was a Democratic U.S. Senator from New York from 1927 to 1949.-Origin and early life:...
, was unveiled in the Senate Reception room. The new portraits joined a group of distinguished former Senators, including Henry Clay
Henry Clay
Henry Clay, Sr. , was a lawyer, politician and skilled orator who represented Kentucky separately in both the Senate and in the House of Representatives...
, Daniel Webster
Daniel Webster
Daniel Webster was a leading American statesman and senator from Massachusetts during the period leading up to the Civil War. He first rose to regional prominence through his defense of New England shipping interests...
, John C. Calhoun
John C. Calhoun
John Caldwell Calhoun was a leading politician and political theorist from South Carolina during the first half of the 19th century. Calhoun eloquently spoke out on every issue of his day, but often changed positions. Calhoun began his political career as a nationalist, modernizer, and proponent...
, Robert M. La Follette, Sr.
Robert M. La Follette, Sr.
Robert Marion "Fighting Bob" La Follette, Sr. , was an American Republican politician. He served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, was the Governor of Wisconsin, and was also a U.S. Senator from Wisconsin...
, and Robert A. Taft. Portraits of this group of Senators, known as the "Famous Five", were unveiled on March 12, 1959. A statue dedicated to Vandenberg was unveiled in May 2005 in downtown Grand Rapids on Monroe Street north of Rosa Parks Circle.
Senator Vandenberg is memorialized in a Michigan historical marker for the Arthur Hendrick Vandenberg / Vandenberg Center in Grand Rapids
Grand Rapids, Michigan
Grand Rapids is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. The city is located on the Grand River about 40 miles east of Lake Michigan. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 188,040. In 2010, the Grand Rapids metropolitan area had a population of 774,160 and a combined statistical area, Grand...
Vandenberg Hall at Oakland University
Oakland University
Oakland University is a public university co-founded by Matilda Dodge Wilson and John A. Hannah whose campus is located in central Oakland County, Michigan, United States in the cities of Auburn Hills and Rochester Hills. It is the only major research university in Oakland County, from which OU...
is named in his honor.
Noteworthy family members
Arthur H. Vandenberg, Jr.Arthur H. Vandenberg, Jr.
Arthur Hendrick Vandenberg, Jr. was a Republican government official from Michigan. He worked for many years on the staff of his father, Arthur H. Vandenberg , who served in the U.S. Senate from 1928 to 1951...
(1907—1968), the Senator's son, worked for the Senator for more than a decade. In 1952 President Eisenhower appointed him Appointments Secretary, but he took a leave of absence for health reasons before Eisenhower was inaugurated. In 1964, first press reports and then President Lyndon Johnson revealed that Vandenberg Jr. had been unable to pass a security test because of his homosexuality.
Senator Vandenberg's nephew, U.S. Air Force General Hoyt S. Vandenberg, served as Air Force Chief of Staff and Director of Central Intelligence. Vandenberg Air Force Base
Vandenberg Air Force Base
Vandenberg Air Force Base is a United States Air Force Base, located approximately northwest of Lompoc, California. It is under the jurisdiction of the 30th Space Wing, Air Force Space Command ....
was named in his honor.
Senator Vandenberg's great nephew, Hoyt S. Vandenberg, Jr.
Hoyt S. Vandenberg, Jr.
Hoyt Sanford Vandenberg, Jr. is a retired Major General in the United States Air Force.-Biography:Vandenberg was born in Riverside, California in 1928. His father of was General Hoyt Vandenberg and his great uncle was U.S. Senator Arthur H. Vandenberg. Vandenberg would obtain a M.S...
, served as a Major General in the Air Force.
Committee assignments and diplomatic service
- President pro tempore of the SenatePresident pro tempore of the United States SenateThe President pro tempore is the second-highest-ranking official of the United States Senate. The United States Constitution states that the Vice President of the United States is the President of the Senate and the highest-ranking official of the Senate despite not being a member of the body...
during the 80th Congress, 1947–1949 - Chairman, Committee on Enrolled Bills, 1931–1933
- Chairman, Senate Republican Conference, 1945–1947
- Chairman, Committee on Foreign Relations, 1947–1949
- Delegate to the United Nations Conference on International OrganizationUnited Nations Conference on International OrganizationThe United Nations Conference on International Organization was a convention of delegates from 50 Allied nations that took place from 25 April 1945 to 26 June 1945 in San Francisco, California. At this convention, the delegates reviewed and rewrote the Dumbarton Oaks agreements...
at San Francisco in 1945 - Delegate to the United Nations General AssemblyUnited Nations General AssemblyFor two articles dealing with membership in the General Assembly, see:* General Assembly members* General Assembly observersThe United Nations General Assembly is one of the five principal organs of the United Nations and the only one in which all member nations have equal representation...
at London and New York City in 1946 - United States adviser to the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Council of Foreign MinistersCouncil of Foreign MinistersCouncil of Foreign Ministers was an organisation agreed upon at the Potsdam Conference in 1945 and announced in the Potsdam Agreement.The Potsdam Agreement specified that the Council would be composed of the Foreign Ministers of the United Kingdom, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, China,...
at London, Paris, and New York City in 1946 - Delegate to the Inter-American Conference for the Maintenance of Continental Peace and Security, at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on August 15–September 2, 1947, which drafted the Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal AssistanceInter-American Treaty of Reciprocal AssistanceThe Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance was an agreement signed on 1947 in Rio de Janeiro among many countries of the Americas...
(also known as the Rio Treaty)
Sources
- Arthur Hendrick Vandenberg, Dictionary of American Biography, Supplement 5: 1951-1955, American Council of Learned Societies, 1977
- Daryl J Hudson, "Vandenberg Reconsidered: Senate Resolution 239 and US Foreign Policy," Diplomatic History, vol. 1 No. 1, Winter 1977
Published works
- Alexander Hamilton: The Greatest American NY: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1921