Anthony Joseph Celebrezze Sr. (bornAntonio Giuseppe Cilibrizzi,Italian:[anˈtɔːnjodʒuˈzɛppetʃiliˈbrittsi]; September 4, 1910 – October 29, 1998) was an American politician of theDemocratic Party, who served as the 49thmayor ofCleveland,Ohio, as a cabinet member in theKennedy andJohnson administrations, and as aUnited States circuit judge of theUnited States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.
Celebrezze was born in 1910 as one of thirteen children to Dorothy (née Marcogiuseppe) and Rocco Cilibrizzi inAnzi, a town in the administrative region ofBasilicata, southernItaly. The family moved to the United States when he was two years old, and thesurname wasAmericanized in spelling to "Celebrezze."[1]/sɛləˈbriːzi/. After having been a shepherd in Anzi, the father Rocco took an industrial job, becoming a tracklaborer for theWheeling and Lake Erie Railroad inCleveland.
Like many of his immigrant generation, Anthony Celebrezze took odd jobs as a youngster, shining shoes and selling newspapers. He attendedCleveland Public Schools, graduating fromCentral High School[1] and Fenn College (later developed asCleveland State University).[2]
He graduated fromJohn Carroll University in 1934.[3] During his college years, he earned his way by working as a railroad laborer and freight truck driver, as well asboxer.[1] He later attendedOhio Northern University inAda, Ohio, where he received aBachelor of Laws in 1936 from theClaude W. Pettit College of Law (then known as the Warren G. Harding College of Law).[4]
Celebrezze began working for the Ohio Unemployment Commission inColumbus, Ohio. In 1938, he passed the bar and returned to Cleveland, where he entered the general practice of law.[1] That same year, he married Anne M. Marco, a graduate ofWestern Reserve University and a teacher in the Cleveland Public School system, on May 7, 1938.[1] With the onset ofWorld War II, Celebrezze enlisted in theUnited States Navy. Upon his discharge at the end of the war, he returned to private practice.[4]
In 1950, Celebrezze ran for a seat in theOhio State Senate, vacated byHoward Metzenbaum, and won. He served as an Ohio state senator from 1951 to 1953. One of the few Democrats to serve in the Senate at the time, Celebrezze cultivated a friendly relationship with the Republican majority. GovernorFrank J. Lausche, a Democrat and former mayor of Cleveland, did not have a good relationship with the Democratic leadership in the Senate. Lausche thus relied heavily on Celebrezze to represent his interests in the Senate.
In 1952, when Celebrezze sought re-election to the state senate, he ran into trouble when he crossed the Democratic party chairman,Ray T. Miller, by supporting fellowItalian AmericanMichael DiSalle for theUnited States Senate instead ofJames M. Carney. Celebrezze was renominated by his party and won the general election. Six years later in his gubernatorial campaign, he ran against DiSalle.
In 1952, after continuing battles with the Democratic leadership in the Senate, Celebrezze resigned to run forMayor of Cleveland. The office was open because sitting mayorThomas A. Burke had decided not to seek another term. The Democratic party organization chose Albert S. Porter, Engineer ofCuyahoga County, to succeed Burke. Although lacking support from Party Chairman Miller, Celebrezze had the backing of Governor Lausche. Mayor Burke did not favor either candidate.
In the open primary among Porter, Celebrezze, and Republican juvenile court Judge William J. McDermott, Celebrezze won a decisive victory, having a substantial lead over McDermott. Porter came in third. In the general election, Celebrezze again defeated Republican McDermott. He was endorsed by theCleveland Press editorLouis B. Seltzer.
After that, Celebrezze was elected for an unprecedented five two-year terms as mayor, serving from 1953 to 1962.[1] At the time, Cleveland was the fifth-largest city in the nation. Celebrezze drove efforts to build or upgrade the city's infrastructure, and conducted a massive $140 million urban-renewal program.[5] Major portions of therapid-transit system were constructed during this time, most notably theRed Line, which connected much of the city to the existingBlue andGreen lines. There was also extensive work done on the city's freeway system, thePort of Cleveland, andBurke Lakefront Airport.
