Leo T. McCarthy

Leo Tarcissus McCarthy (born August 15, 1930 in Auckland , New Zealand , † February 5, 2007 in San Francisco , California ) was an American politician . Between 1983 and 1995 he was lieutenant governor of the state of California.

Career

At the age of four, Leo McCarthy came to San Francisco with his parents, where he attended public schools. He then studied history at the University of San Francisco . After studying law at the San Francisco Law School and being admitted to the bar, he began working in the profession. He served in the United States Air Force during the Korean War in 1951 and 1952 . Politically, he joined the Democratic Party . Between 1964 and 1968 he was a member of the San Francisco City Council; from 1969 to 1983 he was a member of the California State Assembly . From 1974 to 1980 he was chairman of this chamber.

In 1982 McCarthy was elected Lieutenant Governor of California. He held this office after two re-elections between 1983 and 1995. He was deputy to the Republican governor George Deukmejian and chairman of the state senate . Since 1991 he served under the new Governor Pete Wilson . In July 1988, he took part as a delegate to the Democratic National Convention in Atlanta . In the same year he ran unsuccessfully for the US Senate . Four years later, another candidacy for the Senate failed in his party's primary elections. Re-election as vice governor after three terms in office was constitutionally not possible.

After the end of his tenure, McCarthy withdrew from politics. He founded an investment firm and helped found the Leo T. McCarthy Center for Public Service and the Common Good at the University of San Francisco. He died of kidney failure in San Francisco on February 5, 2007.

Web links

• Leo T. McCarthy in the database of Find a Grave (English)
• Leo T. McCarthy at The Political Graveyard
• Death report in the SFGate newspaper