George F. O'Shaunessy

George F. O'Shaunessy

George Francis O'Shaunessy (born May 1, 1868 in Galway , Ireland , † November 28, 1934 in Providence , Rhode Island ) was an American politician . Between 1911 and 1919 he represented the first constituency of the state of Rhode Island in the US House of Representatives .

Career

In 1872, George O'Shaunessy immigrated to the United States with his parents. The family settled in New York City , where young George attended public schools. After studying law and being admitted to the bar in 1889, he began practicing his new profession in New York. He carried out this activity until 1907. From 1904 to 1905 he was the Assistant Attorney General of New York State . In 1907 he moved to Providence, Rhode Island, where he also worked as a lawyer.

O'Shaunessy became a member of the Democratic Party . In 1910 he became a Member of the House of Representatives from Rhode Island . In the congressional elections held that year, he was elected to the US House of Representatives in the first district of the state. There he took over on March 4, 1911, succeeding Republican William Paine Sheffield . After three re-elections, he was able to spend four legislative terms in Congress until March 3, 1919 . During this time, the American entry into the First World War fell . In addition, the 16th and 17th amendments to the Constitution were passed in 1913 . Shortly before the end of his tenure in Congress, the 18th amendment to the Constitution was ratified on January 16, 1919 , which introduced the Prohibition Act nationwide and should bring alcohol smugglers and gangster syndicates a golden era.

For the elections in 1918, O'Shaunessy decided not to run for the House of Representatives again. Instead, he ran unsuccessfully for a seat in the US Senate . Between October 1919 and July 1921 he headed the Rhode Island tax authority ( Collector of Internal Revenue ). After that he worked as a lawyer again.

Web links

• George F. O'Shaunessy in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)

• George F. O'Shaunessy in the database of Find a Grave (English)