Howard Buffett
Encyclopedia
Howard Homan Buffett was an Omaha, Nebraska
businessman, investor
, and four-term Republican United States Representative. Buffett was the father of Warren Buffett
, the billionaire investor.
to Henrietta Duvall Buffett and Ernest P. Buffett, owners of a grocery business. The Buffetts were of Huguenot
ancestry. Howard Buffett attended public schools and graduated from the University of Nebraska in Lincoln, Nebraska
in 1925. While a student, Buffett was a brother of the Alpha Sigma Phi Fraternity
. Buffett married Leila Stahl on December 27, 1925. The Buffetts were active members of Dundee Presbyterian Church. After failing to secure a job in the family grocery business, Howard Buffett started a small stock brokerage.
business, Buffett also served on the Omaha board of education
from 1939 to 1942. In 1942 he ran for the U.S. House of Representatives in the Nebraska district in which Omaha was located, winning the Republican nomination in the primary
and then the subsequent general election
; he was reelected twice. In 1948 he again was the Republican nominee for another term, but was defeated for reelection; however, he was the Republican nominee for the office again in 1950 and won the office back. In 1952 Buffett decided against seeking another term and returned to his investment business in Omaha, Buffett-Falk & Co., in which he worked until shortly before his death. He also served as the campaign manager for conservative Senator Robert Taft
in Taft's 1952 presidential campaign
.
Old Right
stance, having maintained a friendship with Murray Rothbard
for a number of years. A vocal critic of the Truman Doctrine
and the Korean War
, Buffett "was convinced that the United States was largely responsible for the eruption of conflict in Korea; for the rest of his life he tried unsuccessfully to get the Senate Armed Services Committee
to declassify the testimony of CIA head Admiral Roscoe H. Hillenkoetter
, which Buffett told [Rothbard] established American responsibility for the Korean outbreak." Of the Truman Doctrine, Buffett said: "Our Christian ideals cannot be exported to other lands by dollars and guns."
Speaking on the floor of Congress, he said of military interventionism that,
In the summer of 1962, he wrote "an impassioned plea . . . for the abolition of the draft
" in the National Review
. Buffett wrote:
In addition to non-interventionism overseas, Howard Buffett strongly supported the gold standard
because he believed it would limit the ability of government to inflate the money supply and spend beyond its means. His son Warren Buffett
is not an advocate of the gold standard.
Omaha, Nebraska
Omaha is the largest city in the state of Nebraska, United States, and is the county seat of Douglas County. It is located in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about 20 miles north of the mouth of the Platte River...
businessman, investor
Investor
An investor is a party that makes an investment into one or more categories of assets --- equity, debt securities, real estate, currency, commodity, derivatives such as put and call options, etc...
, and four-term Republican United States Representative. Buffett was the father of Warren Buffett
Warren Buffett
Warren Edward Buffett is an American business magnate, investor, and philanthropist. He is widely regarded as one of the most successful investors in the world. Often introduced as "legendary investor, Warren Buffett", he is the primary shareholder, chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. He is...
, the billionaire investor.
Early life
Howard Buffett was born in Omaha, NebraskaOmaha, Nebraska
Omaha is the largest city in the state of Nebraska, United States, and is the county seat of Douglas County. It is located in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about 20 miles north of the mouth of the Platte River...
to Henrietta Duvall Buffett and Ernest P. Buffett, owners of a grocery business. The Buffetts were of Huguenot
Huguenot
The Huguenots were members of the Protestant Reformed Church of France during the 16th and 17th centuries. Since the 17th century, people who formerly would have been called Huguenots have instead simply been called French Protestants, a title suggested by their German co-religionists, the...
ancestry. Howard Buffett attended public schools and graduated from the University of Nebraska in Lincoln, Nebraska
Lincoln, Nebraska
The City of Lincoln is the capital and the second-most populous city of the US state of Nebraska. Lincoln is also the county seat of Lancaster County and the home of the University of Nebraska. Lincoln's 2010 Census population was 258,379....
in 1925. While a student, Buffett was a brother of the Alpha Sigma Phi Fraternity
Alpha Sigma Phi
Alpha Sigma Phi Fraternity is a social fraternity with 71 active chapters and 9 colonies. Founded at Yale in 1845, it is the 10th oldest fraternity in the United States....
