John Pastore | |
|---|---|
 Pastore in 1961 | |
| United States Senator fromRhode Island | |
| In office December 19, 1950 – December 28, 1976 | |
| Preceded by | Edward L. Leahy |
| Succeeded by | John Chafee |
| 61stGovernor of Rhode Island | |
| In office October 6, 1945 – December 19, 1950 | |
| Lieutenant | Vacant (1945–1947) John S. McKiernan (1947–1950) |
| Preceded by | J. Howard McGrath |
| Succeeded by | John S. McKiernan |
| 54thLieutenant Governor of Rhode Island | |
| In office January 1945 – October 6, 1945 | |
| Governor | J. Howard McGrath |
| Preceded by | Louis W. Cappelli |
| Succeeded by | John S. McKiernan |
| Member of the Rhode Island House of Representatives | |
| In office 1934–1937 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | John Orlando Pastore (1907-03-17)March 17, 1907 Providence, Rhode Island, U.S. |
| Died | July 15, 2000(2000-07-15) (aged 93) Cranston, Rhode Island, U.S. |
| Party | Democratic |
| Spouse | Elena Caito |
| Children | 3 |
| Education | Northeastern University (LLB) |
John Orlando Pastore (March 17, 1907 – July 15, 2000) was an American lawyer and politician. A member of theDemocratic Party, he served as aUnited States Senator fromRhode Island from 1950 to 1976 and as the 61stgovernor of Rhode Island from 1945 to 1950. He was the firstItalian American elected to the Senate.[1]
John Pastore was born in theFederal Hill neighborhood ofProvidence,Rhode Island.[1] The second of five children, he was the son of Michele and Erminia (née Asprinio) Pastore, who wereItalian immigrants.[2] His father, atailor who had moved fromPotenza to theUnited States in 1899, died when John was nine, and his mother went to work as aseamstress to support the family.[3] She married her late husband's brother, Salvatore, who also ran a tailoring business.[2] As a child, Pastore worked delivering coats and suits for his uncle/stepfather, as an errand boy in a law office, and as a foot-press operator in a jewelry factory.[2]
Pastore graduated with honors fromClassical High School in 1925, and spent a year working a $15-a-week job as a claims adjuster for theNarragansett Electric Company.[1][4] In 1927, he enrolled in an evening law course given byNortheastern University atYMCA in Providence.[3] He received aBachelor of Laws degree (equivalent to a modernJ.D. degree) in 1931, and was admitted to the bar the following year.[5] He then established a law office in the basement of his family's home, but attracted few clients due to theGreat Depression.[1]
In 1934, Pastore was elected as aDemocrat to theRhode Island House of Representatives.[5] He was re-elected in 1936, and became chairman of the House Corporations Committee.[2] He served as an assistantattorney general from 1937 until 1938, when he lost that position after theRepublican Party swept several statewide offices.[1] He then served as a member of the Providence Charter Revision Commission from 1939 to 1940.[5]
When the Democratic Party returned to power in 1940, Pastore was appointed assistant attorney general in charge of the criminal calendar, serving in that position until 1944.[2] In July 1941, he married Elena Caito, to whom he remained married until his death; the couple had one son and two daughters.[3]
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Pastore was electedLieutenant Governor of Rhode Island in 1944.[5] On October 6, 1945, he succeeded to the office ofGovernor of Rhode Island when GovernorJ. Howard McGrath resigned to becomeU.S. Solicitor General underPresidentHarry S. Truman.[2] During his first year in office, he established a one-percentsales tax.[6]
In 1946, Pastore was elected to a full term as governor after defeating his Republican opponent,John G. Murphy, by a margin of 54%-46%.[5] With his victory, he became the firstItalian American to be elected a governor in the United States;Charles Poletti, who served asGovernor of New York in December 1942, also succeeded to office but never sought election in his own right.[1] He was re-elected in 1948, defeatingWarwick mayorAlbert P. Ruerat by 61%-38%.[5] During his tenure, he enacted the state's first primary election law andcorporate income tax.[6] He also created a program to combat water pollution and a $20 million bonus forWorld War II veterans.[6] As chairman of the New England Governors' Conference, he called for a uniform nationwide unemployment insurance tax, either through "federalization of the program or some form of federal reinsurance".[2]
In1950, Pastore was elected to theUnited States Senate as aDemocrat in a special election to succeedJ. Howard McGrath, who had resigned in 1949 to become United States Attorney General (Edward L. Leahy held the office during a 16-month interim appointment). Pastore was reelected in1952,1958,1964, and1970.[1]
