Robert B. Meyner
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Robert B. Meyner | |
---|---|
44th Governor of New Jersey | |
In office January 19, 1954 – January 16, 1962 | |
Preceded by | Alfred E. Driscoll |
Succeeded by | Richard J. Hughes |
Member of the New Jersey Senate from Warren County | |
In office 1948–1952 | |
Succeeded by | Wayne Dumont |
Personal details | |
Born | Robert Baumle Meyner July 3, 1908 Easton, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
Died | May 27, 1990 Captiva, Florida, U.S. | (aged 81)
Political party | Democratic |
Spouse | |
Alma mater | Lafayette College Columbia Law School |
Robert Baumle Meyner (July 3, 1908 – May 27, 1990) was an American Democratic Party politician and attorney who served as the 44th governor of New Jersey from 1954 to 1962. Before being elected governor, Meyner represented Warren County in the New Jersey Senate from 1948 to 1951.
Early life
Meyner was born on July 3, 1908, in
In 1916, the Meyner family moved across the state border to Phillipsburg, New Jersey. They briefly settled in Paterson, New Jersey but had returned to Phillipsburg by 1922. Meyner graduated from Phillipsburg High School in 1926, and entered
In his senior year, Meyner was
While still in school, Meyner had been employed as an apprentice
Career
Meyner returned to Phillipsburg in 1936, where he quickly became a well-known trial lawyer.[citation needed]
During World War II, Meyner served as an officer in the Navy, and he was discharged with the rank of lieutenant commander.[citation needed]
New Jersey Senate
Meyner's prominent involvement in civic and social affairs, as well as the recognition it generated, helped him in 1941 during his first bid for elected office. He lost a campaign for a seat in the New Jersey Senate by only fifty votes.[citation needed]
After a failed run for federal office, he was elected to the state senate in 1947. Though he was the
Governor of New Jersey
The ailing New Jersey Democratic Party chose Meyner as its gubernatorial candidate in 1953, and he achieved a surprise victory, boosted by a minor scandal surrounding his opponent, Paul L. Troast. Meyner's first term was marked by strong support for state education and a general restructuring of the government.[citation needed]
While in his first term as governor, Meyner uncovered Employment Security Division Director (and former governor) Harold G. Hoffman's massive corruption scam, and suspended Hoffman on March 18, 1954. Meyner defeated Malcolm Forbes handily in 1957 in his bid for re-election.[citation needed]
Meyner left office in January 1962. At the time, New Jersey's
Presidential campaign
In 1958,
At the 1960 Democratic National Convention Meyner received 43 votes for president, finishing fifth behind John F. Kennedy (806 votes), Lyndon Johnson (409 votes), Stuart Symington (86 votes) and Adlai Stevenson (79.5 votes) and just ahead of Hubert Humphrey who received 41 votes.[citation needed]
Later career
In 1962, Meyner and Stephen B. Wiley formed the law firm of Meyner and Wiley[3] in Newark, New Jersey.[4]
Marriage
Meyner married
Death
Meyner had a stroke in 1986 and died on May 27, 1990, in Captiva, Florida.[7]
References
- ^ a b c d "Robert Baumle Meyner". Lafayette College. Archived from the original on July 3, 2007. Retrieved March 27, 2010.
- ^ http://meynercenter.lafayette.edu/about-the-center/robert-b-meyner/ Robert B. Meyner, The Robert B. & Helen S. Meyner Center for the Study of State & Local Government, Lafayette College. Accessed March 14, 2011. "During his early childhood, Robert Meyner's family moved to Pennsylvania, and then to Phillipsburg and Paterson, New Jersey, and finally settled back in Phillipsburg in 1922, where the family lived in the house on Lincoln Avenue built by Robert Meyner's grandfather, Robert B. Meyner.... Robert Meyner was graduated from Phillipsburg High School in 1926, where he was class valedictorian and a member of the debating team."
- ^ "N.J. Supreme Court: The Byrne Court". New Jersey Globe. June 8, 2020.
- ^ "CQ Almanac Online Edition". library.cqpress.com.
- ^ Times, Damon Stetson Special To the New York (January 20, 1957). "Gov. Meyner Weds Miss Stevenson; Ceremony in Church in Ohio Is Seen by Top Democrats". The New York Times – via NYTimes.com.
- ^ Meyner, Helen S. "Helen S. Meyner". www.congress.gov.
- ^ King, Wayne (May 29, 1990). "Robert B. Meyner Is Dead at 81; Flamboyant New Jersey Governor". The New York Times. Retrieved March 27, 2010.