Roger Milliken (born October 24, 1915) is a U.S. textile heir whose grandfather founded a small textile company, and who ended up acquiring financially strapped cotton mills as well as failed department stores which eventually merged into the Mercantile Department Store chain. Milliken attended Yale University.

He inherited the company in 1947. Today Milliken & Co. is the largest privately-held textile firm in the world.

The firm grew through product innovation and development as well as superior customer service. Milliken, who resides in Spartanburg, South Carolina, is known for the millions of dollars he has donated to the Republican Party over many years as well as his fierce opposition to unionization. However, his unfailing commitment to manufacture products in America has put him at odds with free trade Republicans and caused him to join with United States trade unions to protect US workers. He initiated the "Made with Pride in the USA" programs in the 1990s.

Milliken served as one of three industrial advisers to 1996 Presidential campaign of Patrick J. Buchanan. In 2000 election, when Buchanan ran as the Reform Party Presidential candidate, Milliken raised a significant proportion of the campaign's total funds. ^[1]

In the past ten years, Milliken has donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to conservative politicians and political action committees including Sharp Pencil PAC ^[2], Bob Barr Leadership Fund, Peace Through Strength PAC ^[3], Fund for America's Future ^[4], and Freedom's Defense Fund.^{[5][6] [7]} In the 2008 presidential campaign, Milliken backed California congressman Duncan Hunter. Hunter campaigned in opposition to illegal immigration and in support of economic protectionism, as Buchanan did before. Mr. Milliken was inducted into the Junior Achievement U.S. Business Hall of Fame in 2000.

[edit] References

1. ^ Milliken Donations to Buchanan. Information retrieved from Opensecrets.org. May 18, 2007.
2. ^ Political Action Committees
3. ^ Political Action Committees
4. ^ Political Action Committees
5. ^ Freedom's Defense Fund - SourceWatch
6. ^ Roger Milliken campaign donations during 2006 election cycle. Opensecrets.org. Retrieved May 18, 2007.
7. ^ Roger Milliken campaign donations during 2000 election cycle. Opensecrets.org. Retrieved August 27, 2007.

[edit] External links

• entry in 2008 Forbes richest people
• Roger Milliken on Forbes World's Richest People, 2003
• Milliken Entry in National Textile Association Textile Industry Who's Who