View source for Henry S. Reuss

{{short description|American politician}}
{{Infobox officeholder
|name         = Henry Reuss
|image        = Henry S. Reuss.jpg
|office       = Chair of the [[United States House Committee on Financial Services|House Banking Committee]]
|term_start   = January 3, 1975
|term_end     = January 3, 1981
|predecessor  = [[Wright Patman]]
|successor    = [[Fernand St Germain]]
|state1       = [[Wisconsin]]
|district1    = {{ushr|WI|5|5th}}
|term_start1  = January 3, 1955
|term_end1    = January 3, 1983
|predecessor1 = [[Charles J. Kersten]]
|successor1   = [[Jim Moody]]
|birth_name   = Henry Schoellkopf Reuss
|birth_date   = {{birth date|1912|2|22}}
|birth_place  = [[Milwaukee, Wisconsin|Milwaukee]], [[Wisconsin]], U.S.
|death_date   = {{death date and age|2002|1|12|1912|2|22}}
|death_place  = [[San Rafael, California|San Rafael]], [[California]], U.S.
|party        = [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] (Before 1950)<br>[[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] (1950–2002)
|spouse       = {{marriage|Margaret Magrath|1942}}
|children     = 4
|relatives    = [[Henry Schoellkopf]] (uncle)
|education    = [[Cornell University]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]])<br>[[Harvard University]] ([[Bachelor of Laws|LLB]])
|allegiance   = {{flag|United States}}
|branch       = {{army|United States}}
|battles      = [[World War II]]
|rank         = [[Major (United States)|Major]]
|mawards      = [[Bronze Star Medal|Bronze Star]]
}}
'''Henry Schoellkopf Reuss''' (February 22, 1912 – January 12, 2002) was a [[Democratic Party (U.S.)|Democratic]] [[United States House of Representatives|U.S. Representative]] from [[Wisconsin]].<ref name=PolGrave>{{cite web |url=http://politicalgraveyard.com/geo/CA/lawyer.Q-R.html
 |title=The Political Graveyard: Lawyer Politicians in California, Q-R |access-date=2008-09-28 |work=[[The Political Graveyard]] |publisher=Lawrence Kestenbaum}}</ref>

==Early life==
Henry Schoellkopf Reuss was born in [[Milwaukee, Wisconsin]].  He was the son of Gustav A. Reuss (pronounced ''Royce'') and Paula Schoellkopf (b. 1876).<ref name="HSRanb">{{cite web|last1=Keene|first1=Anne T.|title=Reuss, Henry Schoellkopf|url=http://www.anb.org/articles/07/07-00825.html|website=www.anb.org|publisher=[[American National Biography Online]]|access-date=7 September 2017}}</ref>   He was the grandson of a Wisconsin bank president who had emigrated to the United States from Germany in 1848.<ref name="Siracusa2012">{{cite book|last1=Siracusa|first1=Joseph M.|title=Encyclopedia of the Kennedys: The People and Events That Shaped America [3 volumes]: The People and Events That Shaped America|date=2012|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=9781598845396|pages=663|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PEojQDou7MIC&pg=PA663|access-date=7 September 2017|language=en}}</ref><ref name="Kaufman2009"/>  Both his mother and uncle, [[Henry Schoellkopf]] (1879–1912), were grandchildren of [[Jacob F. Schoellkopf]] (1819–1899), a pioneer in harnessing the [[hydroelectric power]] of [[Niagara Falls]].<ref name=JFSNYTObit>{{cite news|title=Jacob F. Schoellkopf|url=http://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1899/09/17/101826128.html?pageNumber=7|access-date=21 October 2015|work=The New York Times|date=September 17, 1899}}</ref>

He grew up in Milwaukee's German section. Reuss earned his [[Bachelor of Arts|A.B.]] from [[Cornell University]] in 1933 and was a member of the [[Sphinx Head Society]]. He then earned his [[LL.B.]] from [[Harvard Law School]] in 1936.<ref name=PolGrave/>

