Joseph C. O'Mahoney

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Joseph C. O'Mahoney
John J. Hickey
In office
January 1, 1934 – January 3, 1953
Preceded byJohn B. Kendrick
Succeeded byFrank A. Barrett
Personal details
Born
Joseph Christopher O'Mahoney

(1884-11-05)November 5, 1884
Chelsea, Massachusetts, U.S.
DiedDecember 1, 1962(1962-12-01) (aged 78)
Bethesda, Maryland, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
Spouse
Agnes Veronica O'Leary
​
​
(m. 1913)​
Georgetown University Law School

Joseph Christopher O'Mahoney (November 5, 1884 – December 1, 1962) was an American journalist, lawyer, and politician. A Democrat, he served four complete terms as a U.S. senator from Wyoming on two occasions, first from 1934 to 1953 and then again from 1954 to 1961.

Early life and career

One of eleven children, Joseph O'Mahoney was born in Chelsea, Massachusetts, to Dennis and Elizabeth (née Sheehan) O'Mahoney.[1] His parents were both Irish immigrants; his father, who came to the United States in 1861, worked as a furrier.[2] He received his early education at the Cambridge Latin School.[3] He attended Columbia University in New York City from 1905 until 1907, when he began a career in journalism.[4] He was a reporter on the Cambridge Democrat before moving west to Boulder, Colorado, where he worked for the Herald (1908–1916).[2] He married Agnes Veronica O'Leary in 1913.[3]

In 1916, he moved to Cheyenne, Wyoming, to become city editor of the State Leader, whose owner was Governor John B. Kendrick.[1] Although he supported Theodore Roosevelt in the 1912 presidential election, O'Mahoney switched to the Democratic Party the same year he joined the State Leader.[3] Governor Kendrick became a U.S. senator in March 1917, and O'Mahoney accompanied him to Washington, D.C. as his executive secretary, a position he held for three years.[5] While working in Washington, he studied at Georgetown University Law School and received his Bachelor of Laws degree in 1920.[1]

O'Mahoney was admitted to the bar in 1920, and subsequently returned to Cheyenne to set up his law practice.

Conference on Uniform State Laws from 1925 to 1926.[5] He later served as city attorney of Cheyenne from 1929 to 1931.[4]

In 1929, O'Mahoney was elected a Democratic national committeeman, serving until 1934.[5] He was a delegate to the 1932 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Illinois, where he was a member of the subcommittee which prepared the party's platform.[2] After the convention, he became vice-chairman of the campaign committee.[3] Following the election of Franklin D. Roosevelt, DNC chairman James Farley was selected as U.S. Postmaster General. As a reward for his work at the 1932 convention,[6] O'Mahoney was appointed by Farley to be the First Assistant Postmaster General, serving from March to December 1933.[5]

U.S. Senate

On December 18, 1933, O'Mahoney was appointed to the U.S. Senate by Governor

Milward L. Simpson in 1940, and defeated Harry B. Henderson for a third term in 1946.[5]

During his early tenure in the Senate, O'Mahoney supported most of the New Deal programs, with the notable exception of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's "court-packing plan".[6] He earned a reputation as a strong opponent of big business and monopolies, and was heavily involved with anti-trust legislation.[2] One of his first actions as a senator was to introduce legislation requiring federal licensing for corporations engaged in interstate commerce.[4] He was a leading supporter of the creation of the Temporary National Economic Committee, which he chaired from 1938 to 1941.[4] He also supported wool, cattle, oil, and conservation legislation, and sponsored the Casper-Alcova reclamation project.[2] He served as chairman of the Committee on Indian Affairs (1943–1947), Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs (1949–1953), and co-chairman of the Joint Committee on the Economic Report (1949–1953).[5]

O'Mahoney was among twelve nominated at the

William H. Harrison, the great-great-grandson of William Henry Harrison (9th President of the United States) and grandson of Benjamin Harrison (23rd President of the United States), by a margin of 51%-48%.[10]

Upon his return to the Senate, O'Mahoney became a strong opponent of the

U.S. Constitution.[1] His advocacy of jury trials in civil rights cases helped obtain enough votes to pass the Civil Rights Act of 1957, and he opposed the confirmation of Lewis Strauss as U.S. Secretary of Commerce.[4] One of the last bills he introduced was to abolish the insurance rate-making body of the District of Columbia, which he believed was guaranteeing high rates to insurance companies rather than looking out for the public welfare.[1]

Later life and death

After suffering a stroke in June 1959, O'Mahoney decided not to seek re-election in 1960.[1] He made his last speech on the Senate floor on August 29, 1960; he was brought to the floor in a wheelchair by Senator Wayne Morse, who predicted O'Mahoney would be remembered as the "most effective and able" senator to try to protect free enterprise.[1] He resumed his law practice in Washington and Cheyenne.[5]

O'Mahoney died at the Naval Hospital in Bethesda, Maryland, at age 78.[1] He is buried at Mount Olivet Cemetery in Cheyenne.[5]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Joseph C. O'Mahoney, 78, Dies; Wyoming Senator for 25 Years". The New York Times. 1962-12-02.
  2. ^ a b c d e f The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography. Vol. 52. New York: James T. White & Company. 1970.
  3. ^
    H.W. Wilson Company
    . 1971.
  4. ^ a b c d e f Mayer, Michael S. (2010). The Eisenhower Years. New York: Facts On File, Inc.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "O'MAHONEY, Joseph Christopher, (1884 - 1962)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
  6. ^ a b Gressley, Gene M. (1971). Joseph C. O'Mahoney, FDR, and the Supreme Court. Pacific Historical Review.
  7. ^ "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 6, 1934" (PDF). Clerk of the United States House of Representatives.
  8. ^ Catledge, Turner (1944-07-22). "Truman Nominated for Vice Presidency". The New York Times. Retrieved 2017-10-25.
  9. ^ "Statistics of the Presidential and Congressional Election of November 4, 1952" (PDF). Clerk of the United States House of Representatives.
  10. ^ "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 2, 1954" (PDF). Clerk of the United States House of Representatives.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Joseph C. O'Mahoney.
Party political offices
Preceded by
Class 1)
1934, 1940, 1946, 1952
 Succeeded by
Preceded by
Class 2)
1954
 Succeeded by
Raymond B. Whitaker
U.S. Senate
Preceded by
Henry H. Schwartz,
Edward V. Robertson, Lester C. Hunt
 		Succeeded by
Frank A. Barrett
Preceded by U.S. senator (Class 2) from Wyoming
1954–1961
Served alongside: Frank A. Barrett, Gale W. McGee 		Succeeded by
John J. Hickey
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