Richard Neuberger: Oregon Politics and the Making of a US Senator

Richard L. Neuberger is a consequential but often forgotten figure in Oregon history, largely due to his early death at forty-seven, near the end of his only term in the United States Senate. But his life and legacy continue to inspire Oregonians and influence politicians.

In 1954, Neuberger was the first Democrat elected to the Senate from Oregon in forty years. His election moved Oregon from a solidly Republican state to one where liberal Democrats could control the legislature as well as statewide offices. He was an especially productive freshman, on both Oregon natural resource issues and national matters. Neuberger was also only the second Jewish person elected to the Senate following passage of the 17th Amendment, which required the direct election of senators.

Prior to entering politics, Neuberger was best known as a journalist. He was a prolific freelance writer, publishing 750 magazine articles and six books. In 1933, at the age of twenty-one, he visited Germany and penned the first firsthand account of Brownshirt violence written by an American; his editor at The Nation called it “an epoch-making article.”

Neuberger was ahead of his time in his advocacy of conservation, in his political partnership with his wife Maurine—who successfully ran for his Senate seat after his untimely death in 1960—and in his outspoken liberal advocacy at a time when Oregon was considerably more conservative than it is today. Tom McCall, later one of the most influential governors in the state’s history, considered Neuberger his role model as a conservationist.

In this definitive biography—more than forty years in the making—Stephen Forrester documents Neuberger’s extraordinary life and career, highlighting a legacy that includes shaping Oregon’s renowned conservation policies and developing the state’s modern Democratic party.