Michael DiSalle

Michael DiSalle (1962)

Michael Vincent DiSalle (born January 6, 1908 in New York City , † September 16, 1981 in Pescara , Italy ) was an American politician and from 1959 to 1963 the 60th governor of the state of Ohio .

Early years and political advancement

When Michael DiSalle was three years old, he moved to Toledo , Ohio with his parents . There he attended the local schools. He later studied at Georgetown University . After completing a law degree, he was admitted to the bar in 1932.

DiSalle was a member of the Democratic Party . In 1937 he was elected to the Ohio House of Representatives. Between 1939 and 1941 he was Deputy Head of the Legal Department ( Assistant City Law Director ) in the Toledo City Council . During the Second World War he was in the Ohio National Guard. Between 1942 and 1947 he was also a member of the Toledo City Council, and from 1944 to 1948 he was deputy mayor of that city.

Mayor and Governor

In 1946 he ran unsuccessfully for a seat in the US House of Representatives . Instead, he became mayor of Toledo from 1948 to 1950. In December 1950 DiSalle was appointed by President Harry S. Truman to head the Office of Price Stabilization . This organization was supposed to regulate consumer prices during the Korean War . He held this office until January 1952; then he made another unsuccessful attempt to be elected to Congress . In 1956, he first ran for the office of governor of Ohio. But he was defeated by the Republican C. William O'Neill . Two years later he was able to beat O'Neill and become governor of his state.

DiSalle took up his new office on January 12, 1959. He was the first Ohio governor to serve a four-year term after a constitutional amendment. As governor, he was a member of the presidential advisory staff on relations between the states. As governor, he campaigned for an increase in the education budget. He was also in favor of reinforcing the highway police. Governor DiSalle was an opponent of the death penalty . This stance was not popular in Ohio at the time and cost him re-election in 1962. For this reason, he resigned on January 14, 1963 from his office.

Another résumé

After the end of his tenure DiSalle worked again as a lawyer. He practiced in Columbus and Washington . He was also a member of a committee that campaigned for the abolition of the death penalty across the United States. In 1980 he supported Edward Kennedy in his attempt to win the Democratic nomination for the US presidency. Michael DiSalle died in 1981 while on vacation in Italy. He was married to Myrtle England, with whom he had five children.

Web links

• Michael DiSalle in nndb (English)
• Michael DiSalle in the National Governors Association (English)
• Michael DiSalle in the Ohio History Connection Archives
• Michael DiSalle in the database of Find a Grave (English)