Thomas D'Alesandro Jr.
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Thomas Ludwig John D'Alesandro Jr. (August 1, 1903 – August 23, 1987) was an American politician who served as the 39th 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 1947 to 1959. 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 previously represented in the United States House of Representatives from 1939 until 1947. He was known for his own political prominence as well as that of his children and was the patriarch of the D'Alesandro
political family A political family (also referred to as political dynasty) is a family in which multiple members are involved in politics — particularly electoral politics. Members may be related by blood or marriage; often several generations or multiple sibli ...
, which includes
Thomas D'Alesandro III 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 from 1967 to 1971. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the president of the Baltim ...
, the 43rd mayor of Baltimore; and
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. ...
.


Early life

D'Alesandro was born in Baltimore on August 1, 1903. He was the son of Maria Antonia Petronilla (née Foppiani) and Tommaso F. D'Alessandro. His father was born in Montenerodomo,
Abruzzo Abruzzo (, , ; nap, label=Neapolitan language, Abruzzese Neapolitan, Abbrùzze , ''Abbrìzze'' or ''Abbrèzze'' ; nap, label=Sabino dialect, Aquilano, Abbrùzzu; #History, historically Abruzzi) is a Regions of Italy, region of Southern Italy wi ...
, Italy, and his mother was born in Baltimore, to parents from Genoa, Liguria, Italy. D'Alesandro attended Calvert Business College in Baltimore. Before beginning his political career, he worked as an insurance and real estate broker.


Career

D'Alesandro served as a member of the
Maryland State House of Delegates The Maryland House of Delegates is the lower house of the legislature of the State of Maryland. It consists of 141 delegates elected from 47 districts. The House of Delegates Chamber is in the Maryland State House on State Circle in Annapolis ...
from 1926 to 1933. After serving in
Annapolis Annapolis ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Maryland and the county seat of, and only incorporated city in, Anne Arundel County. Situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east o ...
, D'Alesandro was then appointed as General Deputy Collector of Internal Revenue, a post in which he served during 1933–1934. He then was elected to serve on 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 1935 to 1938. D'Alesandro was then elected to the
76th Congress The 76th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, DC from January 3, 1939, ...
and to the four succeeding Congresses, serving from January 3, 1939, until he resigned on May 16, 1947. While in Congress, D'Alesandro strongly supported the
Bergson Group Hillel Kook ( he, הלל קוק, 24 July 1915 –18 August 2001), also known as Peter Bergson (Hebrew: פיטר ברגסון), was a Revisionist Zionist activist and politician. Kook led the Irgun's efforts in the United States during World ...
, a " political action committee set up to challenge the Roosevelt Administration's policies on the Jewish refugee issue during the Holocaust, and later lobbied against British control of Palestine" despite his equally strong support for Roosevelt's other policies. Following his service in Congress he was the Mayor of Baltimore for 12 years from May 1947 to May 1959. D'Alesandro served on the Federal Renegotiation Board from 1961 to 1969 after being appointed by President John F. Kennedy. On September 21, 1966, President Lyndon Baines Johnson's assistant Mildred Stegall requested a routine FBI name check on D'Alesandro. FBI records released on January 6, 2021 showed D'Alesandro had been the subject of a Special Inquiry investigation in March and April 1961, revealing numerous unsubstantiated allegations of association with criminals in Baltimore.


Political campaigns

D'Alesandro was a strong contender for Governor of Maryland in
1954 Events January * January 1 – The Soviet Union ceases to demand war reparations from West Germany. * January 3 – The Italian broadcaster RAI officially begins transmitting. * January 7 – Georgetown-IBM experiment: The fir ...
, but dropped out after being implicated in receiving undeclared money from Dominic Piracci, a parking garage owner convicted of fraud, conspiracy, and conspiracy to obstruct justice. Piracci was the father of Margie Piracci D'Alesandro, the wife of D'Alesandro's oldest son and namesake
Thomas D'Alesandro III 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 from 1967 to 1971. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the president of the Baltim ...
. Mayor D'Alesandro was later exonerated and never indicted. After withdrawing, D'Alesandro tacitly supported University of Maryland President
Curley Byrd Harry Clifton "Curley" Byrd (February 12, 1889 – October 2, 1970) was an American university administrator, educator, athlete, coach, and politician. Byrd began a long association with the University of Maryland as an undergraduate in 1905, and ...
, who lost, 54.5% to 45.5%, to Theodore McKeldin, the Republican incumbent and D'Alesandro's predecessor as Mayor of Baltimore. In 1958, D'Alesandro ran for the United States Senate in a bid to defeat Republican incumbent
J. Glenn Beall James Glenn Beall (June 5, 1894 – January 14, 1971) was an American businessman and politician. A member of the Republican Party, he served as a U.S. Representative (1943–1953) and a U.S. Senator (1953–1965) from Maryland. Early ...
. D'Alesandro first had to spend money and time defeating perennial candidate/contractor
George P. Mahoney George Perry Mahoney (December 16, 1901 – March 18, 1989) was an Irish American Catholic building contractor and Democratic Party politician from the State of Maryland. A perennial candidate, Mahoney is perhaps most famous as the Democratic no ...
in the Democratic primary. D'Alesandro then ran a strong campaign, losing to Beall in close election, the first time D'Alesandro had ever lost. In 1959, D'Alesandro was defeated in a bid for another term for Mayor of Baltimore by
J. Harold Grady Joseph Harold Grady (February 27, 1917 – January 9, 2002) was a judge and the mayor of Baltimore, Maryland from 1959 to 1962. Prior to running for mayor, he was an FBI agent and state's attorney In the United States, a district attorney ...
.


