New Hampshire’s newest Republican U. S. Senator, Warren Rudman, is a third generation Yankee with Baltic and Russian forebears who started life in America a century ago. That first generation weathered the bitter hardships of immigrant existence and the new Senator–one of six Jewish Americans in the upper chamber of the 97th Congress–has apparently inherited the determination of his elders, although in other ways, to win in war, legal competition and national politics.
Rudman, now 50 years old, has been a battler since his youth; as a school boy at Valley Forge Military Academy and, after graduation from Syracuse, as an infantry captain and company commander in the Korean war that brought him a bronze star–the U. S. Army’s third highest decoration–for heroism under fire.
Out of the army, as a lawyer in his hometown of Nashua, 40 miles north of Boston, he continued fighting for his ideas. Ten years after being graduated from Boston College Law School he was appointed New Hampshire’s Attorney General. Within five years, he was elected president of the National Association of Attorneys General.
As New Hampshire’s chief law officer, he expanded the criminal division in his office to deal with the state’s rapid population growth and put into effect the first organizations concerned with consumer and environmental protection. In 1977, as a private citizen, he created and led the citizens’ organization that fought the legalization of casino gambling in New Hampshire. With this background, he entered the senatorial primary in a field of 10 last year and then, as the Republican candidate, unseated the Democratic incumbent, John Durkin.
STAND ON MAJOR ISSUES
What does Rudman stand for? In the New Hampshire political campaigns, he spoke out against the “over-influence of big labor and its contributions” to political favorites. He denounced his Democratic opponent’s views towards the nation’s economic legislation and national defense. In keeping with his speeches, he “wouldn’t take a dime from any out-of-state political action committees.”
“I’m very strong on national defense, “he added in an interview in his office. “I’m concerned the U. S. will be a second rate power by the end of this decode if something is not done and done right away.”
That brought up the question of his vision of Israel in the U. S. security program. “My position on U. S. foreign policy is that it must be in the interests of America,” he replied. “Israel is a stalwart friend of the U. S. It’s the only real democracy in the Middle East. The U. S. must continue to give strong support to Israel because it is in our interest as well as hers. We must support and strengthen the Camp David accords and continue working in that direction. This has to be a bipartisan effort that crosses party lines. Some more moderate Arab countries realized Israel is a force of stability and can be a stronger force for stability in the Middle East.”
Appointed to the Senate Appropriations and Government Affairs Committees, both of which deal with overseas relations, Rudman was asked about U. S. aid to Israel and support for Soviet Jewry. “I will consider foreign aid point by point,” he said. “Certainly we should give economic aid to countries in the Middle East that is in our own interest as well as theirs. That also goes for military equipment.”
On the Jackson-Vanik amendment that relates U. S. governmental credits to the Soviet Union to its emigration policy, Rudman said he wants “to study it more fully.” He noted he needs “a lot of information” to make that decision–“information you don’t get until you’re in the Senate.”
TYPIFY JEWISH FAMILIES
Rudman is not associated with any organization– “Jewish or otherwise, ” saying “I’m not a joiner.” He did not have much Jewish education– “my choice”–he said. “Religion is very personal to me and I don’t talk about it. I’m well informed about Jewish religion although I’m not formally trained.”
The Senator and his wife, the former Shirley Wahl, have a son and two daughters, all in their 20s. In many ways the Rudmans typify Jewish families that came to America in the last century. Grandfather Abraham Rudman arrived in Bangor, Maine from Vilna about 1881 when he was only 14 years old and placed on a farm outside Bangor to which he later went and entered the soft drink bottling business. Subsequently, he married an Odessa emigrant and they had four sons, and a daughter, all university graduates–Harvard, Tufts and Wellesley.
Meanwhile, Abraham became a representative of the Moxie soft drink company and he set up 26 agencies in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont. During World War I, all his four sons served in the U. S. Army. The first Rudman brought his brothers to America from Lithuania and one of their sons — Abe Rudman — became a Maine Supreme Court justice. The Senator’s maternal grandparents — the Levinsons — both came from Riga, Latvia and settled in New York City.
The year Edward Rudman, the Senator’s father, was born in Bangor in 1897, 12 men in Nashua founded the Temple Beth Abraham Congregation. When Edward came to Nashua the town had 35 Jewish families in a general population of 30,000. Since then, with the influx of electronics industries, the general population has increased to 75,000 and the Jewish population has grown to 300 families, many of whose breadwinners are engineers in the new industries. Being a builder and furniture manufacturer, Edward Rudman was named chairman of Temple Beth Abraham’s building committee that constructed the new temple for the community.
As the interview was ending, a reporter remarked to the Senator’s wife that the Rudman saga was “unbelievable”–from an immigrant who had no knowledge of English to a U. S. Senator in three generations. Hearing this, the Senator called out: “Only in America, as Harry Golden would say.” There was a general nodding of agreement.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
