George Anthony Dondero | |
|---|---|
.jpg) From 1953'sPocket Congressional Directory of the 83rd Congress | |
| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives fromMichigan | |
| In office March 4, 1933 – January 3, 1957 | |
| Preceded by | Constituency established |
| Succeeded by | William Broomfield |
| Constituency | 17th district (1933–53) 18th district (1953–57) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1883-12-16)December 16, 1883 |
| Died | January 29, 1968(1968-01-29) (aged 84) |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse | Adele Dondero |
| Profession | Attorney |
George Anthony Dondero (December 16, 1883 – January 29, 1968) was aRepublican member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromMichigan.
Dondero was born on a farm inGreenfield Township, Michigan, which has since become part ofDetroit. His father was an immigrant fromItaly and his mother was an immigrant fromGermany.
Dondero served as the village clerk ofRoyal Oak, Michigan, in 1905 and 1906; as town treasurer in 1907 and 1908; and as village assessor in 1909. He graduated from theDetroit College of Law in 1910, was admitted to thebar, and started a practice in Royal Oak the same year. He was village attorney in 1911 to 1921 and assistant prosecuting attorney forOakland County in 1918 and 1919. He was mayor of Royal Oak in 1921 and 1922 and a member of the board of education in 1910 to 1928.
In 1932, Dondero was elected as aRepublican to the73rd United States Congress and the eleven succeeding Congresses, serving from March 4, 1933, to January 3, 1957. He representedMichigan's 17th congressional district, which had been newly created by redistricting after the1930 census. After the1950 census, most of Dondero's territory became the18th district. Dondero was elected two more times from that district. Both districts are now obsolete.
From 1937, to 1947 Dondero served asranking member of theHouse Committee on Education. He was chairman of theCommittee on Public Works in the80th and81st Congresses. In 1954, he sponsored the bill creating theSaint Lawrence Seaway, which allowed large ocean-going vessels access to theGreat Lakes.
Sympathetic toMcCarthyism,[1] Dondero claimed that American liberals had been responsible for a "whitewash" over theAmerasia affair.
In 1947, Dondero tried to block thetrial of IG Farben executives for war crimes at Nuremberg by withholding funding for the prosecution team before indictments could be handed down.[2]
On July 9, 1947, Dondero included Rosenberg when he publicly questioned the "fitness" ofUS Secretary of WarRobert P. Patterson for failing to ferret out communist infiltrators in his department. His cause for concern arose from what Dondero called Patterson's lack of ability to "fathom the wiles of the international Communist conspiracy" and to counteract them with "competent personnel." Dondero cited ten government personnel in the War Department who had communist backgrounds or leanings:
Dondero stated, "It is with considerable regret that I am forced to the conclusion the Secretary Patterson falls short of these standards."[3]
Dondero was most notable for mounting an attack on modern art, which he claimed to be inspired by communism. He asserted that "Cubism aims to destroy by designed disorder....Dadaism aims to destroy by ridicule....Abstractionism aims to destroy by the creation of brainstorms."[4] In 1952, Dondero went on to tell Congress that modern art was a conspiracy byMoscow to spreadcommunism to theUnited States.[5] The speech won him theInternational Fine Arts Council's Gold Medal of Honor for "dedicated service to American Art."[6] When the art criticEmily Genauer, who later won thePulitzer Prize for Criticism, interviewed Dondero in the mid-1950s, he stated that "modern art is Communistic because it is distorted and ugly, because it does not glorify our beautiful country, our cheerful and smiling people, our material progress. Art which does not glorify our beautiful country in plain simple terms that everyone can understand breeds dissatisfaction. It is therefore opposed to our government and those who promote it are our enemies."[7] When Genauer pointed out the resemblance between his views and those of the Stalinist communists that he despised, Dondero was so enraged that he arranged to have her fired from her job at theNew York Herald Tribune.[7]
Dondero died at the age of 84 inRoyal Oak, Michigan, and is interred there at Oakview Cemetery.
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by None | United States Representative for the 17th Congressional District of Michigan 1933 – 1953 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by None | United States Representative for the 18th Congressional District of Michigan 1953 – 1957 | Succeeded by |
| Public Buildings and Grounds (1837–1947) |  | |
|---|---|---|
| Rivers and Harbors (1883–1947) | ||
| Roads (1913–1947) | ||
| Flood Control (1916–1947) | ||
| Transportation and Infrastructure* (1947–) | ||
| Note | * Alternately namedPublic Works in 80th through 93rd Congresses andPublic Works and Transportation in 94th through 103rd Congresses. | |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
