Prescott Bush

Prescott Sheldon Bush (May 15, 1895, Columbus, Ohio – October 8, 1972, New York City) was a U.S. Senator from Connecticut and a Wall Street executive banker with Brown Brothers Harriman. His son, George H. W. Bush, and grandson George W. Bush would both later become U.S. presidents. His father was Samuel Prescott Bush and his mother was Flora Sheldon.

Early career

Bush was born in Columbus, Ohio to Flora Sheldon and Samuel P. Bush, a steel company president and later a U.S. government official in charge of coordination and assistance to major weapons contractors during World War I.

Related Topics:
Columbus, Ohio - Flora Sheldon - Samuel P. Bush - World War I

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After attending the Douglas School in Columbus and St. George's School in Newport, Rhode Island as well as the famous Stonyhurst College in England (where he designed the boys' golf course still in use today) from 1908 to 1913, Bush entered Yale University. There, he played varsity golf, football, and baseball, and was president of the Yale Glee Club. (He was the best close-harmony man in the class of 1917). His devotion to singing at Yale would remain strong his entire life, evidenced in part by his founding of the Yale Glee Club Associates, an alumni group, in 1937. On May 18, 1916 he was "tapped" to join the Skull and Bones society at Yale. Other new "Bonesmen" that year were E. Roland Harriman, H. S. Fenimore Cooper (grandson of James Fenimore Cooper), Knight Wooley (son of Ulysses Grant Wooley), Ellery James, and Henry Neil Mallon. A Skull and Bones legend tells of Bush digging up the skull of Geronimo (1918) and "donating" it to the society.

Related Topics:
Newport, Rhode Island - Stonyhurst College - England - 1908 - 1913 - Yale University - Yale Glee Club - 1937 - May 18 - 1916 - Skull and Bones - E. Roland Harriman - James Fenimore Cooper - Knight Wooley - Ellery James - Henry Neil Mallon - Skull - Geronimo - 1918

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After graduation, he served as a field artillery captain with the American Expeditionary Forces (1917-1919) during World War I. He received training in intelligence at Verdun and was briefly assigned to a staff of French officers. Alternating between intelligence and artillery, Bush came under fire in the Meuse-Argonne offensive. He wrote home about receiving medals for heroic exploits that were published in the Columbus newspapers only to be retracted a few weeks later when it was revealed that he, in fact, had not received such medals.

Related Topics:
American Expeditionary Forces - World War I - Verdun - Meuse-Argonne offensive

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After his discharge in 1919, Bush went to work for the Simmons Hardware Company in St. Louis, Missouri.

Related Topics:
St. Louis - Missouri

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He married Dorothy Walker, George Herbert Walker's daughter, on August 6, 1921, and together they had five children, including George H. W. Bush (named after George Herbert Walker), Prescott Bush, Jr., Jonathan Bush, William Bush, and Nancy Bush. Among those attending the Kennebunkport, Maine wedding ceremony were Isabel Stillman Rockefeller (daughter of Percy Rockefeller), Hope Lincoln, Mary Keck, Elizabeth Trotter, Martha Pittman, Ruth Lionberger, Nancy Walker, George Herbert Walker, Knight Wooley, Frank Shephard, John Shepley, Richard Bentley, Henry Isham, William Potter Wear, and Henry Fenimore Cooper.

Related Topics:
Dorothy Walker - George Herbert Walker - August 6 - 1921 - George H. W. Bush - Prescott Bush, Jr. - Jonathan Bush - William Bush - Nancy Bush - Kennebunkport, Maine - Percy Rockefeller

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The Bushes moved to Columbus, Ohio, in 1923, where Bush worked for the Hupp Products Company, where his business efforts generally failed. He left in November 1923 to become president of sales for Stedman Products of South Braintree, Massachusetts. Seven months later, on June 12, 1924, future President George H. W. Bush was born. In 1925, he joined the United States Rubber Company (based in New York City) as manager of the foreign division, and moved to Greenwich, Connecticut.

Related Topics:
Columbus, Ohio - 1923 - South Braintree, Massachusetts - June 12 - 1924 - United States Rubber Company - New York City - Greenwich - Connecticut

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