Ex-Ohio Gov. John Bricker, Dewey’s Running Mate, Dies

John W. Bricker, a tight-fisted Republican governor who ran for vice president on the party’s ticket in 1944 and served in the U.S. Senate for two terms, died Saturday. He was 92.

“I join with all Ohioans in mourning the death of John W. Bricker, one of the most distinguished public officials in Ohio history,” said Gov. Richard Celeste after learning of Bricker’s death at a retirement village. “Ohioans will long remember his leadership as governor and United States senator in the 1940s and the 1950s.”

Bricker, who ran with unsuccessful GOP presidential candidate Thomas E. Dewey against President Franklin D. Roosevelt and his successor, Harry S. Truman, served two terms in the Senate.

He last sought elective office in 1958, when he suffered an upset in his bid for a third Senate term. Since then, he had devoted his time to his law practice.

Bricker’s three terms as governor of Ohio were marked by a government reorganization that turned a $40-million deficit into a $74-million surplus with no tax increase.

He was elected to his first Senate term in 1946 and, a few months after coming to Washington, survived an assassination attempt by a disgruntled Ohioan who fired two shots at him. Both shots went wild.

His wife, the former Harriet Day, died June 1, 1985. He is survived by his son, Jack Bricker, a Columbus attorney; seven grandchildren, and a niece.