In 1958 Celebrezze was elected president of the American Municipal Association (now theNational League of Cities) in 1958.[2] That same year, he sought the Democratic nomination forGovernor of Ohio, but lost toMichael DiSalle. In 1960, he launched the Erieview urban renewal plan, designed by architectI. M. Pei. The most prominent result of the plan was theErieview Tower. He also spurred several building projects, most notably afederal office building (which was later named after him after his death), and the Garden Valley housing project.[5]
In 1962, Celebrezze served as president of theUnited States Conference of Mayors.[6]
In 1961, after years of denying rumors that he sought a higher public office, Celebrezze was offered a federal judgeship by PresidentJohn F. Kennedy, which was a lifetime appointment to a federal judgeship. Celebrezze turned it down to run for a record-breaking fifth consecutive term as mayor, which he won by an unprecedented 73.8 percent, sweeping every one of the city's thirty-three wards.[1] Kennedy appointed him also to serve on the Committee on Equal Employment Opportunity and the Commission on the Status of Women. In 1962, Celebrezze was selected as the president of the United States Conference of Mayors.[2]
In 1962, President Kennedy returned to Celebrezze with an offer of a cabinet appointment asUnited States Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare (now the Department of Health and Human Services). Celebrezze resigned as mayor in 1962 before his appointment on July 31, 1962.[7] He continued his service under PresidentLyndon Johnson following Kennedy's assassination in November 1963.
During this time, Celebrezze contributed to the enactment of landmark social legislation, most notably theCivil Rights Act of 1964 andSocial Security Act of 1965. One of Celebrezze's most important achievements as secretary of HEW was separating the public assistance and child health and welfare functions from theSocial Security Administration, and transferring these programs to a new Welfare Administration. Celebrezze shaped HEW to fit Johnson's initiatives, including getting power from Congress to deny funds for any federal HEW program to any state or institution that practiced racial segregation.[8]
Celebrezze found it difficult to maintain two households on his $25,000 salary and apart from his family,[1] and asked Johnson to return to Cleveland. "We are going to lose the house in Cleveland if I continue to live here, Mr. President," Celebrezze told Johnson. The President replied that Celebrezze was too honest for Washington because he was the first cabinet secretary "to go broke while working for the White House." Celebrezze resigned as HEW Secretary on August 17, 1965.[7]
Celebrezze was nominated by PresidentLyndon B. Johnson on July 27, 1965, to a seat on theUnited States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, which had been vacated by JudgeLester Lefevre Cecil. He was confirmed by theUnited States Senate on August 19, 1965, and received his commission on August 19, 1965. After more than fifteen years of service, Celebrezze assumedsenior status on October 1, 1980. His service terminated on October 29, 1998, due to his death.[4]
Celebrezze authored numerous opinions, includingBeasley v. United States, which established a fair and progressive standard of "effective assistance of counsel" under thesixth amendment,Hill v. Tennessee Valley Authority,Gabriele v. Chrysler Corp., andKrause v. Rhodes.[1]
In the last three years of his life, Celebrezze was mostly inactive on the court, and spent most of his time organizing his personal papers. In the summer of 1998, he became easily fatigued, and advancedthroat cancer was diagnosed about September. He was hospitalized briefly at Lakewood Hospital and at the Cleveland Clinic before transferring to the Corinthian Skilled Nursing Center in Cleveland about October 22, 1998. He died there on October 29, 1998.[9] His funeral was held at theCathedral of St. John the Evangelist in Cleveland, and he was buried atHoly Cross Cemetery [Wikidata] inBrook Park, Ohio.[10]
Celebrezze and his wife Anne had three children:Anthony J. Celebrezze Jr., Jean Ann (Celebrezze) Porto, and Susan Marie (Celebrezze) Sullivan. Anthony Jr. became an attorney and served asOhio Attorney General; he also ran for governor. The pair are the only father and son to both run as candidates for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination in Ohio. His grandson Anthony J. Celebrezze III (son of Anthony Jr.), also ran for public office.
Celebrezze's older brotherFrank D. Celebrezze I (b. 1899) also became an attorney and was active in civic service. He served as Cleveland Safety Director and later was appointed as a Cleveland Municipal Court judge. His descendants also became attorneys and active politically.Frank Celebrezze became Ohio Chief Justice, andJames Celebrezze became an Ohio Supreme Court Judge.Frank D. Celebrezze Jr. (grandson to the first Frank) became an Ohio Appeals Court Judge, and Leslie Ann Celebrezze became Domestic Relations Judge of Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas.
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| Political offices | ||
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| Preceded by | Mayor of Cleveland 1954–1961 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | President of theNational League of Cities 1959 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | President of theUnited States Conference of Mayors 1962 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | United States Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare 1962–1965 | Succeeded by |
| Legal offices | ||
| Preceded by | Judge of theUnited States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit 1965–1980 | Succeeded by |
| Health, education, and welfare |   | |
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| Health and human services | ||
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