Flanders, Ralph

Flanders, Ralph (Edward) (1880–1970) mechanical engineer, U.S. senator; born in Barnet, Vt. While working at a machine tool factory, he got himself an education; after contributing articles to machine shop journals, he became an editor of Machine in New York City (1905–10). Returning to Vermont, he joined a machine tool company and rose to become its president. During World War II he was on the War Production Board and then became president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston (1944–46). Going to the U.S. Senate (Rep., Vt.; 1947–59), he was a moderate and sat on several important committees. He became best known for introducing the resolution that censured Senator Joseph McCarthy (1954).