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Thomas Ludwig John D'Alesandro III (July 24, 1929 – October 20, 2019) was an American attorney and politician who served as the 44th mayor of
Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was d ...
from 1967 to 1971. A member of the
Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...
, he was the president of the
Baltimore City Council The Baltimore City Council is the legislative branch that governs the City of Baltimore and its more than 600,000 citizens. It has 14 members elected by district and a president elected at-large; all serve four-year terms. The Council holds reg ...
from 1962 to 1967. During his tenure as mayor, the Baltimore riot of 1968 occurred. He was the eldest son of
Thomas D'Alesandro Jr. Thomas Ludwig John D'Alesandro Jr. (August 1, 1903 – August 23, 1987) was an American politician who served as the 39th mayor of Baltimore from 1947 to 1959. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously represented in the United States H ...
, the 41st mayor of Baltimore; and brother of
Nancy Pelosi Nancy Patricia Pelosi (; ; born March 26, 1940) is an American politician who has served as Speaker of the United States House of Representatives since 2019 and previously from 2007 to 2011. She has represented in the United States House of ...
, the 52nd
speaker of the United States House of Representatives The speaker of the United States House of Representatives, commonly known as the speaker of the House, is the presiding officer of the United States House of Representatives. The office was established in 1789 by Article I, Section 2 of the U. ...
, and first woman to hold that office.


Early life

D'Alesandro was born in Baltimore, to Annunciata (née Lombardi) and Thomas J. D'Alesandro Jr. He was the oldest of six children, of whom his youngest sister
Nancy Pelosi Nancy Patricia Pelosi (; ; born March 26, 1940) is an American politician who has served as Speaker of the United States House of Representatives since 2019 and previously from 2007 to 2011. She has represented in the United States House of ...
would later become prominent in her own right. He attended Loyola College in Baltimore and studied law at the University of Maryland School of Law. In 1952, he married Margaret "Margie" Piracci at the Baltimore Basilica; more than 5,000 people attended the wedding. He served in the United States Army from 1952 to 1955.


Political career

After military service, D'Alesandro entered into politics, becoming president of the
Baltimore City Council The Baltimore City Council is the legislative branch that governs the City of Baltimore and its more than 600,000 citizens. It has 14 members elected by district and a president elected at-large; all serve four-year terms. The Council holds reg ...
in 1963. As City Council president, he worked with Mayor Theodore McKeldin, a liberal Republican, to eliminate racial barriers in employment, education and other areas.


Mayor of Baltimore

D'Alesandro ran for mayor in 1967 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 ...
and easily defeated Republican challenger Arthur W. Sherwood, winning all 555 of the city's precincts. As Baltimore's 44th mayor, he opened new schools, built a new police headquarters and pushed for open housing. D'Alesandro got Baltimoreans to approve an $80 million bond issue to build schools. He devised summer recreation programs for the city's youth, such as mobile pools and day camps, and also laid legislative groundwork for the Inner Harbor development. D'Alesandro's one term as mayor was dominated by civil unrest and budgetary troubles. In 1968, D'Alesandro ordered the relocation of the East-West Expressway, unstarted since 1941, to be rerouted through the Western Cemetery, then cancelled the project. He later implemented a HUD program to finance 475 of the vacant homes abandoned after they were previously condemned to create "homes for the poor". The homes were demolished in 1974, with The Rouse Company creditors abandoning the project. Just four months after D'Alesandro's inauguration, the Baltimore riot of 1968 erupted after the
assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr., an African-American clergyman and civil rights leader, was fatally shot at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee, on April 4, 1968, at 6:01 p.m. CST. He was rushed to St. Joseph's Hospital, where he died at 7 ...
, and Maryland Governor Spiro Agnew called National Guard troops in to control the situation. D'Alesandro, who took office vowing to "root out every cause or vestige of discrimination", remained proud throughout his life of his progressive record on civil rights. As mayor, he appointed multiple African-Americans to his administration, some of them, such as George Russell Jr., the city solicitor and member of the Board of Estimates, the first African Americans to hold those positions. In 1971, D'Alesandro stepped down as mayor and retired from politics and went into private law practice. Years later, D'Alesandro insisted that the riots were not the reason that he walked away from politics. He said that the reason was simply that he had five children and his mayoral salary was not sufficient for him to support his family. In 1998, Jack Eddinger, D'Alesandro's former press secretary, wrote in '' The Baltimore Sun'' that "Tommy D'Alesandro was Baltimore's first modern mayor. He not only presided over its emergence as a Renaissance City that it is today, but he gave it unmatched leadership. Much of what other mayors get credit for began in those tumultuous four years, from urban design and labor law reform to streamlined governmental administration and the flowering of the vital alliance between the city and the Greater Baltimore Committee".


Death

D'Alesandro died after complications from a
stroke A stroke is a medical condition in which poor blood flow to the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and hemorrhagic, due to bleeding. Both cause parts of the brain to stop functionin ...
at his home in North Baltimore on October 20, 2019, at the age of 90. His sister,
Nancy Pelosi Nancy Patricia Pelosi (; ; born March 26, 1940) is an American politician who has served as Speaker of the United States House of Representatives since 2019 and previously from 2007 to 2011. She has represented in the United States House of ...
said upon his death: At a CNN Town Hall in December 2019, Pelosi also noted that "his vision was to say that I want to rid our society of every vestige of discrimination and that was his call to action."


References


External links


Biography
Provided by the Baltimore City Government {{DEFAULTSORT:D'Alesandro III, Thomas 1929 births 2019 deaths American politicians of Italian descent American Roman Catholics Baltimore City Council members Italian-American culture in Baltimore Lawyers from Baltimore Loyola University Maryland alumni Mayors of Baltimore Military personnel from Baltimore Pelosi family University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law alumni