James Herbert Fay (April 29, 1899 – September 10, 1948) was an American

lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solic ...

and Democratic

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

. He was a member of the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

from

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, serving two non-consecutive terms from 1939 to 1941, and from 1943 to 1945.

Biography

Born in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, Fay was awarded a

Purple Heart The Purple Heart (PH) is a United States military decoration awarded in the name of the President to those wounded or killed while serving, on or after 5 April 1917, with the U.S. military. With its forerunner, the Badge of Military Merit, w ...

during his service in the military in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, where he lost one of his legs. He graduated from

Brooklyn Law School Brooklyn Law School (BLS) is a private law school in New York City. Founded in 1901, it has approximately 1,100 students. Brooklyn Law School's faculty includes 60 full-time faculty, 15 emeriti faculty, and a number of adjunct faculty. Brookly ...

in 1929.

Tenure in Congress

In 1938, he was elected to Congress and served from January 3, 1939, to January 3, 1941. In 1940, Fay lost his bid for reelection to the Republican candidate,

William T. Pheiffer William Townsend Pheiffer (July 15, 1898 – August 16, 1986) was an American lawyer, Republican politician and diplomat. He was a Representative from New York in the 77th Congress and ambassador to the Dominican Republic. Biography He w ...

. Fay defeated Pheiffer in 1942 by 80 votes and returned to his seat in Congress, serving from January 3, 1943, to January 3, 1945.

Death

He died on September 10, 1948.

Sources

1899 births 1948 deaths Brooklyn Law School alumni Politicians from New York City Burials at Long Island National Cemetery Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from New York (state) 20th-century American politicians Lawyers from New York City 20th-century American lawyers {{NewYork-Representative-stub