Post-Senate years, 1953-1962

Brewster maintained an active participation in many committees and programs after his primary defeat for the Senate seat in 1952. Records in this group, which reflect a return of focus to problems and growth issues in the State of Maine, still indicate a keen interest in national affairs and Republican Party politics. Brewster maintained close contact with his Washington colleagues and sought to serve in non-elective capacities. In 1953 he was appointed to serve on the International Joint Commission on the U.S. and Canada. He was nominated to serve as legal counsel to the Senate Government Operations Committee by Senator Joseph McCarthy in 1954, but his nomination was unanimously opposed by Democrats serving on the committee, among whom was Senator John F. Kennedy. Brewster later brought a libel lawsuit against the Herald Traveler Corp., alleging that an article published by the Boston Herald Traveler in 1954, labelling Brewster as a "wiretapper", damaged his reputation and caused the committee to scuttle the nomination. Senator Kennedy testified at the court hearing of the case that he was not influenced by the article.