George H. Olmsted

Major General George H. Olmsted (March 18, 1901, Des Moines, Iowa – October 8, 1998) was an American military officer and insurance executive.

He was the second of four children of Ernest and Alice Lockwood Olmsted, graduated from West High School in Des Moines and attended Iowa State University briefly during the fall of 1918 before receiving his appointment to the United States Military Academy at West Point on November 4, 1918.

During his four-year attendance at West Point, he was President of his class for three years. He graduated on June 22, 1922 holding the position of First Captain of the Corps of Cadets, ranking second in his class academically. He also served as Chairman of the Student Honor Committee and Assistant Business Manager of the Howitzer, the annual yearbook. In athletics, General Olmsted was the featherweight boxing champion of the Academy and won his varsity "A" as manager and second string quarterback of the 1922 Army football team.

After graduation, Olmsted served in the active army until October 1923 when he returned to civilian life in Des Moines to enter business with his father who was running a small insurance agency.

By the beginning of 1924, they had expanded the agency into a general line fire and casualty agency named Olmsted & Olmsted. In September 1924, he married Virginia Camp, his high school sweetheart and left his father to start his own firm, Olmsted Inc. Agency. By 1928, his business had grown sufficiently to enable him to make his first purchase of another company, Travelers Mutual Casualty Company of Des Moines.

Attracting a great following among the younger businessmen of Des Moines, George Olmsted was elected President of the Junior Chamber of Commerce of Des Moines in 1927 and in 1929 was elected President of the National Junior Chamber of Commerce. A notable accomplishment during his tenure was the establishment of the "Outstanding Young Man of the Year" award. He attracted the attention of prominent persons at the national level of the Republican Party and was invited to meet with President Herbert Hoover at the White House. The President asked him to direct the activities of the Young Republican Division of the party in the upcoming general election of 1932 which he did. After the election, he continued to direct the Division until it evolved into the Young Republican National Committee which elected him its first President. He later served as the head of the Young Republican National Federation, now the College Republican National Committee.

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