James Michael Hanley (July 19, 1920 – October 16, 2003) was an American businessman,

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

veteran, and politician who represented New York in the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

for eight terms from 1965 to 1981.

Biography

James M. Hanley was born in Syracuse, New York, on July 19, 1920. He attended local schools and graduated from St. Lucy's Academy in 1938. He was a funeral director, and the owner and operator of the Callahan-Hanley-Mooney Funeral Home.

World War II

Hanley enlisted for

and served in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

from 1942 to 1946.

Tenure in Congress

In 1964 he was a successful Democratic candidate for a Syracuse-based congressional district, the first Democrat to hold this seat since 1915. He served eight terms, 1965 to 1981, and was Chairman of the Committee on Post Office and Civil Service in his final term. During his Congressional career, Hanley was known as a liberal, and supported the

Great Society The Great Society was a set of domestic programs in the United States launched by Democratic President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964–65. The term was first coined during a 1964 commencement address by President Lyndon B. Johnson at the Universit ...

program of

Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), often referred to by his initials LBJ, was an American politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. He had previously served as the 37th vice ...

, expansion of Medicare and Head Start, and the Equal Rights Amendment.

Later career and death

Hanley did not run for reelection in 1980; since then, no other Democrat has represented Syracuse in Congress for two consecutive terms. He worked as a government relations consultant in the

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

area until 1990, afterwards retiring to upstate New York. He died in

Geddes, New York Geddes is a town in Onondaga County, New York, United States. The population was 17,118 at the 2010 census. The Town of Geddes is west of the neighborhood of Far Westside of Syracuse. The town is a western suburb of Syracuse. History The to ...

, on October 16, 2003, and was buried at the

Onondaga County Onondaga County ( ) is a county in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 476,516. The county seat is Syracuse. Onondaga County is the core of the Syracuse, NY MSA. History The name ''Onondaga'' derives from ...

Veterans Memorial Cemetery.

Legacy

The federal building in Syracuse is named for him.James T. Walsh, United States House of Representatives
Tribute to Former Congressman James M. Hanley
February 10, 2004

References

External links

a
''Political Graveyard''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hanley, James M. 1920 births 2003 deaths United States Army personnel of World War II American people of Irish descent American funeral directors Politicians from Syracuse, New York Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from New York (state) 20th-century American politicians