Sedgwick William Green (October 16, 1929 – October 14, 2002) was a

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 ...

member of the

United States 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 house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

from New York. He represented a district covering most or all of Manhattan's East Side. To date, he is the last Republican to have represented Manhattan in the U.S. House.

Life and career

Bill Green was born on October 16, 1929 in New York City, the son of Louis A. Green and Evelyn (née Schoenberg) Green. His father was a wealthy investor who was one of the main shareholders in

Grand Union A grand union is a rail track junction where two double-track railway or tramway lines cross at grade, often in a street intersection or crossroads. A total of sixteen railroad switches (sets of points) allow streetcars (or in rarer installati ...

, and Bill Green grew up in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

. He graduated from The

Horace Mann School , motto_translation = Great is the truth and it prevails , address = 231 West 246th Street , city = The Bronx , state = New York , zipcode = 10471 , count ...

in 1946,

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

in 1950, and

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States. Each class ...

in 1953. From 1953 to 1955, 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 ...

. After leaving the army, he was legal secretary for U.S. Court of Appeals (D.C.) Judge George T. Washington before leaving to practice law. From 1961-64, Green was the chief counsel to the New York Joint Legislative Committee on Housing and Urban Development. He was a member of the

New York State Assembly The New York State Assembly is the lower house of the New York State Legislature, with the New York State Senate being the upper house. There are 150 seats in the Assembly. Assembly members serve two-year terms without term limits. The Assem ...

from 1965–68, sitting in the 175th, 176th and

177th New York State Legislature The 177th New York State Legislature, consisting of the New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly, met from January 4, 1967, to May 25, 1968, during the ninth and tenth years of Nelson Rockefeller's governorship, in Albany. Backgro ...

s. In 1968 he ran for Congress, but lost the Republican nomination to Whitney North Seymour Jr., who went on to be defeated by Democrat

Ed Koch Edward Irving Koch ( ; December 12, 1924February 1, 2013) was an American politician, lawyer, political commentator, film critic, and television personality. He served in the United States House of Representatives from 1969 to 1977 and was may ...

., Afterwards he was the New York City director of the

United States Department of Housing and Urban Development The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It administers federal housing and urban development laws. It is headed by the Secretary of Housing and Urb ...

. Green was elected as a

to the

95th United States Congress The 95th 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, DC from January 3, 1977, ...

, to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of

, and was re-elected to the 96th, 97th, 98th, 99th, 100th,

101st The 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) ("Screaming Eagles") is a light infantry division (military), division of the United States Army that specializes in air assault military operation, operations. It can plan, coordinate, and execute mul ...

and

102nd United States Congress The 102nd 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, DC from January 3, 1991 ...

es, holding office from February 14, 1978, to January 3, 1993. A mostly liberal Republican, he was one of the few members of his party to have a long run in office from a city long dominated by Democrats. However, the East Side-based district, long considered a bastion of moderate Republicans, had been trending Democratic at the national level for some time. Redistricting in 1992 made his district friendlier to Democrats, as it gained some heavily Democratic portions of Queens and Brooklyn. As a result, he narrowly lost his re-election bid that year to New York City Councilwoman

Carolyn Maloney Carolyn Jane Maloney (née Bosher, February 19, 1946) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for since 2013, and for from 1993 to 2013. The district includes most of Manhattan's East Side, Astoria and Long Island City i ...

. Green sought the Republican nomination for

Governor of New York The governor of New York is the head of government of the U.S. state of New York. The governor is the head of the executive branch of New York's state government and the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The governor has ...

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...

, but was defeated by State Senator

George Pataki George Elmer Pataki (; born June 24, 1945) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 53rd governor of New York from 1995 to 2006. An attorney by profession, Pataki was elected mayor of his hometown of Peekskill, New York, and went on ...

. , Green is the last Republican to represent any part of Manhattan in Congress. The Republicans have only made one substantive bid for the seat–renumbered as the 12th in 2013–since Green left office, and have never cracked the 40 percent barrier in the district.

Personal life and death

Green and his wife, the former Patricia Freiburg, had two children. He died from liver cancer at a hospital in Manhattan on October 14, 2002, two days before his 73rd birthday.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Green, Bill 1929 births 2002 deaths 20th-century American Jews 20th-century American lawyers 20th-century American politicians 21st-century American Jews Deaths from cancer in New York (state) Deaths from liver cancer Harvard College alumni Harvard Law School alumni Horace Mann School alumni Jewish American military personnel Jewish members of the United States House of Representatives Lawyers from New York City Republican Party members of the New York State Assembly Politicians from Manhattan Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from New York (state) United States Army officers

Life and career

Personal life and death

See also

References

External links