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→Political career
Bridges was reelected in 1942, 1948, 1954, and 1960, but he served less than a year of his final term because of his death from a heart attack. He became the highest-ranking Republican senator, serving as chairman of the Joint Committee on Foreign Economic Cooperation when the Republicans had control of the upper chamber. For a year, he was the Senate Minority Leader. In 1954, he was one of twenty-senators, all Republicans, who voted against the [[censure]] of Senator [[Joseph McCarthy]] of [[Wisconsin]], who exposed [[communist]] infiltration of the U.S. government.<ref>U.S. Senate ''Congressional Record'', roll call vote on Senate Resolution 301, December 2, 1954.</ref>
Bridges was reelected in 1942, 1948, 1954, and 1960, but he served less than a year of his final term because of his death from a heart attack. He became the highest-ranking Republican senator, serving as chairman of the Joint Committee on Foreign Economic Cooperation when the Republicans had control of the upper chamber. For a year, he was the Senate Minority Leader. In 1954, he was one of twenty-senators, all Republicans, who voted against the [[censure]] of Senator [[Joseph McCarthy]] of [[Wisconsin]], who exposed [[communist]] infiltration of the U.S. government.<ref>U.S. Senate ''Congressional Record'', roll call vote on Senate Resolution 301, December 2, 1954.</ref>
Along with [[Bourke Hickenlooper]] of [[Iowa]], Bridges sought to bar [[segregation]]ist demagogue [[Theodore Bilbo]] from taking office in the wake of racist [[voter suppression]] during the 1946 Senate election in Mississippi.<ref>[https://www.senate.gov/about/origins-foundations/electing-appointing-senators/contested-senate-elections/126Theodore_Bilbo.htm The Election Case of Theodore G. Bilbo of Mississippi (1947)]. ''senate.gov''. Retrieved March 3, 2021.</ref> Bilbo, running for a third Senate term, openly threatened blacks in the [[Deep South]] state during the campaign and faced calls to be blocked from taking office. Ensuing gridlock was soon broken by [[Minority Leader]] [[Alben Barkley]], who announced that Bilbo would return to Mississippi to be treated for surgery. The virulent racist never returned, dying in August 1947.
He voted present on the [[Civil Rights Act of 1957]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/85-1957/s75|title=HR. 6127: The Civil Rights Act of 1957|publisher=govtrack|date=August 7, 1957|accessdate=March 3, 2021}}</ref> but supported the 1960 version of the law.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/86-1960/s284|title=HR 8601: Passage of amended bill|date=April 8, 1960 |publisher=govtrack|accessdate=March 3, 2021}}</ref> Both measures were signed into law by [[President Dwight Eisenhower]].
He voted present on the [[Civil Rights Act of 1957]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/85-1957/s75|title=HR. 6127: The Civil Rights Act of 1957|publisher=govtrack|date=August 7, 1957|accessdate=March 3, 2021}}</ref> but supported the 1960 version of the law.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/86-1960/s284|title=HR 8601: Passage of amended bill|date=April 8, 1960 |publisher=govtrack|accessdate=March 3, 2021}}</ref> Both measures were signed into law by [[President Dwight Eisenhower]].