==Career==
He was a lawyer in private practice and business executive. He served as assistant corporation counsel for Milwaukee County, Wisconsin from 1939 to 1940 and Counsel for United States [[Office of Price Administration]] from 1941 to 1942.<ref name="HSRanb"/>

===World War II===
He was in the [[United States Army]] from 1943 to 1945, leaving as a [[Major (United States)#Army|major]].<ref name=PolGrave/> He was awarded the [[Bronze Star]] for his service in the [[infantry]].<ref name=NYTobit/> He served as chief of [[price control]], [[Office of Military Government, United States|Office of Military Government]] for [[Germany]] in 1945, and deputy general counsel for the [[Marshall Plan]], [[Paris, France]] in 1949. After the War, Reuss became a [[special prosecutor]] for [[Milwaukee County, Wisconsin|Milwaukee County]] in 1950.<ref name="HSRanb"/>

===Political career===
In 1950, he left the [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican party]] due to his antipathy towards [[United States Senate|Senator]] [[Joseph McCarthy]].  As a Democrat, Reuss waged an unsuccessful [[Partisan primary|primary]] [[election campaign]] to become McCarthy's opponent in the 1952 [[General election#In the United States of America|general election]].<ref name=NYTobit/>  He attended the [[1952 Democratic National Convention]] as an alternate [[Delegate (American politics)|delegate]].<ref name="HSRanb"/>

He served as member of the [[Milwaukee School District|school board for Milwaukee]] from 1953 to 1954. He served as member of legal advisory committee, [[National Security Resources Board|United States National Resources Board]] from 1948 to 1952. He was an unsuccessful [[candidate]] for [[mayor]] of [[Milwaukee, Wisconsin|Milwaukee]] in 1948 and 1960, losing to [[Frank Zeidler]] and [[Henry Maier]], respectively.<ref name="HSRanb"/>

Reuss was elected as a [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrat]] from the [[Wisconsin's 5th congressional district|5th district]] to the [[84th United States Congress|Eighty-fourth]] and to the thirteen succeeding Congresses (January 3, 1955 – January 3, 1983).<ref name=PolGrave/> He served as chairman of the [[United States House Committee on Financial Services|Committee on Banking, Currency, and Housing]] in the [[94th United States Congress|Ninety-fourth Congress]]. He served as chairman of the Committee on Banking, Finance, and Urban Affairs in the [[95th United States Congress|Ninety-fifth]] and [[96th United States Congress|Ninety-sixth Congresses]]. He served as chairman of the [[Joint Economic Committee]] in the [[97th United States Congress|Ninety-seventh Congress]].<ref name=PolGrave/><ref name=NYTobit/>  Among many aides, most key were Donald and Sara Robinson throughout his Congressional career.<ref>Congressional Staff Directory, 1955-83, Congressional Quarterly, Washington, D.C.</ref>

Reuss was frequently sought out by the Democratic leadership and candidates to comment on policies and actions of the Nixon and Ford Administrations.<ref>Weekly Reports, 1955-83, Congressional Quarterly, Washington, D.C.</ref> That and his chairmanship of the House Government Operations Subcommittee on Conservation & the Environment made him a hero to liberals and progressives.{{cn|date=May 2024}}

After the 1974 post-Watergate Democratic landslide victories in Congress, Reuss defeated the more senior [[Wright Patman]] of Texas as chairman of the House Banking Committee.<ref name=NYTobit/><ref name="Kaufman2009">{{cite book|last1=Kaufman|first1=Burton Ira|title=The Carter Years|date=2009|publisher=Infobase Publishing|isbn=9780816074587|pages=399–403|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jIzooiFd6IoC&pg=PA399|access-date=7 September 2017|language=en}}</ref>  He opposed the [[war in Vietnam]], and supported the campaign of U.S. Senator [[Eugene J. McCarthy]] for the 1968 Democratic presidential nomination.  He  served as an at-large delegate for McCarthy at the Democratic National Convention that year.<ref name=Herbert2002>{{cite news |first=Bob |last=Herbert |author-link=Bob Herbert |title=An Honorable Man |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D04E3D9153BF932A15752C0A9649C8B63&sec=&spon= |work=New York Times|date=2002-01-21 |access-date=2008-09-28 |quote=...a thoughtful and creative congressman who represented the North Side of Milwaukee...}}</ref>

