 Bradley was born on July 28 , 1943 in Crystal City , Missouri , the only child of Warren ( d . 1994 ) , who despite leaving high school after a year had become a bank president , and Susan " Susie " ( née Crowe ) Bradley ( d . 1995 ) , a teacher and former high school @-@ basketball player . Politicians and politics were standard dinner @-@ table topics in Bradley 's childhood , and he described his father as a " solid Republican " who was an elector for Thomas E. Dewey in the 1948 presidential election . An active Boy Scout , he became an Eagle Scout and member of the Order of the Arrow . 
