Robert C. Bassett

Bassett was born on March 2, 1911, to Clark and Lillian Bassett in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin. He attended the University of Wisconsin–Madison, where he was a member of the Wisconsin Badgers track and field team, graduating in 1932.[1] Bassett later graduated from Harvard Law School in 1935.[1][2]

Following graduation he opened a private law practice in Green Bay, Wisconsin, until he joined the United States Navy after the U.S. entered World War II.[1] He retired from the navy as a lieutenant commander. After the war he became labor counsel for the Hearst Corporation and later became publisher of the Milwaukee Sentinel and vice president of the Joseph Schlitz Brewing Company.[1] In 1952 Harry S. Truman appointed Bassett to the Wage Stabilization Board. He was named to the University of Wisconsin Board of Regents in 1958.[1] Bassett was director of the United States Chamber of Commerce and was appointed by Richard Nixon to the Pay Board in 1971.[1]

Bassett died from Alzheimer's disease on May 5, 2000, in Las Vegas, Nevada. He is interred at Arlington National Cemetery with his wife Sally (1922–1998).[3]