. Buffett married Leila Stahl on December 27, 1925. The Buffetts were active members of Dundee Presbyterian Church. After failing to secure a job in the family grocery business, Howard Buffett started a small stock brokerage.
Career
Entering the investmentInvestment
Investment has different meanings in finance and economics. Finance investment is putting money into something with the expectation of gain, that upon thorough analysis, has a high degree of security for the principal amount, as well as security of return, within an expected period of time...
business, Buffett also served on the Omaha board of education
Board of education
A board of education or a school board or school committee is the title of the board of directors or board of trustees of a school, local school district or higher administrative level....
from 1939 to 1942. In 1942 he ran for the U.S. House of Representatives in the Nebraska district in which Omaha was located, winning the Republican nomination in the primary
Primary election
A primary election is an election in which party members or voters select candidates for a subsequent election. Primary elections are one means by which a political party nominates candidates for the next general election....
and then the subsequent general election
General election
In a parliamentary political system, a general election is an election in which all or most members of a given political body are chosen. The term is usually used to refer to elections held for a nation's primary legislative body, as distinguished from by-elections and local elections.The term...
; he was reelected twice. In 1948 he again was the Republican nominee for another term, but was defeated for reelection; however, he was the Republican nominee for the office again in 1950 and won the office back. In 1952 Buffett decided against seeking another term and returned to his investment business in Omaha, Buffett-Falk & Co., in which he worked until shortly before his death. He also served as the campaign manager for conservative Senator Robert Taft
Robert Taft
Robert Alphonso Taft , of the Taft political family of Cincinnati, was a Republican United States Senator and a prominent conservative statesman...
in Taft's 1952 presidential campaign
Republican Party (United States) presidential primaries, 1952
The 1952 Republican presidential primaries were the selection process by which voters of the Republican Party chose its nominee for President of the United States in the 1952 U.S. presidential election. Former U.S. Army General Dwight D...
.
Political philosophy
Howard Buffett is remembered for his highly libertarianLibertarianism
Libertarianism, in the strictest sense, is the political philosophy that holds individual liberty as the basic moral principle of society. In the broadest sense, it is any political philosophy which approximates this view...
Old Right
Old Right (United States)
The Old Right was a conservative faction in the United States that opposed both New Deal domestic programs and U.S. entry into World War II. Many members of this faction were associated with the Republicans of the interwar years led by Robert Taft, but some were Democrats...
stance, having maintained a friendship with Murray Rothbard
Murray Rothbard
Murray Newton Rothbard was an American author and economist of the Austrian School who helped define capitalist libertarianism and popularized a form of free-market anarchism he termed "anarcho-capitalism." Rothbard wrote over twenty books and is considered a centrally important figure in the...
for a number of years. A vocal critic of 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...
and the Korean War
Korean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
, Buffett "was convinced that the United States was largely responsible for the eruption of conflict in Korea; for the rest of his life he tried unsuccessfully to get the Senate Armed Services Committee
United States Senate Committee on Armed Services
The Committee on Armed Services is a committee of the United States Senate empowered with legislative oversight of the nation's military, including the Department of Defense, military research and development, nuclear energy , benefits for members of the military, the Selective Service System and...
to declassify the testimony of CIA head Admiral Roscoe H. Hillenkoetter
Roscoe H. Hillenkoetter
Roscoe Henry Hillenkoetter , born in St. Louis, Missouri, was the third director of the post-World War II U.S. Central Intelligence Group , the third Director of Central Intelligence , and the first director of the Central Intelligence Agency created by the National Security Act of 1947...
