Joseph Phillip Vigorito (November 10, 1918 – February 5, 2003) was a Democratic member of the

U.S. 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 chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

for Pennsylvania from 1965 to 1977.

Early life and education

Joe Vigorito was born in Niles, Ohio to Italian immigrants. He served in the United States Army from 1942 to 1945 and was awarded the Purple Heart. After serving in the military, he graduated in 1947 from the Wharton School of Finance at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia and received an MBA from the University of Denver in 1949. He was a member of the faculty at

Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campu ...

in State College, Pennsylvania, from 1949 to 1964.

Congress

In 1964, Vigorito was elected to Congress from a district based in Erie as part of the gigantic Democratic landslide of that year. He was reelected five more times before being defeated in 1976 by Mercer County Solicitor Marc L. Marks. During his time in office, Nina Totenberg named Vigorito one of the ten dumbest members of Congress.

Later career and death

After his time in Congress, he served on the faculty of Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., from 1977 through 1978. He tried to regain his seat in 1978, but was defeated by Marks. Vigorito was only the third Democrat to represent the Erie area in the 20th century. Since his loss, one Democrat,

Kathy Dahlkemper Kathleen Ann Dahlkemper ( née Steenberge; born December 10, 1957) is an American politician. A member of the Democratic Party, she was elected the county executive of Erie County, Pennsylvania, in 2013 and served as the U.S. representative for ...

, represented Erie County for one term from 2009 to 2011. He died in Washington, D.C. in 2003.

References

Sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vigorito, Joseph 1918 births 2003 deaths 20th-century American politicians American accountants United States Army personnel of World War II American people of Italian descent Burials at Arlington National Cemetery Georgetown University faculty Military personnel from Ohio Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Pennsylvania Military personnel from Pennsylvania Pennsylvania State University faculty People from Niles, Ohio Politicians from Erie, Pennsylvania United States Army soldiers University of Denver alumni Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania alumni