Frederick B. Dent
Frederick Baily Dent ( born August 17, 1922 in Cape May, New Jersey ) is a retired American businessman and politician ( Republican), who held the office of U.S. Commerce Secretary under Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford.
Early life and military career
Born in New Jersey Dent was still a boy when his parents moved with him to Greenwich in Connecticut. There, the father led the textiles trading company of the family, Joshua L. Baily & Company, which was founded in 1876 by Frederick Dent's grandfather.
After attending school in Concord Dent began a study at Yale University, where in 1943 he earned a bachelor's degree. At Yale, he was facing a possible combat mission in World War II already the Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps at; only a short time after his graduation he entered the active service in the Navy.
He used a short shore leave in San Diego in March 1944, to marry his childhood sweetheart, Mildred Harrison. After returning it went down with his ship -combat at the Pacific theater of war. He took part in April 1945 in the Battle of Okinawa; after the Japanese surrender, he was transferred to a patrol boat that went through the Panama Canal to Florida.
Businessmen and politicians
After his time in the military Dent worked as a sales representative in the company of his father. In 1947 he was sent for further training in the textile industry to Spartanburg in South Carolina, where he settled permanently. There he was in 1958 then President of Mayfair Mills, a subsidiary of the family company Baily. As a businessman to Dent made a name for itself in the political arena. Among other things, he was a member of the Business Council, an advisory board, belonged to the senior representatives of the U.S. economy. He also served as president of the American Textile Manufacturers Institute.
On February 2, 1973, President Nixon appointed him as Secretary of the Commerce in his cabinet. Even after Nixon's resignation kept Dent this post under his successor Gerald Ford first, before he was appointed on 26 March 1975 Representatives of the United States ( Trade Representative ). This he remained until the inauguration of the new President Jimmy Carter in January 1977.
After the end of the short political career, Frederick Dent and his family moved back to Spartanburg, where he took care of again as president to the shops of Mayfair Mills. In 1988, he joined this post to his son, Rick, but himself remained Chairman ( Chairman ) of the company. For his services to the economy of the State Dent was inducted into the South Carolina Business Hall of Fame in 1994.