George Anthony Dondero

George Anthony Dondero (born December 16, 1883 in Detroit , Michigan , †  January 29, 1968 in Royal Oak , Michigan) was an American politician . Between 1933 and 1957 he represented the state of Michigan in the US House of Representatives .

Career

George Dondero attended public schools in his home country. He then worked in various offices in the city of Royal Oak. Among other things, he was there from 1905 to 1906 council clerk ( Village Clerk ) and from 1907 to 1908 chamberlain. After studying law at the Detroit College of Law and being admitted to the bar in 1910, he began working in his new profession in Royal Oak. From 1911 to 1921 he was the city's legal representative. He also served as assistant prosecutor in Oakland County in 1918 and 1919 . In 1921, Dondero became Mayor of Royal Oak; he held this office until 1922. Between 1910 and 1928 he was also a member of the city education committee.

Politically, Dondero was a member of the Republican Party . In the congressional elections of 1932 he was elected to the US House of Representatives in Washington, DC , in the then newly created 17th  constituency of Michigan , where he took up his new mandate on March 4, 1933.

After eleven re-elections, he was able to complete twelve legislative terms in Congress by January 3, 1957 . Since 1953 he represented the also newly created 18th district there. Between 1947 and 1949 and again from 1953 to 1955 Dondero was chairman of the Committee on Public Works . At the beginning of his time in Congress, most of the federal government's New Deal laws were passed there until 1941 , which Dondero's party was rather opposed to. Since 1941, the work of the Congress was also shaped by the events of the Second World War and its consequences. After the war, Dondero experienced the beginning of the Cold War and the Korean War as a congressman . That was also when the civil rights movement began . In 1951/52 he was a member of the Madden Commission , the committee to investigate the Katyn massacre .

George Dondero was very conservative. He was a supporter of US Senator Joseph McCarthy and the Committee on Un-American Activities . Dondero also tried to prevent the IG Farben managers from being charged with involvement in the crimes of National Socialism. He also led a private campaign against modern art , which he viewed as part of a communist world conspiracy.

In 1956, George Dondero decided not to run again for Congress. In the following years he practiced as a lawyer again. He died on January 29, 1968 in Royal Oak.

Individual evidence

1. ^ The Katyn Forest Massacre US Government Printing Office. Washington 1952, Vol. 3, p. 220.

Web links

• George Anthony Dondero in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)

• George Anthony Dondero in the database of Find a Grave (English)