Franklin Delano ROOSEVELT, Jr., Congress, NY (1914-1988)

ROOSEVELT Franklin Delano, Jr. , a Representative from New York; born in Campobello, New Brunswick, Canada, August 17, 1914; graduated from Groton School, Groton, Mass., 1933; graduated from Harvard University, 1937; graduated from the University of Virginia Law School at Charlottesville, 1940; was admitted to the bar in 1942; was called from the Naval Reserve on March 13, 1941, to active duty as an ensign in the United States Navy and served in North Africa, Europe, and the Pacific; discharged from active duty in January 1946; awarded the Purple Heart Medal and the Silver Star; lawyer, private practice; vice president of President Truman's Committee on Civil Rights in 1947 and 1948; chairman of mayor's committee on unity in New York City in 1948 and 1949; delegate to Democratic National Conventions in 1952 and 1956; elected as a Liberal Party candidate to the Eighty-first Congress, by special election, to fill the vacancy caused by the death of United States Representative Sol Bloom (May 17, 1949-January 3, 1951); changed from a Liberal to a Democrat on January 3, 1951; elected as a Democrat to the Eighty-second Congress and to the succeeding Congress (January 3, 1951-January 3, 1955); was not a candidate for renomination in 1954, but was unsuccessful for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination; unsuccessful candidate for election for attorney general of New York in 1954; engaged in the automobile import business in 1958; appointed by President Kennedy as chairman of Appalachian Regional Commission, 1963; appointed by President Kennedy as Undersecretary of Commerce, 1963; appointed by President Johnson as first Chairman of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, 1965; unsuccessful candidate for Governor of New York State for Liberal Party in 1966; businessman and farmer; died on August 17, 1988, in Poughkeepsie, N.Y.; interment in St. James Episcopal Church, Hyde Park, N.Y.

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present