John J. Cavanaugh
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The Rev. John J. Cavanaugh, C.S.C. (January 23, 1899 – December 28, 1979), an American Roman Catholic priest of the
Congregation of Holy Cross , image = Congregation of Holy Cross.svg , image_size = 150px , abbreviation = CSC , formation = , founder = Blessed Fr. Basile-Antoine Marie Moreau, C.S.C. , founding_location = ...
, served from 1946 to 1952 as the 14th president of the
University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin founded the school in 1842. The main campu ...
, having previously served as its vice president since 1941.


Life before ordination

Cavanaugh's family emigrated from the tri-County region of southwest
County Wicklow County Wicklow ( ; ga, Contae Chill Mhantáin ) is a county in Ireland. The last of the traditional 32 counties, having been formed as late as 1606, it is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and the province of Leinster. It is bordered by t ...
, on the Cos.
Carlow Carlow ( ; ) is the county town of County Carlow, in the south-east of Ireland, from Dublin. At the 2016 census, it had a combined urban and rural population of 24,272. The River Barrow flows through the town and forms the historic bounda ...
and
Wexford Wexford () is the county town of County Wexford, Ireland. Wexford lies on the south side of Wexford Harbour, the estuary of the River Slaney near the southeastern corner of the island of Ireland. The town is linked to Dublin by the M11/N11 N ...
border. They settled originally in Erinsville, Ontario and later trekked to the upper Middle West, settling in
Owosso, Michigan Owosso is the largest city in Shiawassee County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 15,194 at the 2010 census. The city is mostly surrounded by Owosso Township on its west, but the two are administered autonomously. The city wa ...
. Cavanaugh was a first cousin to the Honorable
John Franklin Kinney John Franklin Kinney (June 20, 1860 – May 8, 1934) of Rochester, New York was a New York State jurist and Democratic Party operative of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, described as one of "the strong men of the Democratic Party, potent ...
of
Rochester, New York Rochester () is a City (New York), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, the county seat, seat of Monroe County, New York, Monroe County, and the fourth-most populous in the state after New York City, Buffalo, New York, Buffalo, ...
. The Kenney, Cavanaugh, and Keegan families are all native to the region around
Coolkenno Coolkenno ( meaning ''The Nook of The Ui Caoinaith clan'') is a village in County Wicklow in Ireland. It is located about halfway between Tullow in County Carlow and Shillelagh in County Wicklow. It is also a townland in the civil parish o ...
. As a child, John Cavanaugh served in the choir at Saint Paul's Church in Owosso, Michigan. He assisted his father in the family's grocery store, as well. He retained a lifelong connect to the town, having been baptized, confirmed and celebrating his first mass at Saint Paul's. Entering Notre Dame in 1917, he earned his way through college working as a secretary for Presidents John W. Cavanaugh, C.S.C. (1905–1919) and James A. Burns, C.S.C. (1919–1922). Cavanaugh was an athlete, editor of the student-run ''The Observer'', as well as student government president. In 1923, John Cavanaugh initially entered the automobile industry, working in the advertising department at
Studebaker Corporation Studebaker was an American wagon and automobile manufacturer based in South Bend, Indiana, with a building at 1600 Broadway, Times Square, Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Founded in 1852 and incorporated in 1868 as the Studebaker Brothers Ma ...
. He later served as private secretary to
Henry Ford Henry Ford (July 30, 1863 – April 7, 1947) was an American industrialist, business magnate, founder of the Ford Motor Company, and chief developer of the assembly line technique of mass production. By creating the first automobile that mi ...
. In 1926, he left private industry to undertake religious discernment.


