Arthur Levitt Sr.

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New York State Comptroller Arthur Levitt Sr. meeting with Israeli Finance Minister Levi Eschkol in August 1959.

Arthur Levitt senior (born June 28, 1900 in New York City , † May 6, 1980 ibid) was an American lawyer and politician . He was New York State Comptroller from 1955 to 1978 .

Career

Nothing is known about Arthur Levitt senior's youth. He served during the First and Second World War in the US Army . Most recently he held the rank of colonel . He studied law and began practicing law after receiving his license. He was elected New York State Comptroller in the 1954 election and was re-elected in 1958, 1962, 1966, 1970, and 1974. Levitt ran in all elections for the Democratic Party and the Liberal Party. He took part in the Democratic National Conventions as a delegate in 1956, 1960 and 1964 . In 1961 he was a regular Tammany Hall candidate for the Democratic nomination for New York City Mayor. However, he suffered a defeat in the primaries against incumbent Robert F. Wagner junior , who had previously broken with the head of the Tammany Hall Carmine DeSapio .

Levitt was a member of the American Legion , the Veterans of Foreign Wars , the Jewish War Veterans , the Freemasons , the Shriners , the Knights of Pythias , the Phi Sigma Delta, and the Odd Fellows .

His son, Arthur Levitt, Jr. , served as Chairman of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission from 1993 to 2001 .

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