Hugh Carey | |
|---|---|
 | |
| 51stGovernor of New York | |
| In office January 1, 1975 – December 31, 1982 | |
| Lieutenant |
|
| Preceded by | Malcolm Wilson |
| Succeeded by | Mario Cuomo |
| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives fromNew York | |
| In office January 3, 1961 – December 31, 1974 | |
| Preceded by | Francis E. Dorn |
| Succeeded by | Leo C. Zeferetti |
| Constituency | 12th district (1961–1963) 15th district (1963–1974) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Hugh Leo Carey (1919-04-11)April 11, 1919 New York City, U.S. |
| Died | August 7, 2011(2011-08-07) (aged 92) Shelter Island, New York, U.S. |
| Resting place | Our Lady of the Isle CemeteryDering Harbor, New York, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouses | |
| Children | 14, includingPaul |
| Relatives | Edward M. Carey (brother) Martin T. Carey (brother) |
| Education | St. John's University (BA,JD) |
| Profession | Lawyer |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  United States |
| Branch | |
| Service years | 1939–1946 |
| Rank |  Colonel |
| Unit | 101st Cavalry Regiment 415th Infantry Regiment 104th Infantry Division |
| Conflict | |
| Awards |  Croix de Guerre Bronze Star Medal |
Hugh Leo Carey (April 11, 1919 – August 7, 2011) was an American politician and attorney of theDemocratic Party who served in theU.S. House of Representatives from 1961 to 1974 and as the 51stgovernor of New York from 1975 to 1982.
Carey was born in New York City, the son of Margaret (née Collins) and Dennis Joseph Carey.[1] Among his siblings were brothersEdward M. Carey (former president ofCarey Energy Corporation)[2] andMartin T. Carey (an entrepreneur who ownedWinfield Hall andBogheid inGlen Cove andSeaview Terrace inNewport).[3]
In 1939, Carey enlisted in theNew York National Guard as a private in C Squadron,101st Cavalry. Later, he served as a major in the104th Infantry Division, known as the "Timberwolves". He served in the415th Infantry Regiment of the 104th Division as the Regimental S-3, operations officer.[4] Carey was with the 104th Division throughout its 10-month campaign in theEuropean Theater of Operations, which included the fighting in Northern France, Holland and Germany. His awards include theCombat Infantryman Badge, theBronze Star withOak Leaf Clusters, and theCroix de Guerre with Silver Star. He was discharged in 1946 at the rank of colonel.[5]
He received his B.A. fromSt. John's University in 1942. Following his military service, he enrolled at the institution'slaw school, where he earned his J.D. in 1951. He was admitted to the New York state bar that same year.[6]
Carey was a partner in the law firm ofFinley, Kumble, Wagner, Underberg, Manley, Myerson & Casey. Carey became involved in politics following his wartime service. In 1946, he was named co-chair of aNew York State Democratic Committee youth division that was intended to attract young voters to support Democratic candidates.[7]
In 1960, running as aDemocrat, Carey was elected to theUnited States House of Representatives from a district generally centered around Brooklyn'sPark Slope,Sunset Park andBay Ridge neighborhoods, unseating Republican incumbentFrancis E. Dorn. Carey's seven terms in office coincided with major demographic changes in his district, as exemplified bydeindustrialization and the decline of the Sunset Park waterfront's longstandingbreakbulk cargo businesses; the concomitant emergence ofgentrification in eastern Park Slope; the coalescence of a nascentPuerto Rican community in western Park Slope and Sunset Park; and the opening of Bay Ridge'sVerrazzano-Narrows Bridge (which spurred migration by manyworking-class whites in his district to the more suburban borough ofStaten Island) in 1964. Although he has been erroneously characterized as the first congressman tooppose the Vietnam War (a stance actually taken byMorningside Heights-based congressmanWilliam Fitts Ryan), he may have been the first member of the Brooklyn congressional delegation to speak out against the conflict following discussions with several of his children.[8][9]
In 1966, he was appointed Chairman of the Ad hoc Subcommittee on the Handicapped byAdam Clayton Powell, then Chairman of theHouse Education and Labor Committee. The sub-committee held hearings in Washington and New York City and Carey introduced HR 14. The "Carey Bill" provided, for the first time, a program of grants to the states for "initiating, expanding or improving education for children with disabilities. It also included other titles mirroring the structure of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, PL 89–10, which Carey had assisted Powell in passing as part of the Lyndon Baines Johnson initiative.
