Bridges, Styles

Bridges, (Henry) Styles (1898–1961) governor, U.S. senator; born in West Pembroke, Maine. A magazine editor and investment broker, he served on the New Hampshire Public Service Commission (1930–34). As the conservative Republican governor of New Hampshire (1935–37) he spent state money carefully, but he funded relief aid for mothers and dependent children and he appointed the first woman state judge. In the U.S. Senate (1937–61), he opposed the New Deal. After World War II, as chair of the Appropriations Committee (1947, 1953) and Senate minority leader (1952–53), he promoted his ultra-conservative views, supporting the anticommunist campaign of his fellow Republican senator, Joseph McCarthy.