Peter Johnson Sr. (1921 – December 3, 2012) was an American lawyer. Johnson was the son of a longshoreman and a seamstress, and began working as a stevedore at the age of 17. A Marine during World War II, Johnson was wounded at the

Battle of Iwo Jima The was a major battle in which the United States Marine Corps (USMC) and United States Navy (USN) landed on and eventually captured the island of Iwo Jima from the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) during World War II. The American invasion, desi ...

in 1945. He worked his way through school as a member of the

New York City Police Department The City of New York Police Department, also referred to as New York City Police Department (NYPD), is the primary law enforcement agency within New York City. Established on May 23, 1845, the NYPD is the largest, and one of the oldest, munic ...

, graduating from St. John's University in 1947, and from the St. John's University School of Law in 1949.Beekman, Daniel.
"Peter Johnson Sr., brave World War II veteran, NYPD officer, political power broker and lion of the law, dies at 91".''New York Daily News''.
2012-12-04. Retrieved 2012-12-09."In Memory of Peter James Johnson, Sr.".St. John's University School of Law.
2012-12-06. Retrieved 2012-12-09. In 1951, Johnson helped lead a

wildcat strike A wildcat strike is a strike action undertaken by unionised workers without union leadership's authorization, support, or approval; this is sometimes termed an unofficial industrial action. The legality of wildcat strikes varies between countries ...

by longshoremen against shipping companies and the

International Longshoremen's Association The International Longshoremen's Association (ILA) is a North American labor union representing longshore workers along the East Coast of the United States and Canada, the Gulf Coast, the Great Lakes, Puerto Rico, and inland waterways; on the W ...

, which had purportedly colluded to underpay workers and to demand kickbacks from their pay. In the same year, he organized slates of delegates to run against

Tammany Hall Tammany Hall, also known as the Society of St. Tammany, the Sons of St. Tammany, or the Columbian Order, was an American political organization founded in 1786 and incorporated on May 12, 1789, as the Tammany Society. It became the main local ...

leaders, whom he accused of corruption; Johnson himself ran against

Greenwich Village Greenwich Village, or simply the Village, is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street (Manhattan), 14th Street to the north, Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the s ...

's Democratic district leader,

Carmine DeSapio Carmine Gerard DeSapio (December 10, 1908 – July 27, 2004) was an American politician from New York City. He was the last head of the Tammany Hall political machine to dominate municipal politics. Early life and career DeSapio was born in ...

, described as "Tammany's chieftain".Martin, Douglas
"Peter Johnson, Crusader Against Corruption, Dies at 91".''New York Times''.
2012-12-08. Retrieved 2012-12-09. Neither the strike nor the political campaign produced immediate results, but they led to a subsequent purge of the union's leadership and to Tammany's adopting a more open mode of selecting its district leaders. Johnson co-founded the legal firm Leahey and Johnson. He advised New York Governor

Mario Cuomo Mario Matthew Cuomo ( , ; June 15, 1932 – January 1, 2015) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 52nd governor of New York for three terms, from 1983 to 1994. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic ...

, and served on mayoral commissions on justice and healthcare. Johnson died of pulmonary fibrosis at the age of 91.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Peter 1921 births 2012 deaths Deaths from pulmonary fibrosis St. John's University (New York City) alumni St. John's University School of Law alumni New York City Police Department officers 20th-century American lawyers United States Marine Corps personnel of World War II