Philip Hart | |
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| United States Senator fromMichigan | |
| In office January 3, 1959 – December 26, 1976 | |
| Preceded by | Charles E. Potter |
| Succeeded by | Donald Riegle |
| 51st Lieutenant Governor of Michigan | |
| In office January 1, 1955 – January 1, 1959 | |
| Governor | G. Mennen Williams |
| Preceded by | Clarence A. Reid |
| Succeeded by | John Swainson |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Philip Aloysius Hart (1912-12-10)December 10, 1912 Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Died | December 26, 1976(1976-12-26) (aged 64) Washington D.C., U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 9 |
| Alma mater | Georgetown University University of Michigan Law School |
| Profession | Attorney |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  United States |
| Branch/service |  United States Army |
| Years of service | 1941–1946 |
| Rank |  Lieutenant colonel |
| Unit | 4th Infantry Division |
| Battles/wars | World War II |
| Awards | Purple Heart |
Philip Aloysius Hart (December 10, 1912 – December 26, 1976) was an American lawyer and politician. ADemocrat, he served as aUnited States Senator fromMichigan from 1959 until his death from cancer in Washington, D.C. in 1976. He was known as the "Conscience of the Senate".[1] TheHart Senate Office Building is named in his honor.[2]
The grandson of Irish immigrants, Philip Hart was born inBryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, to Philip Aloysius and Ann (née Clyde) Hart.[3] His father was a banker who served as president of the Bryn Mawr Trust Company.[4] He received his early education atWaldron Academy, and then attendedWest Philadelphia Catholic High School.[5]
Hart studied atGeorgetown University in Washington, D.C., where he was the student body president and an award-winning debater.[6] He received a Bachelor of Arts degreecum laude from Georgetown in 1934.[3] In 1937, he received aJuris Doctor degree from theUniversity of Michigan Law School atAnn Arbor.[7]
In June 1943, Hart marriedJane "Janey" Briggs, the daughter ofWalter and Jane Cameron Briggs. Her father was by then a philanthropist and had owned theDetroit Tigers. Jane was an aviator who was the first female helicopter pilot in Michigan. She later qualified in the 1960s as one of theMercury 13 group. The couple met through her brother, who was Hart's roommate at Georgetown. They have four surviving sons and four daughters.[8] Hart's namesake, Philip Jr., died as a toddler. He was buried in a family plot, followed decades later by his father nearby.
Hart was admitted to theState Bar of Michigan in 1938 and became an associate in the Detroit firm of Beaumont, Smith & Harris.[3] DuringWorld War II, he served in theU.S. Army as alieutenant colonel with the4th Infantry Division (1941–1946).[7] He was wounded during theD-Dayinvasion of Normandy onUtah Beach when shrapnel from an exploding artillery shell damaged the inside of his right arm.[6] Following the war, he returned to Michigan and recovered at thePercy Jones Army Hospital inBattle Creek, Michigan. There he became acquainted with fellow veteransBob Dole andDaniel Inouye, both also future U.S. senators.[6] He was decorated with theBronze Star Medal with clusters,Arrowhead device,Purple Heart, andCroix de guerre.[3]
In 1946, Hart returned to Detroit and entered the general law practice of Monaghan, Hart & Crawmer.[3] He became politically active in the Democratic Party and, from 1949 to 1951, he served as Michigan's Corporation Securities Commissioner, a political appointee position.[7] His duties included the approving of stock issues of corporations in the state, licensing real estate brokers and builders, and collecting real estate taxes.[3] In 1951 Hart was appointed as state director of the Office of Price Stabilization, serving for a year.[5] For his work in that office, he was named Outstanding Federal Administrator of the Year in 1952 by the Federal Business Association.[3]
In 1952, he was appointed asU.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan, serving for one year.[7] He next served from 1953 to 1954 as legal adviser toGovernorG. Mennen Williams, a former law school classmate.[5]
In 1954, Hart ran for electoral office, elected as the 51stlieutenant governor of Michigan, on a ticket with Governor Williams. He served two terms, until 1959.[7] His re-election in 1956 made him the first Democrat in Michigan to serve two terms as lieutenant governor.[3]
Hartwas elected as a Democrat to the United States Senate in the Democratic wave election of 1958, defeating one-term incumbent RepublicanCharles E. Potter by a 54% to 46% margin. He was reelected by overwhelming marginsin 1964 and1970. (His 1970 opponent was formerMichigan First LadyLenore Romney.) Some conservatives in Michigan attempted torecall Hart from office for his stands ongun control and busing for racial integration, with bumper stickers reading "Recall cures Hart attacks," but theUS Constitution does not authorize the recall of elected federal officials, and Hart was strongly re-elected by supporters.
Hart was the chief Senate sponsor of theImmigration and Nationality Act of 1965, also known as the Hart–Celler Act, which ended the quotas that restricted immigration from most of the world since 1924.
Hart died in office. He had announced his intention not to run for re-election in June 1976 and was diagnosed with cancer a month later.[9] The same year, the Senate voted to name its newSenate office building after him, theHart Senate Office Building.[10] It would have been the first federal government building named after someone still living. The vote was 99–0, with Hart abstaining. He died ofmelanoma a few days later, just before his term would have expired, and he would have retired.Donald W. Riegle, Jr., who had just been elected to the seat for the next term, was named to fill Hart's seat for the remaining days of the congressional session.
Hart is interred in St. Anne's Catholic Cemetery onMackinac Island in a family plot near his namesake son, who died as a toddler.
| Party political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Noel P. Fox | Democratic nominee forMichigan Secretary of State 1950 | Succeeded by Robert S. McAllister |
| Preceded by | Democratic nominee forLieutenant Governor of Michigan 1954,1956 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Democratic nominee forU.S. Senator fromMichigan (Class 1) 1958,1964,1970 | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Lieutenant Governor of Michigan 1955–1959 | Succeeded by |
| U.S. Senate | ||
| Preceded by | U.S. senator (Class 1) from Michigan 1959–1976 Served alongside:Patrick V. McNamara,Robert P. Griffin | Succeeded by |
| Class 1 |  | |
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| Class 2 | ||
| International | |
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| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