Three parts of the Bill were picked up by the Senate: the grants to states, a new Bureau of Education for the Handicapped in the U.S. Office of Education and a National Advisory Committee. Carey's friend and mentor, John Fogerty of Rhode Island, the powerful Chairman of the Appropriations Subcommittee which provided funding for all Health, Education and Welfare programs, backed his legislation. The bill became Title VI of the ESEA, as Public Law 89-750, in 1966. Carey also sponsored and saw passed that year The Model Secondary School for the Deaf Bill, to be established on the campus of theworld's only liberal arts college for the deaf. In 1965, he and Fogerty had sponsored The National Technical Institute for the Deaf, which was awarded to the Rochester Institute of Technology.
The Carey Bill and its grant program to the states began with a $2.5 million appropriation, to provide each state with $50,000 to plan for its implementation. The second year, the appropriation was $12.25 million, distributed to the states in proportion to their population. In 1975 Congress passed the Education for All Handicapped Children Bill, PL 94-142 which today distributes approximately $11 billion to the states for this purpose.[10]
He served on theHouse Ways and Means Committee and led the effort to pass the first Federal Aid to Education program. He was elected Governor of New York in 1974 and resigned his Congressional seat on December 31, 1974.
In 1969 Carey ran briefly for the Democratic nomination for Mayor. He then agreed to run for City Council President on the ticket led by former MayorRobert F. Wagner Jr. Carey narrowly lost the primary to incumbent City Council PresidentFrancis X. Smith. Then he briefly mounted an independent bid for Mayor, from which he withdrew after the death of his two eldest sons in a car accident.[11]
In the1974 gubernatorial election, Carey became New York's first Democratic governor in 16 years, defeatingHoward Samuels for the Democratic nomination and then unseating incumbent RepublicanMalcolm Wilson, who had assumed the office afterNelson Rockefeller resigned in December 1973 to serve on theCommission on Critical Choices for Americans. Nationally, 1974 was dominated by theWatergate scandal, which ended PresidentRichard Nixon's presidency and hurt Republicans nationwide. In 1974, Democrats also recaptured theNew York State Assembly.
Carey is best remembered for his successful handling of New York City's economic crisis in the mid-1970s. Carey came into office with New York City close to bankruptcy and is credited with bringing business and labor together to help save New York City from the fiscal crisis. He managed to keep the growth of state spending below the rate of inflation through his frequent use of line-item vetoes and fights with theNew York State Legislature, which was at the time divided between a Republican-controlledSenate and a Democratic-controlledAssembly.[12]
Upon taking office, Carey cut taxes significantly, reducing corporate taxes from 14% to 10%, and capping personal income tax at 9%, and reducing capital gains taxes as well. His administration also offered tax credits to encourage new investment.[13] As governor, he was responsible for building theJacob K. Javits Convention Center;Battery Park City; theSouth Street Seaport and the economic development of New York City's outer boroughs. He also helped provide state funding for the construction of theCarrier Dome atSyracuse University.[14] He is also remembered for preventing conservative legislators from reinstating the death penalty and preventing such legislators from taking away state abortion laws.
Carey signed the Willowbrook Consent Decree,[15][16] which ended the hospitalisation of thementally ill anddevelopmentally disabled. His vision and leadership led to the community placement of the mentally ill and developmentally disabled, but also an increase of these people living on the streets. He also made major strides in community programs for thementally ill. Carey also pardoned Cleveland "Jomo" Davis, one of the leaders of theAttica prison riots.
Carey's tenure in office was marked by a growing awareness of the environmental consequences of New York's strong industrial base, including the designation by the federal government of theLove Canal disaster area. Carey made environmental issues a priority of his administration. He was accused by Love Canal residents of being more concerned about the state's finances than the health of families living amidst one of the nation's most infamous environmental disasters.[17]
Along with SenatorsTed Kennedy andDaniel Patrick Moynihan andU.S. House SpeakerTip O'Neill, Carey led efforts to strengthen U.S. support for a political solution to theNorthern Ireland conflict. The four Irish-American politicians called themselves "The Four Horsemen."[18]
In 1977, he was an appellant in theSupreme Court caseCarey v. Population Services International. Carey and his fellow appellants sought permission to continue enforcing laws prohibiting Population Services International (PSI) and others from distributing contraceptives to minors below 16 years old that had previously been struck down in a New York District Court. The Court upheld the lower court's determination that the law violated theDue Process Clause of theFourteenth Amendment to the Constitution and the rights of privacy afforded to individuals, including minors.
