Childhood & Early Life
Scott Philip Brown was born on September 12, 1959 in Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, situated on Seavey’s Island, Kittery, Maine to English immigrants Claude Bruce Brown and Judith Ann.
He shifted to Wakefield, Massachusetts, with his mother after his parents divorced when he was just one. Each of his parents re-married three times. He was brought up by his mother and grandparents.
He visited his father at Newburyport, Massachusetts, who worked as a city councilor for nearly 18 years and assisted him on political campaigns for state office.
He completed his schooling from Wakefield High School in 1977, after which he attended Tufts University and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in history in 1981.
He studied law at Boston College Law School and earned his Juris Doctor in 1985.
He took up modeling as a part-time job during his college days at Boston College Law School to pay his fees. He modeled for various clients, which included Marshall’s department store and Jordache jeans.
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Career
He joined Massachusetts Army National Guard in 1978, after being inspired by the rescue efforts of Army National Guard, where he took ROTC classes for training in infantry, quartermaster and airborne duties at Northwestern University.
He was elected as the property assessor of Wrentham, Massachusetts in 1992. It was during this time that he was bitten by the political bug and was elected to the Wrentham Board of Selectmen, in 1995.
In 1994, he joined the Judge Advocate General’s Corps (JAG) and rose to the post of lieutenant colonel, with brief deployments in Paraguay in 2005 and Kazakhstan in 2007. After 35 years of service, he retired from the Army in 2014.
In 1998, he was successfully elected to the Massachusetts House of Representatives, where he represented 9th Norfolk District for three terms.
He gradually moved up the state politics through his victory in the March 2004 special election, replacing Cheryl Jacques, in the Massachusetts State Senate. He successfully won the reelection in November, followed by in 2006 and 2008.
During his tenure in 2006, he was in full support of the prevailing Massachusetts health care reform, where all residents were provided with health insurance while the financially weak were given a state-subsidized plan.
In 2009, he expressed his desire to fight elections for US Senate from Massachusetts, which was vacated after Ted Kennedy’s death, and won in 2010 beating Attorney General Martha Coakley and independent Joseph L. Kennedy.
His victory brought an end to a 50-year old Democratic monopoly in Massachusetts, with citizens being frustrated with different national issues erupting during Democratic reign.
In 2012, he faced a competitive re-election, but lost his Senate seat to Democratic consumer activist Elizabeth Warren by a close margin.
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He joined Fox News as an on-air contributor in February 2013. Clearing all speculations about cancelation of his contract in February 2014, he confirmed that his contract was rather renewed.
In March 2013, he was recruited by Nixon Peabody, to handle financial services and commercial real estate industries, but resigned in April 2014.
He was hired on the advisory board of a wireless communications and small arms manufacturing company, Global Digital Solutions, in September 2013.
He ran a re-election in 2014 against Democrat Jeanne Shaheen, but was defeated, thereby becoming the first man to lose two senate elections to women consecutively, the previous one being to Elizabeth Warren.
In order to reduce dependency on foreign oil, he suggested making use of available resources, such as solar, wind, nuclear power and offshore drilling to the maximum.
Presently, he is the head defense attorney for the Guard from New England.
Even though he opposed same-sex marriage on the pretext of considering marriage between a man and woman, he supports gay marriage and calls it a settled issue in Massachusetts, denying making any alterations to the same.
His statement created controversy when he suggested hospitals to provide emergency rooms to rape victims and administer them morning-after pills to avoid unwanted pregnancy. The amendment, however, was not passed.
Major Works
His surprise win in the 2010 special elections made him the first Republican to represent the US Senate from Massachusetts, after Edward Brooke in 1972.
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As a legislator, he introduced a check-off box in the State income tax form allowing veterans to indicate whether they served in Afghanistan or Iraq wars, known as the ‘Welcome Home’ bonus, making them eligible for $1000.
Even though he maintained a low profile, post his election, he managed to get the Democrat sponsored ‘jobs bill’ passed by the Senate in 2010, despite being one of the only five Republicans who supported the motion.
Awards & Achievements
As a law student, he participated and won ‘America’s Sexiest Man’ contest organized by Cosmopolitan magazine. He, later, appeared nude on the cover page of June 1982 edition, which earned him $1000.
He has been a recipient of the Army Commendation Medal for ‘meritorious service in homeland security’, received after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
He was bestowed upon with the Legion of Merit award for his service in the Army.
Personal Life & Legacy
He married Gail Huff, a news reporter with Boston TV channel WCVB, in 1986. The couple has two daughters – Ayla, born in 1988, a former ‘American Idol’ semi-finalist, and Arianna, born in 1990.
He resides in a colonial-style bungalow in Wrentham, Massachusetts, with his family. The couple owns a six-room house in Rye, New Hampshire, three condos in Brighton, Boston, and a time-share unit on Caribbean Island, Aruba.
Trivia
He is said to be the 9th generation born in New England, with his ancestry dating back to the 17th century when Francis Matthews traveled all the way from Devonshire, England.
He spent a miserable childhood with his working mother, where he was sexually assaulted by a camp counselor and physically brutalized by his stepfathers. He took up shoplifting on various occasions.
Despite serving for a long duration in the Army, he was never sent to a combat zone, like Afghanistan or Iraq.
