Thomas J. Curran

Thomas Jerome Curran (born November 28, 1898 in New York City , † July 29, 1958 ) was an American lawyer and politician .

Career

Thomas Jerome Curran was in 1898 on the Lower East Side in Manhattan and grew up in Greenwich Village , where he spent the rest of his life. Nothing is known about his youth. He attended Xavier High School. He then went to Fordham College , where he graduated in 1920, after which he served in the US Army during the First World War . Then he joined the New York National Guard . Curran studied law . Graduated from Fordham University School of Law in 1923 . He was admitted to the bar.

Curran began his legal career with the New York State Insurance Fund. He then worked in his own legal practice for three years. In 1928 he became Assistant United States Attorney in the Southern District of New York . He resigned from his position in 1931 to run for Republican membership on the New York City Board of Aldermen . He lost his first candidacy, but two years later, in 1934, he was elected Alderman and Minority Leader. In 1936 he was elected Republican leader in his district and in 1937 a delegate to attend the New York Constituent Assembly in 1938 . Curran was the head of the New York County Republican Organization in 1940 - a position he held until his death. In 1944 he ran unsuccessfully for a seat in the US Senate . Curran suffered a defeat to incumbent Robert F. Wagner .

The Governor of New York , Thomas E. Dewey , appointed him Secretary of State of New York. Curran held the post from 1943 to 1955. During his tenure, he hosted the electors in 1944 . He advocated the abolition of the Electoral College . Speaking to Democratic voters, he claimed that this would likely be the last gathering given that so many Americans saw the process as outdated.

Curran took part in 1944, 1948 and 1956 as a delegate and in 1952 as a substitute ( Alternate Delegate ) to the Republican National Conventions . He sat on the New York State Republican Committee for many years .

At the age of 59, in 1958, he died of complications from heart disease at Saint Vincent's Catholic Medical Center in Manhattan. He was then at the Calvary Cemetery in Woodside ( Queens buried).

His son Paul J. Curran was a member of the New York State Assembly and was a United States Attorney in the Southern District of New York from 1973 to 1975.

literature

• Catherine Curran Becomes Engaged Tomarry Thomas McCarthy Souther , The New York Times, December 8, 1985
• Curran of GOP Is Dead , The New York Times, July 30, 1958

Web links

• Thomas J. Curran at The Political Graveyard
• Tom Dewey's Choice , The Time Magazine, August 21, 1944