Bob Bennett (politician)
A pragmatic Utah senator who blended business savvy with conservative principle, focusing on technology and fiscal policy during three terms in Washington.
1933–2016 (age 83)·American politician·Birthday: September 18·The Silent Generation
Biography
Bob Bennett arrived in the Senate with the dust of the corporate world still on his shoes. The son of a senator, he forged his own path first in public relations and then as a successful businessman, helping grow his family's firm and later launching his own ventures. This practical experience shaped his political outlook when Utah sent him to Washington in 1992. In the Senate, Bennett was less a firebrand and more a workman, earning respect as a thoughtful operator on the Banking and Appropriations committees. He championed internet freedom in its early days, co-authoring a key law that prevented discriminatory taxes on e-commerce. A staunch conservative, he nonetheless believed in governance, which sometimes put him at odds with his party's rising populist wing. His career ended not with defeat in a general election, but at the state GOP convention in 2010, where he was denied renomination—a signal of the tectonic shifts within the Republican Party.
The Silent Generation
1928–1945
Born between the Depression and the end of WWII. Too young to fight, old enough to remember. They became the conformist middle managers of the 1950s — and the civil rights leaders who quietly dismantled Jim Crow.
Bob was born in 1933, placing them squarely in The Silent Generation. The events that shaped this generation — world wars, depression, and rapid industrialization — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Bob Was Born
The biggest hits of 1933
#1 Movie
King Kong
Best Picture
Cavalcade
Bob's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1933Born
FDR's New Deal launches; Prohibition ends
Gas: $0.18/galPresident: Franklin D. Roosevelt"Stormy Weather" — Ethel WatersBest Picture: Cavalcade
1938Started school
Kristallnacht and the escalation toward WWII
Gas: $0.20/galHome: $2,850Min wage: $0.25/hrPresident: Franklin D. Roosevelt"Begin the Beguine" — Artie ShawBest Picture: You Can't Take It with You
1946Became a teenager
United Nations holds its first General Assembly
Gas: $0.21/galHome: $5,150Min wage: $0.40/hrPresident: Harry S. Truman"Prisoner of Love" — Perry ComoBest Picture: The Best Years of Our Lives
1949Could drive
NATO founded; Mao proclaims the People's Republic of China
Gas: $0.27/galHome: $7,450Min wage: $0.40/hrPresident: Harry S. Truman"Riders in the Sky" — Vaughn MonroeBest Picture: All the King's Men
1951Could vote
First color TV broadcast in the US
Gas: $0.27/galHome: $7,925Min wage: $0.75/hrPresident: Harry S. Truman"Too Young" — Nat King ColeBest Picture: An American in Paris
1954Turned 21
Brown v. Board of Education desegregates US schools
Gas: $0.29/galHome: $8,925Min wage: $0.75/hrPresident: Dwight D. Eisenhower"Little Things Mean a Lot" — Kitty KallenBest Picture: On the Waterfront
1963Turned 30
JFK assassinated in Dallas; Martin Luther King's 'I Have a Dream' speech
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $13,100Min wage: $1.25/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"Sugar Shack" — Jimmy Gilmer & The FireballsBest Picture: Tom Jones
1973Turned 40
US withdraws from Vietnam; Roe v. Wade decided
Gas: $0.39/galHome: $22,100Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Richard Nixon"Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree" — Tony Orlando & DawnBest Picture: The Sting
1983Turned 50
Internet adopts TCP/IP, creating the modern internet
Gas: $1.16/galHome: $57,700Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"Every Breath You Take" — The PoliceBest Picture: Terms of Endearment
1993Turned 60
European Union officially established
Gas: $1.11/galHome: $86,600Min wage: $4.25/hrPresident: Bill Clinton"I Will Always Love You" — Whitney HoustonBest Picture: Schindler's List
2003Turned 70
US invades Iraq; Human Genome Project completed
Gas: $1.59/galHome: $146,000Min wage: $5.15/hrPresident: George W. Bush"In Da Club" — 50 CentBest Picture: The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
2013Turned 80
Edward Snowden reveals NSA surveillance programs
Gas: $3.53/galHome: $152,800Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Barack Obama"Thrift Shop" — Macklemore & Ryan LewisBest Picture: 12 Years a Slave
2016Died at 83
Donald Trump elected president; Brexit vote
Gas: $2.14/galHome: $181,700Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Barack Obama"Love Yourself" — Justin BieberBest Picture: Moonlight
Key Achievements
- Co-sponsored the Internet Tax Freedom Act, a foundational law that barred taxes on internet access.
- Served as Chairman of the Senate Republican Conference, the third-ranking leadership position, from 2007 to 2009.
- Played a key role on the Senate Banking Committee during the drafting of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act in 2002.
- Elected to three terms as a U.S. Senator from Utah, serving from 1993 to 2011.
Did You Know?
Before politics, he was the CEO of Franklin Quest, the company that later became FranklinCovey.
He was the first Mormon to be elected to the U.S. Senate from a state other than Utah or Idaho.
Bennett provided the voice of a senator in the Hollywood film "The Contender" (2000).
He served as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Scotland.
“The first rule of holes is when you're in one, stop digging.”
