John Lesinski senior

John Lesinski

John Lesinski Sr. (born January 3, 1885 in Erie , Pennsylvania , †  May 27, 1950 in Dearborn , Michigan ) was an American politician . Between 1933 and 1950 he represented the state of Michigan in the US House of Representatives .

Career

Just three months after his birth, John Lesinski moved with his parents to Detroit , Michigan. He attended public schools in his new home and the Detroit Business Academy . After leaving school, Lesinski worked in the construction industry and in the real estate market. He also founded several construction supplier companies in Hamtramck and Dearborn. Between 1919 and 1932 Lesinski was President of the Association of Polish Immigrants in Detroit ( Polish Citizens' Committee ). In 1920 he was the agent for the sale of Polish government bonds in Michigan. For this he received an award from the Polish government.

Politically, Lesinski was a member of the Democratic Party . In 1936, 1940 and 1944 he was a delegate to the Democratic National Conventions , at which President Franklin D. Roosevelt was each nominated for re-election. At the same time he was also a delegate at the party congresses at the state level. In the 1932 congressional elections , he was elected to the US House of Representatives in Washington, DC , in the then newly created 16th  constituency of Michigan , where he took up his new mandate on March 4, 1933. After eight re-elections, he could remain in Congress until his death on May 27, 1950 . From 1935 to 1947 he was chairman of the committee that dealt with disability pensions. Between 1945 and 1947 he also headed the Immigration and Naturalization Committee. From 1949 John Lesinski was chairman of the Education and Working Committee .

At the beginning of his time in Congress, the federal government's New Deal laws were passed there until 1941 . Since 1941, the work of the House of Representatives has also been shaped by the events of the Second World War and its consequences. In 1933, the 21st Amendment to the Constitution was passed in Congress, repealing the 18th Amendment from 1919. It was about the ban on the trade in alcoholic beverages.

John Lesinski died in Dearborn on May 27, 1950 and was buried in Detroit. His son John was elected to succeed him in Congress.

Web links

• John Lesinski in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)

• John Lesinski senior in the database of Find a Grave (English)