Rudy Boschwitz

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Rudolph Ely Boschwitz (born November 7, 1930) is an American politician and businessman from Minnesota. A member of the Republican Party, he served as a member of the United States Senate from 1978 to 1991. From 1987 to 1989, Boschwitz served as the chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee. Boschwitz was born in Berlin to a Jewish family. When he was two years old, he and his family fled the country due to Adolf Hitler's rise to power. He grew up in New Rochelle, New York, and graduated with a Juris Doctor degree from New York University School of Law in 1953. Boschwitz moved to Minnesota, where he started a retail lumber store chain, Plywood Minnesota (later renamed Home Valu). He grew it into a successful business with 70 stores. Boschwitz became well known for starring in Plywood Minnesota's television commercials, wearing his signature plaid flannel shirts. Home Valu Interiors went out of business in May 2010. Boschwitz first ran for elected office in Minnesota's 1978 U.S. Senate election and defeated Democratic incumbent Wendell R. Anderson. He was reelected in 1984 by a landslide. From 1987 to 1989, he chaired the National Republican Senatorial Committee. Boschwitz ran for reelection to a third term in the 1990 election against Democrat Paul Wellstone. He significantly outspent Wellstone and was expected to win, but lost in an upset. He was defeated again by Wellstone (who was re-elected) in a rematch in 1996. Boschwitz was later appointed to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights by President of the United States George W. Bush, and served on the commission from 2005 until 2006. As of 2026, Boschwitz is the oldest living former elected U.S. senator since the death of Daniel J. Evans.