John Moran Bailey (November 23, 1904 – April 10, 1975) was an American politician who played a major role in promoting the New Deal coalition 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 ...

and its liberal policy positions. Bailey dominated

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its capita ...

Democratic politics as a party chairman, from 1946 to his death in 1975. He typically had a decisive voice in selecting the party's candidates for top offices and in coordinating Democrats in the state legislature. He was even more powerful as the chairman of the Democratic National Committee from 1961 until 1968, and was one of the main behind-the-scenes backers 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 ...

. An

Irish Catholic Irish Catholics are an ethnoreligious group native to Ireland whose members are both Catholic and Irish. They have a large diaspora, which includes over 36 million American citizens and over 14 million British citizens (a quarter of the Briti ...

, Bailey was educated at

The Catholic University of America The Catholic University of America (CUA) is a private Roman Catholic research university in Washington, D.C. It is a pontifical university of the Catholic Church in the United States and the only institution of higher education founded by U.S. ...

and Harvard Law School.

State politics

John M Bailey, was one of the proud founders of the Young Democrats of America, serving as a national officer in 1935 from Connecticut, an organization which was crafted from the Presidential Candidacy of Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1933. Bailey was the dominant figure in Connecticut politics between 1950 and his death in 1975. From his office in

Hartford Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since t ...

two blocks from the State Capitol, he co-ordinated and controlled statewide election campaigns and the activities of the

Connecticut General Assembly The Connecticut General Assembly (CGA) is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is a bicameral body composed of the 151-member House of Representatives and the 36-member Senate. It meets in the state capital, Hartford. Th ...

. Bailey's tenure as head of the Connecticut Democratic party was credited with turning the state from one politically dominated by

WASP A wasp is any insect of the narrow-waisted suborder Apocrita of the order Hymenoptera which is neither a bee nor an ant; this excludes the broad-waisted sawflies (Symphyta), which look somewhat like wasps, but are in a separate suborder. ...

Yankee Republicans to one dominated by Democratic candidates of

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

and

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

background, such as

Abraham Ribicoff Abraham Alexander Ribicoff (April 9, 1910 – February 22, 1998) was an American Democratic Party politician from the state of Connecticut. He represented Connecticut in the United States House of Representatives and Senate and was the 80th ...

, Thomas Dodd, John Dempsey, and Ella T. Grasso. His Republican rival was Meade Alcorn, who also happened to serve as national chairman of his party. Prior to his statewide activities, Bailey had served in local roles in his home city of Hartford.

Federal politics

Bailey's term as DNC chairman was a roller-coaster ride, as he oversaw the party's moment of greatest political strength (following the 1964 electoral landslide) and greatest political weakness (the

1968 Democratic National Convention The 1968 Democratic National Convention was held August 26–29 at the International Amphitheatre in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Earlier that year incumbent President Lyndon B. Johnson had announced he would not seek reelection, thus maki ...

in Chicago). Following the assassination of

in 1963, Bailey and the new president,

Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), often referred to by his initials LBJ, was an American politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. He had previously served as the 37th vice ...

, oversaw the greatest electoral landslide in United States history, with the party winning 486 electoral votes as well as supermajorities in both houses of the

US Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washin ...

. The 1966 elections to the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

and the Senate saw Republican gains but Democrats retaining control of both houses of Congress as well as the majority of governorships. In 1968, the Republican Party again nominated

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...

as the presidential nominee and quickly rallied around him. However, the Democrats were more divided, particularly over the controversial

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam a ...

. Senator Eugene McCarthy, Senator

Robert F. Kennedy Robert Francis Kennedy (November 20, 1925June 6, 1968), also known by his initials RFK and by the nickname Bobby, was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 64th United States Attorney General from January 1961 to September 1964, ...

, Senator George McGovern, Vice President

Hubert Humphrey Hubert Horatio Humphrey Jr. (May 27, 1911 – January 13, 1978) was an American pharmacist and politician who served as the 38th vice president of the United States from 1965 to 1969. He twice served in the United States Senate, representing Mi ...

were only some of those who sought the nomination, with Bailey co-presiding over the

in Chicago. In the end, Nixon was elected, but the Democrats retained their majority in both houses of Congress.

Death

Bailey died in 1975 and was interred at Cedar Hill Cemetery in Hartford, Connecticut. The John M. Bailey Papers have been donated to the University of Connecticut and are available for research.

Legacy

Connecticut Democrats honor Bailey each year with their Jefferson-Jackson-Bailey Dinner. An admiring biography of Bailey was written by Senator

Joe Lieberman Joseph Isadore Lieberman (; born February 24, 1942) is an American politician, lobbyist, and attorney who served as a United States senator from Connecticut from 1989 to 2013. A former member of the Democratic Party, he was its nominee for ...

in 1981. The Bailey and Kennelly families have a prominent presence in the Connecticut Democratic Party and in their home city of Hartford. In Hartford, they're one of the last prominent Irish families in a city that is now dominated by African-Americans and Puerto Ricans. Bailey's daughter, Barbara Bailey Kennelly served in the U.S. Congress representing Connecticut's first congressional district. She later left the House to run for governor in a race she lost to the incumbent, John G. Rowland. Another Bailey daughter, Judith Bailey Perkins, is a professor at Saint Joseph College in West Hartford. Bailey's son, also named John Bailey, was a career prosecutor in Connecticut, first serving as Hartford State's Attorney, then as Chief State's Attorney. Many of Bailey's grandsons continue his legacy of public and political service: John Moran Bailey II is currently the Director of Government and Community Affairs for a nonprofit, SINA Inc., working to stabilize one of Hartford's poorest and blighted communities; another grandson Justin Kronholm, is the former Executive Director of the Connecticut Democratic State Central Committee. Another grandson, John B. Kennelly was previously elected to Hartford Court of Common Council and was an early rival to Hartford mayor Eddie Perez.

State politics

Federal politics

Death

Legacy

References

Further reading