William O'Dwyer
William O'Dwyer (born July 11, 1890 in Bohola , County Mayo , Ireland , † November 24, 1964 in New York City ) was an American politician , lawyer and diplomat . He was Mayor of New York City from 1946 to 1950.
Origin and education
William O'Dwyer was born in Bohola, Ireland. After breaking off his training as a priest, he emigrated to the United States in 1910, where he first worked as a worker and later as a police officer in New York City. In 1923 he made a law degree from Fordham University . O'Dwyer then worked as a lawyer in a private law firm and later as a judge in Brooklyn . In 1939 he was elected District Attorney for Kings County (Brooklyn). As a district attorney , he gained national notoriety for breaking up the gangster syndicate Murder, Inc. , which was responsible for hundreds of murders. After O'Dwyer had failed as a Democratic challenger in the New York mayoral election of 1941 against incumbent Fiorello LaGuardia , he enlisted in the army and rose there to brigadier general.
Political career
In 1945 O'Dwyer ran again for election to mayor and was, with the active support of the Democratic party bosses of Tammany Hall , elected to succeed LaGuardia, who had not run again.
As mayor, O'Dwyer was responsible for building schools and public housing and got the United Nations to establish its permanent seat in New York. He also pushed through the first price increase for the New York subway from 5 to 10 cents.
O'Dwyer's term of office was overshadowed by numerous corruption scandals, especially among the police, the NYPD . When a new police scandal threatened to shake his government shortly after his re-election in 1949, he resigned on September 1, 1950 and was appointed ambassador to Mexico by President Harry S. Truman . In 1951 he returned briefly to New York to testify about his ties to organized crime. Although O'Dwyer resigned as ambassador on December 6, 1952, after Eisenhower's election , he continued to stay in Mexico. In 1960 he returned to New York City, where he died on November 24, 1964. He was buried in Arlington National Cemetery.
swell
- Michael J. O'Neill: "Surrounded by Rascals" , New York Times, August 16, 1987. (English)
- CV on the site of Arlington National Cemetery (English)
- List of mayor of New York City since 1898 (English)
literature
- William O'Dwyer: Behind the Golden Door. ed. by Paul O'Dwyer, St. John's University Division of Libraries, NY 1987, ISBN 978-0-87075-575-0 .
- William O'Dwyer , Internationales Biographisches Archiv 03/1965 of January 11, 1965, in the Munzinger Archive ( beginning of article freely available)
| predecessor | Office | successor |
|---|---|---|
| Fiorello LaGuardia |
Mayor of New York City 1946 - 1950 |
Vincent R. Impellitteri |
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | O'Dwyer, William |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American lawyer and politician (Democratic Party), Mayor of New York (1946–1950) |
| DATE OF BIRTH | July 11, 1890 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Bohola , County Mayo , Ireland |
| DATE OF DEATH | November 24, 1964 |
| Place of death | New York City |