===Later career===
He was not a candidate for reelection to the [[97th United States Congress|Ninety-eighth Congress]] in 1982.  After retiring from Congress, he continued to donate to Democratic campaigns, including to Senator [[Russ Feingold]]'s and [[Paul Tsongas]]'s campaigns in 1992.  Mrs. Reuss was also an active donor to Democrats and related groups.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.city-data.com/elec2/elec-CABIN-JOHN-MD.html |title=CABIN JOHN, MD Political Contributions by Individuals |access-date=2008-09-28 |publisher=Advameg, Inc. }}</ref>

==Personal life==
[[File:310W aka Reuss Federal Plaza Milwaukee.jpg|thumb|right|The former Reuss Federal Plaza in Milwaukee]]
In 1942, he married Margaret Magrath (c. 1920–2008).<ref name=MReussObit>{{cite news |first=Patricia |last=Sullivan |title=Margaret M. Reuss; Political Activist, Professor |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/07/AR2008100703074.html |newspaper=Washington Post |page=B6 |date=2008-10-08 |access-date=2008-10-09}}</ref>  She was an [[alumna]] of [[Bryn Mawr College]] who earned a [[master's degree]] from the University of Chicago in 1944, and a [[Ph.D.]] from [[George Washington University]] in 1968, both in [[economics]].  She worked at the [[Office of Price Administration]] in the 1940s, and taught at [[Federal City College]] from 1970.  FCC was part of the merger to create the [[University of the District of Columbia]] in 1977, and she continued teaching there until she retired in 1985, as department chairman.  She served [[mayor]] [[Marion Barry]] in several capacities, supported the [[Community for Creative Non-Violence]], [[Emily's List]], and various Democrats.  They had four children, seven grandchildren, and eight great-grandchildren.<ref name=MReussObit/><ref name=PolGrave/><ref name=NYTobit>
{{cite news |first=Adam |last=Clymer |title= Henry Reuss, Liberal in Congress, Dies at 89 |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9401EFDB1538F936A25752C0A9649C8B63 |format=[[New York Times]] |work= The New York Times|date=2002-01-15 |access-date=2008-09-28 |quote=leading liberal in Congress on issues from interest rates to pollution to Watergate to aid for New York City }}</ref>

In retirement, Mr. and Mrs. Reuss spent much time living in the “unknown south of France,” the title of their 1991 ''Harvard History Buff's Guide''.  This is a charming, erudite paperback, probably written largely by Margaret judging from style, and reflects a love of France and Reussian vigor of study and exploration.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Reuss |first=Henry S. And Margaret |title=The Unknown South of France |publisher=Harvard Common Press |year=1991 |isbn=1-55832-030-X}}</ref>

===Legacy===
For 20 years, beginning in 1983, a 14-story office building in Milwaukee was named [[310W|Reuss Federal Plaza]] (It was later called The Blue and since 2019, 310W).<ref name="PolGrave" /> The [[National Park Service]]'s Henry Reuss Ice Age Center is located near [[Dundee, Wisconsin]].<ref>{{cite news |first=Josh |last=Schonwald |title=Ice Age Trail Cometh: In Wisconsin, follow the road and go back in geologic time. |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2004/09/19/AR2005041502247.html |newspaper=[[Washington Post]] |date=2004-09-29 |access-date=2008-09-28}}</ref>