Ministry at Notre Dame

John Cavanaugh then took his master's at Notre Dame in 1927, and a degree from the
Gregorian University The Pontifical Gregorian University ( it, Pontificia Università Gregoriana; also known as the Gregorian or Gregoriana,) is a higher education ecclesiastical school (pontifical university) located in Rome, Italy. The Gregorian originated as ...
at Rome, Italy. Ordained in 1931, he was employed by his alma mater,
University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin founded the school in 1842. The main campu ...
. Cavanaugh was then assigned as prefect of religion from 1933 to 1938. Then he served as assistant provincial for the Congregation of the Holy Cross until 1940. In 1940, he was elevated to vice president of the university and in 1941 he was made Notre Dame's president. According to the ''New York Times'', Cavanaugh's legacy at Notre Dame in the post-war years was "devoted to raising academic standards and reshaping the university administration to suit it to an enlarged educational mission and an expanded student body" and stressing "advanced studies and research" at a time when Notre Dame quadrupled in student census, undergraduate enrollment increased by more than half, and graduate student enrollment grew fivefold. Cavanaugh also established the Lobund Institute for Animal Studies and Notre Dame's Medieval Institute. Cavanaugh also presided over the construction of the Nieuwland Science Hall, Fisher Hall, and the Morris Inn, as well as the Hall of
Liberal Arts Liberal arts education (from Latin "free" and "art or principled practice") is the traditional academic course in Western higher education. ''Liberal arts'' takes the term ''art'' in the sense of a learned skill rather than specifically the ...
(now O'Shaughnessy Hall), made possible by a donation from I.A. O'Shaughnessy, at the time the largest ever made to an American Catholic university. Cavanaugh reorganized the administration in order to free himself to pursue fundraising activities and to act as a salesman for the University. Cavanaugh's reorganization created five vice presidents, who focused their attention on the various aspects of the rapidly growing University. Father Theodore Hesburgh, at age 32, was appointed executive vice president - the one vice president to whom all the others reported. Cavanaugh also established a system of advisory councils at the University, which continue today and are vital to the University's governance and development. In 1952, President Cavanaugh was required to resign as president in order to retain his position as a superior in the Holy Cross community. But he continued to serve the university as the Director of the Notre Dame Foundation. His successor was Rev. Theodore M. Hesburgh.