, which Buffett told [Rothbard] established American responsibility for the Korean outbreak." Of the Truman Doctrine, Buffett said: "Our Christian ideals cannot be exported to other lands by dollars and guns."
Speaking on the floor of Congress, he said of military interventionism that,
In the summer of 1962, he wrote "an impassioned plea . . . for the abolition of the draft
Conscription
Conscription is the compulsory enlistment of people in some sort of national service, most often military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and continues in some countries to the present day under various names...
" in the National Review
National Review
National Review is a biweekly magazine founded by the late author William F. Buckley, Jr., in 1955 and based in New York City. It describes itself as "America's most widely read and influential magazine and web site for conservative news, commentary, and opinion."Although the print version of the...
. Buffett wrote:
In addition to non-interventionism overseas, Howard Buffett strongly supported the gold standard
Gold standard
The gold standard is a monetary system in which the standard economic unit of account is a fixed mass of gold. There are distinct kinds of gold standard...
because he believed it would limit the ability of government to inflate the money supply and spend beyond its means. His son Warren Buffett
Warren Buffett
Warren Edward Buffett is an American business magnate, investor, and philanthropist. He is widely regarded as one of the most successful investors in the world. Often introduced as "legendary investor, Warren Buffett", he is the primary shareholder, chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. He is...
is not an advocate of the gold standard.
Family
He married Leila Stahl Buffett; they had three children:- Warren BuffettWarren BuffettWarren Edward Buffett is an American business magnate, investor, and philanthropist. He is widely regarded as one of the most successful investors in the world. Often introduced as "legendary investor, Warren Buffett", he is the primary shareholder, chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. He is...
(son): investorInvestorAn investor is a party that makes an investment into one or more categories of assets --- equity, debt securities, real estate, currency, commodity, derivatives such as put and call options, etc...
, and philanthropistPhilanthropistA philanthropist is someone who engages in philanthropy; that is, someone who donates his or her time, money, and/or reputation to charitable causes...
, Chairman & CEO, Berkshire HathawayBerkshire HathawayBerkshire Hathaway Inc. is an American multinational conglomerate holding company headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, United States, that oversees and manages a number of subsidiary companies. The company averaged an annual growth in book value of 20.3% to its shareholders for the last 44 years,...
- Peter BuffettPeter BuffettPeter Andrew Buffett is an American musician, composer, author and producer. Buffett is the second son of investor Warren Buffett and his late wife Susan Buffett.-Biography:...
(grandson): musicianMusicianA musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
, composerComposerA composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
, and producerRecord producerA record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music... - Howard Graham BuffettHoward Graham BuffettHoward Graham Buffett is an American philanthropist, photographer, and farmer. He is the eldest son of billionaire investor Warren Buffett. He is named after Howard Buffett, his grandfather, and Benjamin Graham, Warren Buffett's teacher.-Personal life:Howard G...
(grandson): following in his father's footsteps, is on the corporate board of Berkshire HathawayBerkshire HathawayBerkshire Hathaway Inc. is an American multinational conglomerate holding company headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, United States, that oversees and manages a number of subsidiary companies. The company averaged an annual growth in book value of 20.3% to its shareholders for the last 44 years,... - Susan Alice BuffettSusan Alice BuffettSusan Alice Buffett is an American philanthropist. Her charitable work has focused largely on the Sherwood Foundation, formerly known as the Susan A. Buffett Foundation, an organization in Omaha that provides grants in public education, human services and social justice in the interest of...
(granddaughter)
- Peter Buffett
- Doris Buffett Bryant (daughter)
- Roberta Buffett Bialek (daughter)
Publications
- Human Freedom Rests on Gold Redeemable Money Howard Buffett, Financial Chronicle 5/6/48
External links
- "Howard Homan Buffett: Old Rightist Extraordinaire" by Joseph R. Stromberg
- "Howard Buffett: A Man of the Old Right" by Noah M. Clarke