==References==
;Notes
{{Reflist|30em}}

;Sources
*{{cite book
 |last=Reuss
 |first=Henry S.
 |title=When government was good : memories of a life in politics
 |year=1999
 |publisher=University of Wisconsin Press
 |location=Madison
 |isbn=0-299-16190-0|lccn=98048747
 }}
*{{cite book
 |last=Reuss
 |first=Henry S.
 |author2=Margaret Reuss
 |title=The unknown south of France : a history buff's guide
 |year=1991
 |publisher=Harvard Common Press
 |location=[[Boston, Massachusetts]]
 |url=https://archive.org/details/unknownsouthoffr00reus
 |isbn=1-55832-030-X
 }}
*{{cite book
 |last=Reuss
 |first=Henry S.
 |title=On the trail of the Ice Age : a guide to Wisconsin's Ice Age National Reserve and Trail for hikers, bikers, and motorists
 |year=1990
 |publisher=Ice Age Park and Trail Foundation
 |location=[[Sheboygan, Wisconsin]]
 |isbn=0-9627079-0-2|lccn=90082717
 }}  (inspired the [[Ice Age Trail]] in [[Wisconsin]])<!-- LOC said 1990, Wikipedia previously said 1976 -->.
*{{cite book
 |last=Reuss
 |first=Henry S.
 |title=To save our cities : what needs to be done
 |year=1977
 |publisher=Public Affairs Press
 |location=[[Washington, D.C.]]
 |isbn=0-8183-0252-6|lccn=77092384
 }}
*{{cite book
 |last=Walker
 |first=Charls E.
 |author2=Henry S. Reuss
 |url=https://archive.org/details/majortaxreformur00walk
 |title=Major tax reform: urgent necessity or not?
 |year=1973
 |publisher=American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research
 |location=[[Washington, D.C.]]
 |isbn=0-8447-2037-2
 }}
*{{cite book
 |last=Reuss
 |first=Henry S.
 |title=Revenue-sharing; crutch or catalyst for state and local governments?
 |edition=1st
 |year=1970
 |publisher=Praeger Publishers
 |location=[[New York, New York]]
 |lccn=63023048
 }}
*{{cite book
 |last=Reuss
 |first=Henry S.
 |others=Anton Zottmann (trans.)
 |language=de
 |title=Entwicklungshilfe und internationale Geldschöpfung; eine Vernunftehe
 |year=1969
 |publisher=Mohr
 |location=[[Tübingen, Germany]]|lccn=71461679
 }}
*{{cite book
 |last=Reuss
 |first=Henry S.
 |title=The critical decade : an economic policy for America and the free world
 |edition=1st
 |year=1964
 |publisher=McGraw-Hill
 |location=[[New York, New York]]
 |lccn=63023048
 }}

==External links==
{{CongBio|R000165}}

* https://www.nytimes.com/1982/12/07/us/rep-reuss-looking-back-on-28-years-in-the-house.html
* https://www.nytimes.com/2002/01/15/us/henry-reuss-liberal-in-congress-dies-at-89.html

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{{s-bef|before=[[Thomas E. Fairchild]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] nominee for [[Attorney General of Wisconsin]]|years=1950}}
{{s-aft|after=Elliot Walstead}}
|-
{{s-par|us-hs}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Charles J. Kersten]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=Member of the [[List of United States representatives from Wisconsin|U.S. House of Representatives]]<br>from [[Wisconsin's 5th congressional district]]|years=1955–1983}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Jim Moody]]}}
|-
{{s-bef|before=[[Wright Patman]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=Chair of the [[United States House Committee on Financial Services|House Banking Committee]]|years=1975–1981}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Fernand St Germain]]}}
{{s-end}}

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{{United States representatives from Wisconsin}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Reuss, Henry Schoellkopf}}
[[Category:1912 births]]
[[Category:2002 deaths]]
[[Category:American people of German descent]]
[[Category:American prosecutors]]
[[Category:Cornell University alumni]]
[[Category:Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Wisconsin]]
[[Category:Harvard Law School alumni]]
[[Category:Lawyers from Milwaukee]]
[[Category:Military personnel from Milwaukee]]
[[Category:Politicians from Milwaukee]]
[[Category:Schoellkopf family]]
[[Category:School board members in Wisconsin]]
[[Category:United States Army officers]]
[[Category:United States Army personnel of World War II]]
[[Category:University School of Milwaukee alumni]]
[[Category:20th-century members of the United States House of Representatives]]