Informal Chaplain to the Joseph P. Kennedy Family

During his many years of association with
Joseph P. Kennedy Joseph Patrick Kennedy (September 6, 1888 – November 18, 1969) was an American businessman, investor, and politician. He is known for his own political prominence as well as that of his children and was the patriarch of the Irish-American Ken ...
, Father John was called on for advice and assistance in times of difficulty. He officiated many of the Kennedy family weddings, said a special Mass in the
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of the
White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. ...
prior to John Fitzgerald Kennedy's
funeral A funeral is a ceremony connected with the final disposition of a corpse, such as a burial or cremation, with the attendant observances. Funerary customs comprise the complex of beliefs and practices used by a culture to remember and respect th ...
at St. Matthew's Cathedral, and was one of the three priests serving at the funeral itself. As spiritual and secular advisor to the Kennedys, Father Cavanaugh also performed other rites for the family. On April 24, 1954, for instance, Cavanaugh performed the marriage of
Peter Lawford Peter Sydney Ernest Lawford ( Aylen; 7 September 1923 – 24 December 1984) was an English-American actor.Obituary ''Variety'', 26 December 1984. He was a member of the " Rat Pack" and the brother-in-law of US president John F. Kennedy and sen ...
and
Patricia Kennedy Patricia Helen Kennedy Lawford (May 6, 1924 – September 17, 2006) was an American socialite, and the sixth of nine children of Rose and Joseph P. Kennedy Sr. She was a sister of President John F. Kennedy, Senator Robert F. Kennedy, and Senator ...
at The Church of Saint Thomas More in New York, New York. Some of the 250 guests at the wedding reception at the Plaza Hotel included
Greer Garson Eileen Evelyn Greer Garson (29 September 1904 – 6 April 1996) was an English-American actress and singer. She was a major star at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer who became popular during the Second World War for her portrayal of strong women on the hom ...
,
Marion Davies Marion Davies (born Marion Cecilia Douras; January 3, 1897 – September 22, 1961) was an American actress, producer, screenwriter, and philanthropist. Educated in a religious convent, Davies fled the school to pursue a career as a chorus girl ...
,
Bernard Baruch Bernard Mannes Baruch (August 19, 1870 – June 20, 1965) was an American financier and statesman. After amassing a fortune on the New York Stock Exchange, he impressed President Woodrow Wilson by managing the nation's economic mobilization in ...
, Supreme Court Justice
William O. Douglas William Orville Douglas (October 16, 1898January 19, 1980) was an American jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, who was known for his strong progressive and civil libertarian views, and is often c ...
, Mr. and Mrs.
Igor Cassini Count Igor Cassini Loiewski (September 15, 1915 – January 5, 2002) was a Russian-American syndicated gossip columnist for the Hearst newspaper chain. He was the second journalist to write the ''Cholly Knickerbocker'' column. Career He was b ...
, and Mr. and Mrs. Morton Downey Sr. He was the personal priest of the Kennedy family and a good friend of
John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination ...
's father,
Joseph Kennedy Joseph Patrick Kennedy (September 6, 1888 – November 18, 1969) was an American businessman, investor, and politician. He is known for his own political prominence as well as that of his children and was the patriarch of the Irish-American Ken ...
. John Cavanaugh was Virginia Joan Bennett's preferred celebrant for her wedding to Edward Moore Kennedy in 1958, but Rose and Joseph Kennedy chose
Cardinal Francis Spellman Francis Joseph Spellman (May 4, 1889 – December 2, 1967) was an American bishop and cardinal of the Catholic Church. From 1939 until his death in 1967, he served as the sixth Archbishop of New York; he had previously served as an auxiliary ...
instead. Joseph P. Kennedy sparked up a friendship with Father Cavanaugh when he became a member of University of Notre Dame's Board of Trustees. Beginning in 1958, Father Cavanaugh advised Joseph P. Kennedy on a strategy for addressing American Protestant concerns about the potential election of a Roman Catholic president. In 1959, Father Cavanaugh also advised Joseph P. Kennedy on the hiring of
Harris Wofford Harris Llewellyn Wofford Jr. (April 9, 1926 – January 21, 2019) was an American attorney, civil rights activist, and Democratic Party politician who represented Pennsylvania in the United States Senate from 1991 to 1995. A noted advocate of na ...
for the 1960 Presidential Campaign. The future Senator from the State of Pennsylvania was a civil rights attorney then teaching at
Notre Dame Law School Notre Dame Law School is the professional graduate law school of the University of Notre Dame. Established in 1869, it is the oldest continuously operating Catholic law school in the United States. ND Law is ranked 22nd among the nation's "Top 1 ...
. Father Cavanaugh, as former president of the University, approached Father
Theodore Hesburgh Theodore Martin Hesburgh, CSC (May 25, 1917 – February 26, 2015) was a native of Syracuse, New York, who became an ordained priest of the Congregation of Holy Cross and is best known for his service as the president of the University of Not ...
to arrange a leave of absence. Cavanaugh was present with the Kennedy family at Hyannisport in 1960, as they anxiously awaited returns from the swing states of Michigan, Illinois, Minnesota and California in the unexpectedly close Presidential election. Father John's advice to the Kennedy family included thoughts on the handling of materials censored by the
Vatican Vatican may refer to: Vatican City, the city-state ruled by the pope in Rome, including St. Peter's Basilica, Sistine Chapel, Vatican Museum The Holy See * The Holy See, the governing body of the Catholic Church and sovereign entity recognized ...
, as when
Rose Kennedy Rose Elizabeth Fitzgerald Kennedy (July 22, 1890 – January 22, 1995) was an American philanthropist, socialite, and matriarch of the Kennedy family. She was deeply embedded in the " lace curtain" Irish American community in Boston. Her father ...
asked for judgments on
Victor Hugo Victor-Marie Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romantic writer and politician. During a literary career that spanned more than sixty years, he wrote in a variety of genres and forms. He is considered to be one of the great ...
's ''
Les Misérables ''Les Misérables'' ( , ) is a French historical novel by Victor Hugo, first published in 1862, that is considered one of the greatest novels of the 19th century. In the English-speaking world, the novel is usually referred to by its original ...
'', all of
Émile Zola Émile Édouard Charles Antoine Zola (, also , ; 2 April 184029 September 1902) was a French novelist, journalist, playwright, the best-known practitioner of the literary school of naturalism, and an important contributor to the development of ...
's works, and some tomes by
Jean-Jacques Rousseau Jean-Jacques Rousseau (, ; 28 June 1712 – 2 July 1778) was a Genevan philosopher, writer, and composer. His political philosophy influenced the progress of the Age of Enlightenment throughout Europe, as well as aspects of the French Revolu ...
. But the relationship was reciprocated. When the United States Military Academy uncovered excessive cheating on its Varsity Football team, Father Cavanaugh obtained a special gift from Joseph P. Kennedy to provide Notre Dame scholarships for all the former cadets, under the condition that they play no varsity sports.


Trivia

* After the assassination of John F. Kennedy, Cavanaugh stayed with Mr. & Mrs. Joseph Kennedy at their Hyannisport, MA estate and then traveled to Washington D.C. for the funeral.http://www.shiawasseehistory.com/cavanaugh.html *Cavanaugh was portrayed by
Robert Prosky Robert Prosky (born Robert Joseph Porzuczek, December 13, 1930 – December 8, 2008) was an American actor. He became a well-known supporting actor in the 1980s with his roles in ''Thief'' (1981), ''Christine'' (1983), ''The Natural'' (1984), and ...
in the 1993 film ''
Rudy Rudy or Rudi is a masculine given name, sometimes short for Rudolf, Rudolph, Rawad, Rudra, Ruairidh, or variations thereof, a nickname and a surname which may refer to: People Given name or nickname *Rudolf Rudy Andeweg (born 1952), Dutch poli ...
''.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cavanaugh, John J. 1899 births 1979 deaths People from Owosso, Michigan Presidents of the University of Notre Dame American people of Irish descent 20th-century American Roman Catholic priests Congregation of Holy Cross Catholics from Michigan 20th-century American academics