John Bartholomew Sosnowski (December 8, 1883 – July 16, 1968) was a

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking ...

from the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

. Sosnowski was born in a Polish family in

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...

, Michigan, and attended the parochial and Army schools. During the

Spanish–American War , partof = the Philippine Revolution, the decolonization of the Americas, and the Cuban War of Independence , image = Collage infobox for Spanish-American War.jpg , image_size = 300px , caption = (cloc ...

he enlisted as a private in the Seventh Regiment,

United States Cavalry The United States Cavalry, or U.S. Cavalry, was the designation of the mounted force of the United States Army by an act of Congress on 3 August 1861.Price (1883) p. 103, 104 This act converted the U.S. Army's two regiments of dragoons, one ...

, and served in

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

and the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

. After the close of the war, he continued in the service and was on detached duty at the

United States Military Academy The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a fort, since it sits on strategic high groun ...

West Point, New York West Point is the oldest continuously occupied military post in the United States. Located on the Hudson River in New York, West Point was identified by General George Washington as the most important strategic position in America during the Ame ...

. He was honorably discharged on December 26, 1906, and returned to Detroit where he engaged in the

real estate Real estate is property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this (also) an item of real property, (more general ...

and

brokerage A broker is a person or firm who arranges transactions between a buyer and a seller for a commission when the deal is executed. A broker who also acts as a seller or as a buyer becomes a principal party to the deal. Neither role should be con ...

business. Sosnowski rose to the rank of captain and adjutant in the Thirty-first Regiment, Infantry,

Michigan Army National Guard The Michigan Army National Guard is the Army component of the Michigan National Guard and a reserve component of the United States Army. During the Cold War only the 156th Signal Battalion was federalized on 1 October 1962 at its home stations i ...

, from 1909 to 1916, with service on the Mexican border in 1916. He was a member and chairman of the board of water commissioners of the city of Detroit from 1918 to 1924. Sosnowski was elected as 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 ...

from

Michigan's first congressional district Michigan's 1st congressional district is a United States congressional district containing the entire Upper Peninsula of Michigan and 16 counties of Northern Michigan in the Lower Peninsula. The district is currently represented by Republican Ja ...

to the Sixty-ninth Congress, serving from March 4, 1925, to March 3, 1927. Sosnowski was an early

anticommunist Anti-communism is political and ideological opposition to communism. Organized anti-communism developed after the 1917 October Revolution in the Russian Empire, and it reached global dimensions during the Cold War, when the United States and the ...

and shared considerable findings from anticommunist investigations in public congressional hearings. In 1927, US Representative John B. Sosnowski stated "I would suggest you gentlemen read a book published by

Blair Coan Blair Coan (also written Coán) (1883-1939) was an American government agent under US Attorney General Harry M. Daugherty and anti-communist, known for his book ''The Red Web'' (1925) on early Soviet penetration in the US government, singling out ...

, entitled ''The Red Web''," as part of a long list of findings presented during a public congressional hearing. He was an unsuccessful candidate for re-nomination in 1926, when his 1924 Democratic rival, Robert H. Clancy, switched parties to become a Republican and defeated Sosnowski in the primary. Sosnowski again ran for the first district and lost in 1928, 1930, 1932, 1934, 1936, 1938, 1942, 1944, and 1946. In 1952, he ran the seat from Michigan's 16th congressional district and lost in the Republican primary. He resumed the real estate and brokerage business in Detroit and was chosen as a delegate to the Republican National Conventions in

1932 Events January * January 4 – The British authorities in India arrest and intern Mahatma Gandhi and Vallabhbhai Patel. * January 9 – Sakuradamon Incident: Korean nationalist Lee Bong-chang fails in his effort to assassinate Emperor Hiro ...

1936 Events January–February * January 20 – George V of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India, dies at his Sandringham Estate. The Prince of Wales succeeds to the throne of the United Kingdom as King E ...

1940 A calendar from 1940 according to the Gregorian calendar, factoring in the dates of Easter and related holidays, cannot be used again until the year 5280. Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * Januar ...

(as an alternate), and

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 ...

. He was an unsuccessful candidate for election in 1942 to the Seventy-eighth Congress, in 1944 to the Seventy-ninth Congress, and in 1946 to the Eightieth Congress. He would later become hearing examiner for the Michigan Liquor Control Commission from 1947 to 1951. John Sosnowski died in Detroit and was interred in Sweetest Heart of Mary Cemetery

References

*
The Political Graveyard

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sosnowski, John Bartholomew 1883 births 1968 deaths Politicians from Detroit American military personnel of the Spanish–American War United States Army officers American politicians of Polish descent American anti-communists Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Michigan 20th-century American politicians