Samuel S. Stratton | |
|---|---|
 Stratton in 1975 | |
| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromNew York | |
| In office January 3, 1959 – January 3, 1989 | |
| Preceded by | Bernard W. Kearney |
| Succeeded by | Michael McNulty |
| Constituency | 32nd district (1959–63) 35th district (1963–71) 29th district (1971–73) 28th district (1973–83) 23rd district (1983–89) |
| Mayor ofSchenectady, New York | |
| In office 1956–1959 | |
| Preceded by | Archibald Wemple |
| Succeeded by | Kenneth S. Sheldon |
| Personal details | |
| Born | September 27, 1916 Yonkers, New York, U.S. |
| Died | September 13, 1990(1990-09-13) (aged 73) Gaithersburg, Maryland, U.S. |
| Resting place | Arlington National Cemetery |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Children | 5; includingBrian |
| Alma mater | University of Rochester Haverford College Harvard University |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  United States of America |
| Branch/service | .svg) United States Navy |
| Years of service | 1942–1946, 1951–1953 (Navy) 1946–1951, 1953–1976 (Navy Reserve) |
| Rank |  Captain |
| Battles/wars | World War II Korean War |
| Awards |  Bronze Star (2) |
Samuel Studdiford Stratton (September 27, 1916 – September 13, 1990) was an American politician who was a member of theDemocratic Party. He is notable for his service as Mayor ofSchenectady, and his 30-year career as a member of theUnited States House of Representatives fromNew York.
Born inYonkers, New York as the son of a Presbyterian clergyman, Stratton was a graduate of theUniversity of Rochester,Haverford College, andHarvard University. He worked for two years on the staff of a Massachusetts Congressman, and then served in theUnited States Navy duringWorld War II. After the war, he worked as an on-air personality for television and radio stations in Schenectady, and served on the city council. He was recalled to active military duty for theKorean War, and served inWashington, DC. he remained in the Navy Reserve until retiring at age 60 with the rank ofcaptain.
After returning to Schenectady, he was re-elected to the city council in 1953. In 1955 he was elected mayor. In 1958, Stratton ran successfully for Congress; he was reelected fourteen times, and served from 1959 to 1989. After unsuccessful attempts to run for higher office and surviving efforts by theNew York State Legislature to remove him through unfavorable redistricting, Stratton settled into a long career as a senior member of the Armed Services Committee. In addition to paying attention to local defense concerns, including manufacturing contracts forGeneral Electric and theWatervliet Arsenal, Stratton took a lead role on other military-related issues, including admitting women to the service academies.
Stratton abandoned his last reelection campaign in 1988 because of health issues, and retired to his home in Maryland. He died in Maryland in 1990, and was buried atArlington National Cemetery.
Stratton was born inYonkers, New York, the son of the Reverend Paul Stratton (1876–1942) and Ethel Irene Russell (1883–1970).[1][2] His family moved toSchenectady, New York while he was an infant.[3] He attended school in Schenectady,Rochester, and atBlair Academy inNew Jersey.[3][1] He received aBachelor of Arts degree from theUniversity of Rochester in 1937, was a captain of the swim team, and joinedPhi Beta Kappa andPsi Upsilon.[3][4] He received aMaster of Arts degree inPhilosophy fromHaverford College in 1938, and a Master of Arts in Philosophy fromHarvard University in 1940.[3] Stratton was executive secretary toMassachusetts CongressmanThomas H. Eliot from 1940 to 1942.[1]
In mid-1942, Stratton joined theUnited States Naval Reserve.[3] Commissioned anensign, he served in theSouth West Pacific Area duringWorld War II as a combat intelligence officer on the staff ofGeneralDouglas MacArthur.[3] Twice awarded theBronze Star withValor device, Stratton's service was notable for his interrogation ofTomoyuki Yamashita, who was later executed for his part in theManila massacre.[4]
During theKorean War, Stratton was recalled to active duty, serving as an instructor at the Naval Intelligence School inWashington, D.C. from 1951 to 1953.[3][5] He attained the rank ofcommander in 1955,[6] and retired as acaptain in 1976.[3][5]
AfterWorld War II, Stratton returned to Schenectady and was elected to thecity council in 1949. He began serving as a member of Schenectady's Municipal Housing Authority in 1950, and remained with the Authority until 1955, including holding the position of chairman in 1951.[5]
Following his Korean War service, Stratton returned to Schenectady and was re-elected to the city council, where he served from 1953 to 1956.[3] In 1955, he was elected mayor of Schenectady as a conservativeDemocrat.[3] For a period of time while he was mayor, he supplemented his salary by working as an on-air announcer, newscaster, and commentator on politics and current events forWRGB, theNBC television affiliate in Schenectady, as well as other local television and radio stations.[3] His television career included appearances as the children's characterSagebrush Sam, which required dressing as a cowboy and playing a harmonica.[3] From 1957 to 1958, Stratton was also a financial services representative with the First Albany Corporation.[5]
In 1958, Stratton was elected to the U.S. Congress. He rose through seniority to become the third-ranking Democrat on theArmed Services Committee; though he lost a race for chairman of the committee toLes Aspin in 1985, he chaired subcommittees including the one on Procurement and Military Nuclear Systems, and was recognized as an expert on defense issues. Stratton consistently succeeded at winning reelection by appealing toconservative voters and supportingdefense spending in his district, which includedGeneral Electric manufacturing plants and theWatervliet Arsenal.[3]
