James A. Gallagher (January 16, 1869 – December 8, 1957) was an American banker, businessman, and

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

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

Early life

James A. Gallagher was born in

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

on January 16, 1869. He attended the public schools and Philadelphia's

Pierce College Pierce College may refer to: * Pierce College (Washington) * Los Angeles Pierce College ** Pierce College station See also * Peirce College * Franklin Pierce University Franklin Pierce University is a private university in Rindge, New Hampsh ...

from 1891 to 1893. Professionally, he began work in merchandise warehousing and transportation in 1886, and later worked in the banking industry.

Congress

Gallagher was elected to Congress as a Republican in November of 1942, defeating three-term Democratic incumbent Leon Sacks. In 1944, he lost his re-election bid to Democrat

William A. Barrett William Aloysius Barrett (August 14, 1896 – April 12, 1976) was an American lawyer, politician, and member of the Democratic Party who served in the United States House of Representatives, representing Pennsylvania's 1st congressional dis ...

, who rode to victory on the coattails of the very popular

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...

. Two years later, Gallagher returned to

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...

during the Republican sweep of Congress in 1946, but would lose renomination in

1948 Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The Constitution of New Jersey (later subject to amendment) goes into effect. ** The railways of Britain are nationalized, to form British ...

to Republican John De Nero, who went on to lose to Barrett in November, 53-47%. Barrett went on to represent Philadelphia in Congress for 26 more years until his death in 1976. As a Congressman, Gallagher had a generally conservative voting record, voting with the Republican Party in 89 and 86 percent of his votes in the 78th and 80th Congresses, respectively. Some of Gallagher's most important votes included voting present on the 1944

G.I. Bill The Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, commonly known as the G.I. Bill, was a law that provided a range of benefits for some of the returning World War II veterans (commonly referred to as G.I.s). The original G.I. Bill expired in 1956, bu ...

, voting for the Taft-Hartley Act, and voting to amend the United States Constitution to establish term limits. All three bills passed. Gallagher also supported strengthening the

U.S. military The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. The armed forces consists of six service branches: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard. The president of the United States is the ...

during the opening stages of the

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...

and reducing

inflation In economics, inflation is an increase in the general price level of goods and services in an economy. When the general price level rises, each unit of currency buys fewer goods and services; consequently, inflation corresponds to a reductio ...

. Additionally, he also had a pro-civil rights voting record, voting for an anti-poll tax bill in 1947. During his tenures, Gallagher served on three committees - the

Census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...

Pensions A pension (, from Latin ''pensiō'', "payment") is a fund into which a sum of money is added during an employee's employment years and from which payments are drawn to support the person's retirement from work in the form of periodic payments ...

, and

Printing Printing is a process for mass reproducing text and images using a master form or template. The earliest non-paper products involving printing include cylinder seals and objects such as the Cyrus Cylinder and the Cylinders of Nabonidus. The ea ...

committees during his first term, and the

House Administration Committee The United States House Committee on House Administration deals with the general administration matters of the United States House of Representatives. History The Committee on House Administration was created by the Legislative Reorganization A ...

during his second. Gallagher cast 182 total votes duering his congressional career, 89 in his first term and 93 in his second. He missed 16 percent of roll call votes, significantly worse than the average of 3.5 percent.

Death

After losing his congressional primary in 1948, Gallagher returned to private life in Philadelphia. He died on December 8, 1957, at age 88. He was interred at the Holy Cross Cemetery in

Yeadon, Pennsylvania Yeadon is a borough in Delaware County, Pennsylvania. It borders the city of Philadelphia. The population was 11,443 at the 2010 census. Geography Yeadon is located in eastern Delaware County at (39.932862, -75.251540). It is bordered on the sou ...

Electoral history

, + Pennsylvania's 1st congressional district: Results 1942-1946 ! Year ! ! Subject ! Party ! Votes ! % ! ! Opponent ! Party ! Votes ! % , - ,

1942 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 – WWII: The Declaration by United Nations is signed by China, the United Kingdom, the United States, the Soviet Union, and 22 other nations, in wh ...

, , , , James A. Gallagher , ,

, , 44,519 , , 53.45 , , , , Leon Sacks (inc.) , , Democratic , , 38,768 , , 46.55 , - ,

1944 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 2 – WWII: ** Free French General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny is appointed to command French Army B, part of the Sixth United States Army Group in Nor ...

, , , , James A. Gallagher (inc.) , ,

, , 52,159 , , 41.58 , , ,

, , Democratic , , 73,289 , , 58.42 , - ,

1946 Events January * January 6 - The 1946 North Vietnamese parliamentary election, first general election ever in Vietnam is held. * January 7 – The Allies recognize the Austrian republic with its 1937 borders, and divide the country into f ...

, , , , James A. Gallagher , ,

, , 70,680 , , 57.34 , , , William A. Barrett (inc.) , , Democratic , , 52,593 , , 42.66

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gallagher, James A. 1869 births 1957 deaths Politicians from Philadelphia Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Pennsylvania