Thaddeus Francis Boleslaw Wasielewski (December 2, 1904 – April 25, 1976) was an American lawyer from

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee is ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

who spent six years as a Democratic

U.S. 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 c ...

from Wisconsin's 4th congressional district.

Background

Wasielewski was born in Milwaukee, son of Dr. Frank S. and Felicia H. (Baranowski) Wasielewski. He attended SS. Cyril and Methodius Parochial School and

South Division High School South Division High School is a public high school in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. South Division is part of the Milwaukee Public Schools. History The building was built after an 1890 motion by the Milwaukee Board of School Directors, as a second Mil ...

, and received degrees from the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

(B.A., 1927) and from Marquette University Law School (J.D., 1931) and practiced law in Milwaukee. On 28 October 1939, he married Stephanie M. Gorak, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Gorak of Milwaukee. He was active in many local

Polish-American Polish Americans ( pl, Polonia amerykańska) are Americans who either have total or partial Poles, Polish ancestry, or are citizens of the Republic of Poland. There are an estimated 9.15 million self-identified Polish Americans, representing abou ...

organizations and would make campaign speeches both in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

and in the

Polish language Polish (Polish: ''język polski'', , ''polszczyzna'' or simply ''polski'', ) is a West Slavic language of the Lechitic group written in the Latin script. It is spoken primarily in Poland and serves as the native language of the Poles. In a ...

Congress

In 1938, Wasielewski unseated incumbent Congressman

Raymond Joseph Cannon Raymond Joseph Cannon (August 26, 1894 – November 25, 1951) was an attorney, baseball player and Democratic politician who represented Wisconsin's 4th congressional district in the Congress from 1933 to 1939. Early life Born in Ironw ...

in the Democratic

primary Primary or primaries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels * Primary (band), from Australia * Primary (musician), hip hop musician and record producer from South Korea * Primary Music, Israeli record label Works * ...

for Wisconsin's 4th congressional district, but was narrowly defeated in turn by a former incumbent, Republican

John Schafer John Charles Schafer (May 7, 1893 – June 9, 1962) was a U.S. Representative from Wisconsin. Born in Milwaukee, Schafer fought in the First World War in France, serving for twenty-two months. In 1921, he was elected to the Wisconsin State ...

, with 33,559 votes (31.40%), to Schafer's 34,196 (32.00%),

Progressive Progressive may refer to: Politics * Progressivism, a political philosophy in support of social reform ** Progressivism in the United States, the political philosophy in the American context * Progressive realism, an American foreign policy par ...

Paul Gauer's 30,817 (28.84%), 7,498 votes (7.02%) for Cannon (who ran as an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

) and 794 votes (0.74%) for a Union Party candidate. Wasielewski was again nominated in 1940, and this time was elected to the 77th Congress. Wasielewski was an interventionist (supported American entry into World War II) in a largely isolationist state. He voted in favor of both the 1941 Lend Lease Act to send more military aid to Great Britain, and the 1944 Lend Lease Act as well. He served as part of the 77th, 78th and

79th Congress The 79th 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, 1945, ...

es. He lost the Democratic nomination in 1946 to

Edmund Bobrowicz Edmund Victor Bobrowicz (May 1, 1919March 16, 2003) was an American trade union activist and politician from the state of Wisconsin. Biography Bobrowicz was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the son of Polish immigrants. He served in the Army during ...

(he was accused of voting for anti- labor legislation), then ran unsuccessfully for his seat as an

when accusations surfaced that Bobrowicz was a Communist Party member. As a result, they both lost to Republican

John C. Brophy John Charles Brophy (October 8, 1901December 26, 1976) was a U.S. Representative from Wisconsin."John C. Brophy" in Wisconsin Blue Book 1948', p. 23. Brophy was born in Eagle, Wisconsin. He graduated from St. Patrick's School in Milwaukee and at ...

, who drew 49,144 votes to Bobrowicz' 44,398, Wasielewski's 38.502, and

Socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...

George Helberg's 2,470.

After Congress

Wasielewski returned to private life, although he served as a delegate to the

1948 Democratic National Convention The 1948 Democratic National Convention was held at Philadelphia Convention Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from July 12 to July 14, 1948, and resulted in the nominations of President Harry S. Truman for a full term and Senator Alben W. Ba ...

and would make one more unsuccessful try for the Democratic nomination in 1950, losing 27,717 to 10,692 in an effort to unseat incumbent

Clement Zablocki Clement John Zablocki (November 18, 1912December 3, 1983) was an American politician who served nearly 35 years in the United States House of Representatives, representing Wisconsin's 4th congressional district. A liberal Democrat, he built his ...

. He practiced law until his death in 1976. His papers are owned by the

Wisconsin Historical Society The Wisconsin Historical Society (officially the State Historical Society of Wisconsin) is simultaneously a state agency and a private membership organization whose purpose is to maintain, promote and spread knowledge relating to the history of N ...

, and are housed in the

University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee The University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee (UW–Milwaukee, UWM, or Milwaukee) is a public urban research university in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It is the largest university in the Milwaukee metropolitan area and a member of the University of Wiscons ...

Golda Meir Library Golda is a term of which the various forms stem from Proto-Germanic '' gulþą'' "gold", and may refer to: Geography * Golda, the original name of Gouda, South Holland, Netherlands * Golda, the earliest known name for the river Gouwe in the Nether ...

Archives Department, in the Milwaukee Area Research Center.Wisconsin Historical Society. "Thaddeus F.B. Wasielewski Papers, 1932-1973" ''Archival Resources in Wisconsin: Descriptive Finding Aids'' University of Wisconsin Digital Collections
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References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wasielewski, Thaddeus 1904 births 1976 deaths American politicians of Polish descent Marquette University Law School alumni Politicians from Milwaukee University of Michigan alumni Wisconsin lawyers South Division High School alumni Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Wisconsin 20th-century American politicians Catholics from Wisconsin 20th-century American lawyers