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Bruce Sundlun

Bruce George Sundlun (19 January 1920-21 July 2011) was the Democratic Governor of Rhode Island from 1 January 1991 to 3 January 1995, succeeding Edward D. DiPrete and preceding Lincoln Almond.

Biography[]

Bruce Sundlun was born in Providence, Rhode Island in 1920, the grandson of Lithuanian-Jewish immigrants. He flew B-17 bombers in England during World War II, and he was shot down on 1 December 1943 and escaped through France into Switzerland on 5 May 1944 with the help of the French Resistance and Catholic priests. After the war, Sundlun served as a practicing attorney from 1949 to 1972, and he also pioneered the jet charter industry. In 1990, Sundlin was elected Governor with 74% of the vote, and he oversaw the resolution of a major banking crisis, championed the building of the Rhode Island Convention Center as a tourism draw, and oversaw several other infrastructure and business expansion projects. After leaving office, he drew media attention for being involved in several altercations with citizens such as fights resulting from his attempting to buy forks from CVS after hours in 1997, a 2009 dispute over his place in line at a bank, and several traffic violations. He died in 2011.

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