Carey considered running for president in1976 and1980. Carey's first wife had died in 1974, and Carey later attributed his decision not to seek theDemocratic nomination for president in 1976 to her death. In1978, he was challenged for re-election by State Assembly Minority Leader and former Assembly SpeakerPerry Duryea. After a competitive, sometimes negative campaign, Carey was the first Democrat re-elected in 40 years. In 1980, he decriminalized homosexuality in New York State.
According to political scientist and author Daniel C. Kramer, "The Carey Administration had a hand in many important projects, the modernization of New York City's subways and the rescue of homeowners living in the Love Canal neighborhood being just two, before Carey committed several serious blunders which lowered voters' opinion of him that he decided not to run for reelection in 1982. Through it all, this man with the embarrassingly low poll ratings turned into a superb governor."16 On January 1, 1983, he was succeeded by hislieutenant governor,Mario Cuomo.
In 1989, Carey announced that he was no longer pro-choice and regretted his support for legalized abortion and public financing of abortion as governor. In 1992, he joined otheranti-abortion leaders in signing the anti-abortion document "A New American Compact: Caring About Women, Caring for the Unborn."[19]
Later in his life, he wasof counsel at the law firm ofShea & Gould. He continued to practice law as a member of theHarris Beach law firm and sat on the board ofTriarc Cos.,[20] theNelson Peltz controlled holding company.
In 1947, Carey married Helen Owen (1924–1974). They became the parents of Alexandria, Christopher, Susan, Peter, Hugh Jr., Michael, Donald, Marianne, Nancy, Helen, Bryan,Paul, Kevin, and Thomas. Beginning in 1961, the family resided at 61 Prospect Park West, a 1910 Park Slope mansion built for the daughter ofBon Ami Company chairman andProgressive Era philanthropist William H. Childs; a decade later, Carey sold the home to journalistPete Hamill.[21] His wife, Helen, died of breast cancer in 1974. Peter and Hugh Jr. died in an automobile accident in 1969. Carey was devastated by the death of his wife and laid to rest any plans for the White House. Paul, who served as White House Special Assistant to PresidentBill Clinton as well as 77th Commissioner of theSecurities and Exchange Commission, died of cancer in 2001.
In 1981, Carey married Evangeline Gouletas, a Chicago-based real estate mogul, just three months after meeting her.[22] This marriage proved controversial and a political liability. The marriage generated controversy due to false statements Gouletas made about her marital history. Initially, Gouletas claimed that she was a widow of a single marriage but later affirmed on the marriage license that she had two ex-husbands.[23] Gouletas also said that her first husband, with whom she had a daughter, was dead, but he was still alive at the time. In reality, she actually had three previous marriages, and all three of her former husbands were still living at the time. The marriage also caused trouble for Carey with the Catholic Church, since he married a thrice-divorced woman in aGreek Orthodox Church; the church, which does not recognize civil no-fault divorce, refused to perform communion. To an extent, the marriage also hurt his public reputation. Carey and Gouletas divorced in 1989.[24]Carey later described this marriage as "his greatest failure."[25]
Carey died surrounded by his family on August 7, 2011, aged 92.[26] He was at his summer home onShelter Island, New York.[27]
On October 22, 2009, he was named as the recipient ofUniversity at Albany Foundation's Citizen Laureate Award.[28] On October 22, 2012, theBrooklyn Battery Tunnel was officially renamed the "Hugh L. Carey Tunnel".[29]
Building 14 at theRochester Institute of Technology was named for Carey in 1984.[30]
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of the U.S. House of Representatives fromNew York's 12th congressional district 1961–1963 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Member of the U.S. House of Representatives fromNew York's 15th congressional district 1963–1974 | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Governor of New York 1975–1982 | Succeeded by |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Democratic nominee forGovernor of New York 1974,1978 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
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| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