In 1964 Pastore delivered the keynote address at the Democratic National Convention in Atlantic City, New Jersey, which nominated Lyndon B. Johnson for the presidency.[1]
Pastore won his final senate race in 1970 by a 68%–32% margin overJohn McLaughlin, a Catholic priest who at the time supported theVietnam War. McLaughlin, who later left the priesthood, became more famous as the host of the television programThe McLaughlin Group.[7]
Pastore voted in favor of theCivil Rights Acts of 1957,[8] theCivil Rights Act of 1960,[9] the24th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution,[10] theCivil Rights Act of 1964,[11] theVoting Rights Act of 1965,[12] theMedicare program,[13] theCivil Rights Act of 1968,[14] and the confirmation ofThurgood Marshall to theU.S. Supreme Court.[15]
Pastore served as the chairman of United States Senate Subcommittee on Communications. He is well remembered for taking part in a 1969 hearing involving a $20 million grant for the funding ofPBS and theCorporation for Public Broadcasting proposed by former PresidentLyndon Johnson. PresidentRichard Nixon wanted to cut the proposed funding to $10 million due to the demands of theVietnam War.Fred Rogers, host ofMister Rogers' Neighborhood, appeared before the committee to argue for the full $20 million. In about six minutes of testimony, Rogers spoke of the need for social and emotional education that public television provided. Pastore was not familiar with Rogers' work, and was sometimes described as gruff and impatient, but he told Rogers that the testimony had given himgoose bumps, and after Rogers recited the lyrics to "What Do You Do with the Mad that You Feel?", one of the songs from his show, Pastore declared: "I think it's wonderful. I think it's wonderful. Looks like you just earned the $20 million."[16][17] The following year's appropriation increasedPBS funding from $9 million to $22 million.[18]
Pastore was mocked on The Smothers Brothers' final Comedy Hour, in a show scheduled for April 13, 1969, unaired due to network cancellation. In the show, Pastore was offered a ‘Flying Fickle Finger of Fate’ award.Tommy Smothers averred, “I have someone that’s very deserving I’d like to do it to,” because “[Pastore] says that everything is filth and gore on television,” and noting Pastore had said a French actress “shouldn’t be allowed on television” after wearing a low-cut evening gown on the Merv Griffin show.[19]
In 1971, Pastore was one of twenty-five Senators to co-sponsor the Health Security Act, a bill that advocated health coverage for every person living in America through a government-run health insurance program.[20]
In 1976, Pastore did not seek re-election, and retired from the Senate. In retirement he served on the board of directors of Providence-based Columbus National Bank until its merger withHospital Trust Bank in the late 1980s.
Pastore and his wife Elena had three children and seven grandchildren. He lived inCranston, Rhode Island, until his death due tokidney failure on July 15, 2000.[21]
His keynote speech at the1964 Democratic National Convention has been called "The Speech Heard Round the World". The lateTed Kennedy eulogized: "My brother Jack had thought the world of him...John had a great heart."[22] Pastore's private funeral service was held shortly after his death in 2000, in Cranston, Rhode Island.[23]
The University of Rhode Island's Pastore Hall, completed in 1953, is named for Pastore. The building was initially home to the university's Department of Chemistry.[24]
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Lieutenant Governor of Rhode Island 1945 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Governor of Rhode Island 1945–1950 | |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Democratic nominee forGovernor of Rhode Island 1946,1948 | Succeeded by |
| Democratic nominee forU.S. Senator fromRhode Island (Class 1) 1950,1952,1958,1964,1970 | Succeeded by | |
| Preceded by | Keynote Speaker of theDemocratic National Convention 1964 | Succeeded by |
| U.S. Senate | ||
| Preceded by | U.S. Senator (Class 1) from Rhode Island 1950–1976 Served alongside:Theodore F. Green,Claiborne Pell | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Chair of theJoint Atomic Energy Committee 1963–1965 | Succeeded by |
| Chair of theJoint Atomic Energy Committee 1967–1969 | ||
| Chair of theJoint Atomic Energy Committee 1971–1973 | Succeeded by | |
| Preceded by | Chair of theJoint Atomic Energy Committee 1975–1977 | Succeeded by ??? |
| Class 1 |  | |
|---|---|---|
| Class 2 | ||
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
