Frank Lausche | |
|---|---|
 Lauschec. 1948 | |
| United States Senator fromOhio | |
| In office January 3, 1957 – January 3, 1969 | |
| Preceded by | George H. Bender |
| Succeeded by | William B. Saxbe |
| Chair of theNational Governors Association | |
| In office June 18, 1950 – September 30, 1951 | |
| Preceded by | Frank Carlson |
| Succeeded by | Val Peterson |
| 55th and 57thGovernor of Ohio | |
| In office January 10, 1949 – January 3, 1957 | |
| Lieutenant | George D. Nye John William Brown |
| Preceded by | Thomas J. Herbert |
| Succeeded by | John William Brown |
| In office January 8, 1945 – January 13, 1947 | |
| Lieutenant | George D. Nye |
| Preceded by | John W. Bricker |
| Succeeded by | Thomas J. Herbert |
| 47thMayor of Cleveland | |
| In office January 1, 1942 – December 31, 1944 | |
| Preceded by | Edward J. Blythin |
| Succeeded by | Thomas A. Burke |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Frank John Lausche (1895-11-14)November 14, 1895 |
| Died | April 21, 1990(1990-04-21) (aged 94) Cleveland, Ohio, U.S. |
| Resting place | Calvary Cemetery |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse | Jane Sheal |
| Education | Cleveland State University (LLB) |
Frank John Lausche (/ˈlaʊʃi/;[1] November 14, 1895 – April 21, 1990) was an AmericanDemocratic politician fromOhio. He served as the 47thmayor of Cleveland and the 55th and 57thgovernor of Ohio, and also served as aUnited States Senator from Ohio for two terms (1957–1969).
Lausche was born on November 14, 1895, inCleveland, Ohio, the son of Frances (née Milavec) and Louis Lausche. His family was ofSlovenian origin.[2] Lausche attended St. Vitus Grade School grades one to four, St. Francis Grade School in grade five and Madison Grammar School grades six to eight. He then went to Central Institute Preparatory School. He dropped out of school in 1911, when his older brother died, to help support his family.[3] He played baseball locally when not working, and was recruited as a third baseman to the amateur White Motor team, which won a national championship. He was noticed by scouts and reported to theDuluth White Sox inDuluth, Minnesota, of the Class DNorthern League in the spring of 1916.[4] He started the season batting .422, but developed trouble hitting curve balls, and was released after 31 games. He signed with a semi-pro team inVirginia, Minnesota. He performed poorly for two weeks before returning to Cleveland, and amateur ball.[5]
During the spring of 1917, Lausche reported to the Class BLawrence Barristers,Lawrence, Massachusetts, of theEastern League. He started well, but was released after 27 games. He enlisted in theUnited States Army that summer, and reported to Camp Gordon, nearAtlanta, Georgia. He was noticed playing baseball, and was asked to join the camp baseball team. He was promoted to second lieutenant after eight months, and assigned to officers' training school. His high batting average "spared him a trip across the ocean to the front lines."[6] The team manager at the camp was Charles Frank, who in peacetime owned and managed theAtlanta Crackers of the Class AASouthern Association. AfterWorld War I ended in November, 1918, but before Lausche was discharged in January, 1919, Frank offered Lausche a six-month contract, at $225 per month if he would report at spring training.[7] Lausche had also completed high school while in the Army.[8]
Lausche entered theCleveland-Marshall School of Law early on 1919, and decided to continue in law school that spring, rather than report to spring training.[9] He graduated from the law school in 1921. He was ranked second in his class at John Marshall School of Law and quickly became known as one of Cleveland's better trial lawyers.[10] Lausche served as Municipal Court judge from 1932 to 1937 and Common Pleas Court judge from 1937 to 1941, before winning election asMayor of Clevelandin 1941.
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He served until 1944, when he first won election asgovernor of Ohio, the state's firstRoman Catholic in that position. Lausche served as governor from 1945 to 1947, when he narrowly lost toThomas J. Herbert. Lausche defeated Herbert in a 1948 rematch, however, and served four consecutive two-year terms from 1949 to 1957. He was reelected as governor in 1950, defeating state TreasurerDon H. Ebright; in 1952, defeating Cincinnati MayorCharles Phelps Taft II; and in 1954, defeating state AuditorJim Rhodes, who later became governor himself. Lausche resigned in early 1957, having won election to theUnited States Senate inNovember 1956, unseating incumbent RepublicanGeorge Bender.[11][12]
In his first term, with the Senate almost evenly split, Lausche gave Senate Democratic leaderLyndon B. Johnson a scare by hinting that he might vote for RepublicanWilliam F. Knowland forSenate Majority Leader, although he ultimately did not. Throughout his career, Lausche displayed a bipartisan and independent approach to politics, being known by some as a "Democrat with a small 'd'", but his approach to ethnic Democratic politics paved the way for followers such asRalph S. Locher, who became Mayor of Cleveland and later an associate justice of the Ohio Supreme Court, and Bronis Klementowicz, a leader ofCleveland City Council and law director under Locher.[13]
Lausche's independence also earned him, among some, the derisive moniker, "Frank the Fence." Hewas easily re-elected to the Senate in 1962, but was defeated in his bid for renominationin 1968, due to his loss of labor union support. He lost the Democratic primary against former CongressmanJohn J. Gilligan by a 55% to 45% margin, and in the general election, Lausche refused to support Gilligan, who went on to lose the general election to then-state Attorney GeneralWilliam B. Saxbe.
Lausche was a very popular, plain-spoken, big-city politician of the old school. He was credited with building a coalition of ethnic voters in Cleveland known as the "cosmopolitan Democrats." There is some evidence that Republican presidential candidateDwight D. Eisenhower in 1952 considered asking Lausche to become hisrunning mate and is said to have been considered in the Republican 1956 campaign byLeonard W. Hall in a presidential meeting.
In retirement, Lausche and his wife, Jane, lived inBethesda, Maryland.[14] Jane Lausche died November 24, 1981, and, having converted to theRoman Catholic faith, was buried at Calvary Cemetery in southeast Cleveland.[15] Lausche continued to live in Bethesda until contractingpneumonia in January 1990. He was flown back to Cleveland, and was admitted to the Slovenian Home for the Aged on February 20, where he died ofcongestive heart failure on April 21, 1990, at the age of 94.[16]
Lausche's funeral was at St. Vitus Church, with BishopAnthony Edward Pevec delivering the homily. He was buried atCalvary Cemetery. His tombstone was incorrectly inscribed with a birth date of 1898.[17]
Lausche was named aKnight of St John of Malta by PopeJohn Paul II, "the highest civilian honor that can be bestowed by the Catholic Church".[18]
The State of Ohio'soffice building in Cleveland, Ohio is named after Lausche, as is the Lausche Building at the Ohio Expo Center (site of theOhio State Fair). In 2005, James E. Odenkirk authored the bookFrank J. Lausche: Ohio's Great Political Maverick, an in-depth look at Lausche's political career. In the early 1990s,Ohio's Lincoln was published.[citation needed]
Lausche Avenue (formerly Glass Avenue), a street that spans between East 60th and East 64th Streets adjacentSt. Vitus church in theSt. Clair-Superior neighborhood on Cleveland's East Side, is named for Lausche, whose family were members of the parish as well as residents of the neighborhood.[19]
A bust of Lausche is displayed at St. Mary of the Assumption Church in Cleveland's Collinwood neighborhood, and an exhibit of Lausche artifacts is displayed at Cleveland's Slovenian Museum and Archives.[20]
