Robert Nicholas Giaimo (October 15, 1919 – May 24, 2006) was a Democratic

US Representative 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 ...

from

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its capita ...

. He co-sponsored the legislation creating the

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and the

National Endowment for the Humanities The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is an independent federal agency of the U.S. government, established by thNational Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965(), dedicated to supporting research, education, preserv ...

. He helped create the Washington Metro and sponsored legislation eliminating the

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requirement for college students applying for a federal grant.

Early life and career

Born in

New Haven, Connecticut New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134 ...

, Giaimo was the son of an immigrant from

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

who founded the city's Community Bank and Trust Company, which provided loans to many of his fellow immigrants. He attended North Haven public schools and graduated from Fordham University in 1941 and earned his law degree at the

University of Connecticut The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university in Storrs, Connecticut, a village in the town of Mansfield. The primary 4,400-acre (17.8 km2) campus is in Storrs, approximately a half hour's drive from H ...

in 1943. He served in the

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from 1943 until separated from the service as a first lieutenant in 1946 (he continued serving as a captain,

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). He was admitted to the bar in 1947 and commenced practicing law in

. He became a member of North Haven Board of Education 1949-1955 and an assistant clerk to the Probate Court in New Haven between 1952-1954. He rose to chairman of the Connecticut Personnel Appeals Board for the period 1955-1958 and was third selectman, North Haven from 1955 to 1957.

Congressional career

Politically, he was an unsuccessful Democratic candidate for election in 1956 to the

Eighty-fifth United States Congress The 85th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from January 3, 195 ...

. He succeeded in being elected as 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 ...

to the

Eighty-sixth United States Congress The 86th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from January 3, 1959 ...

and to the ten succeeding Congresses (January 3, 1959 - January 3, 1981). During the Ninety-fifth and

Ninety-sixth United States Congress The 96th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from January 3, 197 ...

es he acted as chairman of the House Committee on the Budget. Giaimo was not a candidate for reelection to the Ninety-seventh United States Congress in 1980. He died in

Arlington, Virginia Arlington County is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The county is situated in Northern Virginia on the southwestern bank of the Potomac River directly across from the District of Columbia, of which it was once a part. The county ...

of complications from heart and lung disease.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Giaimo, Robert 1919 births 2006 deaths Connecticut lawyers Fordham University alumni University of Connecticut School of Law alumni United States Army officers American politicians of Italian descent Politicians from New Haven, Connecticut Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Connecticut 20th-century American politicians Lawyers from New Haven, Connecticut 20th-century American lawyers American lawyers and judges of Italian descent