Roger Lapham

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Roger Lapham (1943)

Roger Dearborn Lapham (born December 6, 1883 in New York City , † April 16, 1966 in San Francisco , California ) was an American shipowner, businessman and politician ( Republican Party ). From 1944 to 1948 he was the 32nd mayor of San Francisco.

biography

Lapham was born in New York to Antoinette N. Lapham (nee Dearborn) and Lewis Henry Lapham. He was trained at Harvard University , was a member of the Pacific Union Club and from 1925 President of the American-Hawaiian Steamship Company . Lapham represented the employers' position in the 1934 Waterfront Strike and was therefore proposed for mayor by J. Ward Maillard, a police officer, after the collapse of Angelo Rossi's government .

Shortly after his election, Lapham confirmed his intention to serve only one term. During World War II, he also served as the industry representative on the National War Labor Board , a commission that was supposed to negotiate disputes between employers and workers in order to prevent strikes and the extremely unfavorable lost time during the war. Lapham campaigned for the nationalization of the various streetcar companies that operated cable cars in San Francisco , but was criticized for giving the railways insufficient funding for renovations.

In July 1946, Lapham was the first mayor of San Francisco to face a recall because he wanted to increase tram fees. All four daily newspapers in San Francisco fought against the election, which ultimately failed. Lapham experienced his greatest political defeat when he tried to abolish the cable cars . He justified this with too high costs. Heavy civil protests arose. The opposition led by Friedel Klussmann achieved in a referendum against the will of the government that the city had to continue to operate the traditional railway and still has to.

Lapham also presided over the founding assembly of the United Nations at its San Francisco conference in April 1945.

literature

Our Fair City -1947, Vanguard Press NY Edited by Robert S. Allen. Chapter on San Francisco by Charles Radebaugh.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Lapham, Roger
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Lapham, Roger Dearborn
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American ship owner, businessman, and politician
DATE OF BIRTH December 6, 1883
PLACE OF BIRTH New York City
DATE OF DEATH April 16, 1966
Place of death San Francisco , California