For his first two terms, Stratton represented a relatively compact district centered around Schenectady. In the early 1960s, the Republican-controlled legislature tried to defeat him through unfavorable redistricting.[3][7] Stratton's home inAmsterdam was drawn into a district that snaked from theCapital District suburbs all the way west acrossUpstate as far asAuburn, including along the way some of the most rural and conservative territory in central New York.[3][7] On paper, this district seemed unwinnable for a Democrat, even a conservative Democrat like Stratton. However, Stratton wasreelected in 1962 with 54 percent of the vote.[8] He quickly became popular with the voters in this mostly rural district, and went on to win another four terms by well over 60 percent of the vote.[3][7] The state legislature gave up in the 1970s round of redistricting, and placed Stratton's home into a heavily Democratic seat including the heart of the Capital District. He easily defeated Republican incumbentDaniel Button, and was reelected seven more times without serious difficulty until retiring in 1989 at the age of 72.[3][7]
In 1962, Stratton was a candidate forGovernor of New York;Robert M. Morgenthau won the Democratic nomination, but lostthe general election to incumbentNelson A. Rockefeller.[3] Stratton was a candidate for the Democratic nomination for theUnited States Senate in 1964, hoping to challenge incumbentKenneth Keating, but he was defeated byRobert F. Kennedy, who went on towin the election.[9]
He was a proponent of theEqual Rights Amendment,[10] and also introduced successful legislation, as a rider to the 1975 defense appropriations bill, which mandated the admission of women to the service academies.[11]
In 1976, Stratton led an unsuccessful effort to cite journalistDaniel Schorr forContempt of Congress after Schorr refused to identify his source for a copy of thePike Committee report on the clandestine activities of theCentral Intelligence Agency.[12] Schorr had provided the report toThe Village Voice, which made its contents public.[12][13]
In 1988, Stratton announced his bid for reelection, and circulated nominating petitions to appear as a candidate for renomination in the Democratic primary.[14] On the last day that he was eligible to withdraw, Stratton announced his retirement.[14] This move gave his committee on vacancies—three party leaders named on his nominating petition—the ability to name a replacement.[14] The committee selectedMichael R. McNulty, then serving in theNew York State Assembly.[14] Stratton said he was retiring because of health concerns (he had long suffered from asthma and gout),[14] but the obvious implication raised by his political opponents was that he had intended to retire all along, and wanted to make it easier for McNulty to succeed him.[15] Despite this minor controversy, McNulty obtained the Democratic nomination unopposed and went on to easily win the general election;[16] Stratton retired at the end of his final term in January 1989.[3]
After retiring, Stratton lived inBethesda, Maryland.[3] He had a stroke in October 1989, after which he resided in aPotomac, Maryland nursing home.[17] Stratton died inGaithersburg, Maryland on September 13, 1990,[3] and was buried atArlington National Cemetery, Section 7A, Grave 58.[18]
After Stratton's death, both theAir National Guard base inScotia, New York[19] and theVeterans Affairs hospital inAlbany, New York were named in his honor.[20]
The 1998 filmThe Pentagon Wars includes a scene in which Secretary of DefenseCaspar Weinberger fields a phone call from an unseen and unheard Stratton about the procurement of theBradley Fighting Vehicle.[21] After deflecting Stratton's concerns, Weinberger directs his subordinates to complete their investigation of the Bradley's field testing quickly and brief him on the results so he will not be surprised by more calls from members of Congress.[21]
In 1947, Stratton was married to Joan Harris (1921–2009).[3][22] They were the parents of five children: daughters Lisa, Debra, and Kim; and sons Kevin and Brian.[3][22]
His son,Brian U. Stratton, was elected mayor of Schenectady in 2003.[23] With the expected retirement of the elder Stratton's successor in Congress,Michael McNulty, there was speculation the younger Stratton would run for his father's old House seat in the 2008 election, but he chose to remain mayor, and later accepted an appointment as director of theNew York State Canal Corporation.[23]
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Archibald Wemple | Mayor ofSchenectady, New York 1956–1959 | Succeeded by Kenneth S. Sheldon |
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
| Preceded by | Member of the U.S. House of Representatives fromNew York's 32nd congressional district 1959–1963 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Member of the U.S. House of Representatives fromNew York's 35th congressional district 1963–1971 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Member of the U.S. House of Representatives fromNew York's 29th congressional district 1971–1973 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Member of the U.S. House of Representatives fromNew York's 28th congressional district 1973–1983 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Member of the U.S. House of Representatives fromNew York's 23rd congressional district 1983–1989 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
