Bud Shuster
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Bud Shuster | |
---|---|
House Republican Policy Committee | |
In office January 3, 1979 – January 3, 1981 | |
Leader | John Jacob Rhodes |
Preceded by | Del M. Clawson |
Succeeded by | Dick Cheney |
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania's 9th district | |
In office January 3, 1973 – February 3, 2001[1] | |
Preceded by | John H. Ware III |
Succeeded by | Bill Shuster |
Personal details | |
Born | Elmer Greinert Shuster January 23, 1932 Glassport, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
Died | April 19, 2023 Everett, Pennsylvania, U.S. | (aged 91)
Political party | Republican |
Spouse | H. Patricia Rommel |
Signature | |
Elmer Greinert "Bud" Shuster (/ˈʃuːstər/ SHOO-stər; January 23, 1932 – April 19, 2023) was an American politician who represented Pennsylvania's 9th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives as a Republican from 1973 to 2001. He was best known for his advocacy of transportation projects, including Interstate 99.
Early life and career
Shuster was born in the
Congressional service
In 1972, Shuster decided to enter politics when he entered the Republican primary for the Pennsylvania's 9th Congressional District. The district had previously been the 12th, represented by five-term Republican J. Irving Whalley, who was retiring. He defeated popular state senator D. Elmer Hawbaker of Mercersburg in the Republican primary–the real contest in what has long been one of the most Republican districts in Pennsylvania. The 9th and its predecessors have been in Republican hands for all but six years since 1927. He breezed to the election that November.
Shuster's election to Congress was on the coattails of President
In Congress, Shuster was one of the opponents of the automobile
Shuster usually skated to re-election. His bid for a second term would be the only time he would drop below 60 percent of the vote. His most notable challenger came in 1984 when Nancy Kulp, the actress who played Miss Jane Hathaway on The Beverly Hillbillies won the Democratic nomination. Kulp, a native of Pennsylvania, had returned to her home state upon her retirement from acting and received support from her friends in Hollywood. Kulp's former co-star Buddy Ebsen, a Republican, contacted the Shuster campaign and volunteered to record radio spots declaring, "Hey Nancy, I love you dearly but you're too liberal for me – I've got to go with Bud Shuster." Shuster went on to win re-election with two-thirds of the vote. It would be the next-to-last time he would face any opposition at all; from 1986 to 2000, only one Democrat even filed to run against him.
Shuster is best known for taking on his party leadership and U.S. President Bill Clinton in the 1990s to keep more of the taxes on motor fuels and air travel in the dedicated federal trust funds they were supposed to go to by law. Shuster won both battles, even though then U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Clinton united to oppose him, wanting to keep the funds available for borrowing for other programs.[9]
Those victories meant during his time as chairman numerous transportation projects were funded, including
In 1996, Shuster was the focus of an
In 1998, Eppard was indicted for taking bribes to influence federal action on
Retirement
Shuster resigned from Congress on February 3, 2001, just a month after being sworn in for a 15th term. While he claimed health problems, he had also been forced to give up his chairmanship due to a Republican policy of a six-year term limit for committee chairmen. He was succeeded by his son Bill who was elected in a special election that May.
After politics
Shuster retired from politics, but he served as Visiting Assistant Professor of Political Science at
Published works
- Shuster, Bud (1983). Believing in America. New York: William Morrow and Company. ISBN 0-688-01834-3.
References
- ^ Shuster, Bud (January 4, 2001). "Bud Shuster Announces Retirement" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on January 11, 2001.
- ^ "Shuster". Archived from the original on 2015-09-25. Retrieved 2012-03-09.
- ^ "Bud Shuster Wants Cox Investigated". The Progress [Clearfield, Pennsylvania]. November 1, 1973. p. 22. Retrieved January 13, 2017 – via newspapers.com.
- ^ "All Bill Information (Except Text) for H.Res. 677: 93rd Congress (1973-1974)". Legislation Tracker of Congress.gov. Retrieved January 13, 2017.
- ^ Mary Russell, House Signals Opposition to Airbags, Washington Post, June 13, 1978
- ^ "Congressman Shuster Biography". Archived from the original on 1999-02-19.
- ^ "The Sentinel 05 Sep 1992, page 13".
- ^ "Centre Daily Times 29 Oct 1992, page 14".
- ^ Patriot-News of Harrisburg, Jan. 7, 2001.
- ^ Hamill, Sean D. (December 27, 2008). "Road Stirs Up Debate, Even on Its Name". The New York Times. Retrieved August 28, 2020.
- ^ Charles R. Babcock and Eric Pianin, Ex-Aide to Rep. Shuster Indicted, Washington Post, April 10, 1998
- ^ Associated Press, Former Shuster Aide, Lobbyist Plead Guilty, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, November 2, 1999
- ^ Altoona Mirror, Obituary, Ann M. Eppard, December 27, 2005
- ^ "Bud Shuster, former Pennsylvania congressman, dies at 91". Associated Press. 19 April 2023. Retrieved April 19, 2023.
Further reading
- ISBN 0-89234-058-4
- Michael Barone and Grant Ujifusa. The Almanac of American Politics, 1998. ISBN 0-89234-080-0
- Michael Barone, Richard E. Cohen, and Grant Ujifusa. The Almanac of American Politics, 2002. ISBN 0-89234-099-1
- ISBN 0-87187-599-3
- United States. Congress. Joint Committee on Printing. 1987–1988 Official Congressional Directory, United States Government Printing Office, 1987.
- United States. Congress. Joint Committee on Printing. 1991–1992 Official Congressional Directory, United States Government Printing Office, 1991.
- "Congressman Bud Shuster Biographical Information". Archived from the original on January 16, 2001.