John Paul Rousakis (January 14, 1929 – December 11, 2000) was a politician from

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

, United States, and was the first

Greek-American Greek Americans ( el, Ελληνοαμερικανοί ''Ellinoamerikanoí'' ''Ellinoamerikánoi'' ) are Americans of full or partial Greek ancestry. The lowest estimate is that 1.2 million Americans are of Greek descent while the highest es ...

to become Mayor of Savannah. He was a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

Background

He was born in

Savannah, Georgia Savannah ( ) is the oldest city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia and is the county seat of Chatham County, Georgia, Chatham County. Established in 1733 on the Savannah River, the city of Savannah became the Kingdom of Great Br ...

, on January 14, 1929 and was a member of St. Paul's Greek Orthodox Church. After graduating from Savannah High School, he earned a basketball scholarship to the

University of Kentucky The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a Public University, public Land-grant University, land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Kentu ...

. After a career-ending injury, he transferred to the

University of Georgia , mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things." , establ ...

, from which he graduated with a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in 1952. While a student, he was a member of the

Lambda Chi Alpha Lambda Chi Alpha (), commonly known as Lambda Chi, is a college fraternity in North America which was founded at Boston University in 1909. It is one of the largest social fraternities in North America, with more than 300,000 lifetime members a ...

fraternity. He served in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

during the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

. In 1953, Rousakis married Irene Fotopoulos (1933–1985), and they later had four children. Prior to entering politics, he was an insurance agent.

Electoral history

Rousakis was elected to the Chatham County Commission in 1965 and eventually became Vice-Chairperson of that institution. He ran for Mayor of Savannah in 1970. He won the Democratic nomination and defeated one-term

incumbent The incumbent is the current holder of an official, office or position, usually in relation to an election. In an election for president, the incumbent is the person holding or acting in the office of president before the election, whether seek ...

and

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

nominee

Julius Curtis Lewis, Jr. Julius Curtis Lewis Jr., often known as J.C. Lewis Jr. (March 11, 1926 – August 20, 2005), was an American businessman, philanthropist and Chairman of J.C. Lewis Enterprises, Lewis Broadcasting Corporation, J.C. Lewis Investment Company, and ...

with 55% of the vote. He won re-election in 1974, 1978, 1982 and 1986. His fifth term was extended by a year by the

Georgia General Assembly The Georgia General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is bicameral, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. Each of the General Assembly's 236 members serve two-year terms and are directly ...

, but Rousakis was defeated by Republican contestant Susan Weiner in 1991 with 46% of the vote. He attempted a political comeback in 1995, but finished third with only 23% of the vote.

Achievements

Under Rousakis' mayorship, River Street was revitalized, the police department and public work activities were modernized and the unpolluting of the Savannah River was undertaken. However, the situation of public housing worsened and the local crime and murder rates increased. In 1976, he played the role of a hotel clerk in a scene in the movie ''Gator''.

Later life and death

After his wife's death in 1985, Rousakis married Elizabeth Lattimore Sparks (b. 1948). Rousakis died on December 10, 2000.Savannah Morning News, December 11, 2000

Footnotes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rousakis, John 1929 births 2000 deaths American people of Greek descent Mayors of Savannah, Georgia 20th-century American politicians Georgia (U.S. state) Democrats