Retrospective analysis

In 2017, in an effort to counter D'Alesandro's daughter Nancy's efforts to remove statues of confederate figures from the halls of Congress, conservative commentators noted that in 1948, D'Alesandro dedicated the
Stonewall Jackson and Robert E. Lee Monument The Stonewall Jackson and Robert E. Lee Monument, often referred to simply as the Jackson and Lee Monument or Lee and Jackson Monument, was a double equestrian statue of Confederate generals Stonewall Jackson and Robert E. Lee, formerly located ...
in his capacity as Mayor of Baltimore, along with the then-Governor of Maryland,
William Preston Lane Jr. William Preston Lane Jr. (May 12, 1892 – February 7, 1967) was an American attorney and politician who served as the 52nd Governor of Maryland from 1947 to 1951. Early life and education Lane was born in Hagerstown, Maryland, on May 12, 1892, ...
His son,
Thomas D'Alesandro III 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 from 1967 to 1971. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the president of the Baltim ...
, who later served as Mayor of Baltimore from 1967 to 1971, said about his father "His whole life was politics. He was not what you would call a flaming liberal, but he was a
progressive Progressive may refer to: Politics * Progressivism, a political philosophy in support of social reform ** Progressivism in the United States, the political philosophy in the American context * Progressive realism, an American foreign policy par ...
."


Personal life

D'Alesandro was married to Annunciata M. ("Nancy") Lombardi (1909-1995). Together, the couple had six children, five sons and a daughter: * Thomas Ludwig John D'Alesandro III (1929–2019), attorney and politician who served as the
mayor of Baltimore The mayor of Baltimore is the head of the executive branch of the government of the City of Baltimore, Maryland. The Mayor has the duty to enforce city laws, and the power to either approve or veto bills, ordinances, or resolutions passed by the ...
from 1967 to 1971. * Nicholas M. D'Alesandro (1930–1934) * Franklin Delano Roosevelt D'Alesandro (1933–2007), who also served in the U.S. Army. * Hector Joseph D'Alesandro (1935–1995) * Joseph Thomas D'Alesandro (1937–2004) * Nancy Patricia D'Alesandro Pelosi (born 1940), politician who served as the
speaker of the House The speaker of a deliberative assembly, especially a legislative body, is its presiding officer, or the chair. The title was first used in 1377 in England. Usage The title was first recorded in 1377 to describe the role of Thomas de Hungerf ...
from 2007 to 2011 and from 2019 to 2023; she is the first woman elected Speaker and the first woman in American history to lead a major political party in either chamber of Congress. Two month after being present at Nancy's swearing in as a congresswoman, D'Alesandro died on August 23, 1987, in Baltimore, Maryland.


See also

* 1947 Baltimore mayoral election *
1951 Baltimore mayoral election The 1951 Baltimore mayoral election saw the reelection of Thomas D'Alesandro Jr. General election The general election was held May 8. References {{Baltimore mayoral elections 1950s in Baltimore Baltimore mayoral Baltimore Bal ...
*
1955 Baltimore mayoral election The 1955 Baltimore mayoral election saw reelection of Thomas D'Alesandro Jr. to a third consecutive term as mayor. General election The general election was held May 3. Campaign D'Alesandro faced Republican Samuel Hopkins. Hopkins had served ...
*
Thomas D'Alesandro Stadium Thomas D'Alesandro Stadium, known as Kiryat Haim Stadium, is a multi-purpose stadium in Kiryat Haim, Israel. It is used mostly for soccer matches and is the home stadium of Hapoel Haifa F.C., Hapoel Haifa's youth teams. It used to be home to the ...


References


External links


Biography
Provided by the Baltimore City Government * *
Thomas D' Alesandro Jr. FBI Files
, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:DAlesandro, Thomas Jr. 1903 births 1987 deaths 20th-century American politicians American politicians of Italian descent American Roman Catholics Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Maryland Italian-American culture in Baltimore Mayors of Baltimore Democratic Party members of the Maryland House of Delegates Pelosi family