Patrick V. McNamara
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Patrick V. McNamara
"Patrick McNamara" redirects here. For other uses, see Patrick McNamara (disambiguation).
| Patrick V. McNamara | |
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| United States Senator from Michigan |
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| In office January 3, 1955 – April 30, 1966 Serving with Charles E. Potter and Philip Hart |
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| Preceded by | Homer S. Ferguson |
| Succeeded by | Robert P. Griffin |
| Personal details | |
| Born | October 4, 1894 North Weymouth, Massachusetts |
| Died | April 30, 1966 (aged 71) Bethesda, Maryland |
| Nationality | American |
| Political party | Democrat |
Patrick Vincent McNamara (October 4, 1894 – April 30, 1966) was an American politician. A Democrat, he served as a United States Senator from Michigan from 1955 until his death in 1966.
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Early life and career
Patrick McNamara was born in North Weymouth, Massachusetts, to Patrick Vincent and Mary Jane (née Thynne) McNamara, who were Irish immigrants.[1] The oldest of eight children, he received his early education at public schools in his native town.[2] He attended the local high school for two and a half years before transferring to the Fore River Apprentice School in Quincy, where he learned the trade of pipe fitting.[3] In 1916, he began working as pipe fitter and foreman at the Fore River Shipyard.[1] He then played semi-professional football from 1919 to 1920.[2]
In 1921, McNamara moved to Detroit, Michigan, where he worked as foreman of a construction crew for the Grinnell Company.[2] He then served as job superintendent for R.L. Spitzley Company (1922–1926) and general superintendent of H. Kelly Company (1926–1930).[1] In 1930, he married Mary Mattee; the couple had a son and a daughter. From 1930 to 1932, he took extension courses at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.[3] He was maintenance foreman at a Chrysler plant (1931–1934) before joining the Donald Miller Company.[1] In 1937, he became president of Pipe Fitters Local 636, a position he held until 1955.[3] He also served as vice-president of the Detroit chapter of the American Federation of Labor from 1939 to 1945.[2]
During World War II, he served as rent director of the Office of Price Administration in Detroit from 1942 to 1945.[4] He then joined the Stanley-Carter Company, where he served as superintendent of construction, customer contact man, head of labor relations, and vice-president.[3]
In 1946, McNamara made his first venture into politics with a successful campaign for the Detroit City Council.[4] He won twenty-one of the city's twenty-three wards, and served for only term until 1947.[3] From 1949 to 1955, he was a member of the Detroit Board of Education.[4]
U.S. Senate
In 1954, McNamara challenged former Sentator Blair Moody for the Democratic nomination for a seat in the United States Senate.[1] He was given little chance of defeating Moody by most political analysts, but won the nomination after Moody died two weeks before the primary election.[2] He faced two-term Republican incumbent Homer S. Ferguson in the general election, during which McNamara criticized President Dwight D. Eisenhower's economic, labor, and farm policies.[2] In November, he narrowly defeated Ferguson by a margin of 51%-49%.[5]
McNamara was reelected over Alvin Morell Bentley in 1960, serving from January 3, 1955, until his death in Bethesda, Maryland. In the Eighty-seventh Congress, he became the first chairman of the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging. He also chaired the U.S. Senate Committee on Public Works in the Eighty-eighth and Eighty-ninth Congresses. The 1959 committee hearings which Pat McNamara called on the subject of the health of the elderly began a public debate which led to the creation of Medicare.
He died on April 30, 1966, aged 71, and was interred in Mount Olivet Cemetery in Detroit.
McNamara was a member of the Americans for Democratic Action. The Patrick V. McNamara Federal Building was named for him.
Bibliography
- U.S. Congress. Memorial Services Held in the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States, Together with Remarks Presented in Eulogy of Patrick V. McNamara, Late a Senator from Michigan. 89th Cong., 2nd sess., 1966. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1967.
References
- ^ a b c d e The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography. New York: James T. White & Company. 1970.
- ^ a b c d e f "Senator Patrick V. McNamara, Michigan Democrat, 71, Is Dead". The New York Times. 1966-05-01.
- ^ a b c d e Current Biography. New York: H.W. Wilson Company. 1956.
- ^ a b c "McNAMARA, Patrick Vincent, (1894 - 1966)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=M000582.
- ^ "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 2, 1954". Clerk of the United States House of Representatives. http://clerk.house.gov/member_info/electionInfo/1954election.pdf.
External Links
- A film clip "Longines Chronoscope with Patrick V. McNamara" is available for free download at the Internet Archive [more]
| United States Senate | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Homer S. Ferguson |
United States Senator (Class 2) from Michigan 1955–1966 Served alongside: Charles E. Potter, Philip Hart |
Succeeded by Robert P. Griffin |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by Dennis Chavez |
Chairman of Senate Public Works Committee 1962–1966 |
Succeeded by Jennings Randolph |
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