John Matthew O'Connell

John Matthew O'Connell (born August 10, 1872 in Westerly , Rhode Island , † December 6, 1941 ) was an American politician . Between 1933 and 1939 he represented the second constituency of the state of Rhode Island in the US House of Representatives .

Career

John O'Connell attended the public schools of his home country and then taught himself as a teacher between 1892 and 1902. He then studied dentistry at Philadelphia Dental College until 1905 . After his admission as a dentist in the same year, he began to practice in this profession in Westerly. During the First World War he worked as a dentist in a medical unit for 16 months. After the war, he was a major in the reserve in the US Army Dental Service .

Politically, O'Connell was a member of the Democratic Party . Between 1929 and 1932 he was an MP in the Rhode Island House of Representatives . In 1932 he was elected to the US House of Representatives in Washington in the second district of Rhode Island . In this election victory, he benefited from a nationwide trend in favor of the Democratic Party, the climax of which was the election of Franklin D. Roosevelt as US President . On March 4, 1933, John O'Connell succeeded Republican Richard S. Aldrich in Congress . After two re-elections, he could remain in Congress until January 3, 1939. It was there that most of the New Deal laws in the administration of President Roosevelt were discussed and passed during this period . In 1936, John O'Connell was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia , where Roosevelt was nominated for a second term. In 1938, O'Connell declined to run again.

After his tenure in Congress ended, John O'Connell was no longer politically active. He died on December 6, 1941 in his native Westerly.

Web links

• John Matthew O'Connell in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)

• John Matthew O'Connell in the database of Find a Grave (English)