Rush Holt Sr.
Matthew Holt was an atheist, who shifted his political support from the Republican Party to William Jennings Bryan in the 1890s, and then to Socialist candidate Eugene Debs; Matthew Holt attended the Socialist Party's 1917 convention, where he participated in condemning American involvement in World War I.[4] Rush Holt attended the public schools and West Virginia University at Morgantown; he graduated from Salem College in 1924.[4] Holt was elected with the support of the United Mine Workers and the endorsement of Democratic West Virginia Senator Matthew M. Neely.However, by 1936, Holt emerged as a vocal conservative critic of the New Deal, attacking, for example, the Works Progress Administration as corrupt and inefficient.[6] Holt began making a number of public appearances in support of antiwar causes, including several radio addresses for the National Council for Prevention of War.[7] Holt received a high level of media attention during his Senate years and was the subject of hundreds of political cartoons from across America.