Thomas J. Manton

Thomas J. Manton (November 3, 1932 – July 22, 2006) was an American politician who represented the 9th and 7th Congressional District of New York in the United States House of Representatives

Thomas J. Manton
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New York
In office January 3, 1985 – January 3, 1999
Preceded by	Geraldine Ferraro
Succeeded by	Joe Crowley
Constituency	9th district (1985–93) 7th district (1993–99)
Member of the New York City Council
In office 1970–1984
Personal details
Born	November 3, 1932 New York City, New York, U.S.
Died	July 22, 2006 (aged 73) The Bronx, New York City, New York, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Education	St. John's University (LLB)
Military service
Branch/service	United States Marine Corps
Battles/wars	Korean War

Early life and education

Manton was born in New York City, and was of Irish descent. He attended private Catholic schools before entering St. John's University, from which he earned his LL.B. degree.

Career

Early career

Manton served in the United States Marine Corps during the Korean War.

Prior to entering politics, Manton held several jobs. He was a New York City Police Officer from 1955 to 1960,[1] and he then became a marketing executive for IBM. In 1964, Manton began to practice law privately. He joined the law firm of Manton, Sweeney, Gallo, Reich & Bolz in 1999; and practiced law under that name until his retirement. He was elected to the New York City Council in 1970, and served until 1984.

Manton ran in the Democratic primary for what was then a part of New York's 9th congressional district in northern Queens in 1978, following the retirement of 30-year incumbent James J. Delaney. However, he lost to assistant Queens County district attorney Geraldine Ferraro. Manton also ran against Delaney in 1972 and lost.[2]

U.S. House of Representatives

When Ferarro gave up her seat to join Walter Mondale's presidential ticket, Manton entered the Democratic primary for the seat. In a hotly-contested primary, he defeated Clifford Wilson, Walter Crowley and Gloria D'Amico before narrowly defeating Republican Serphin Maltese in the general election with 52 percent of the vote. He was re-elected six more times.

Manton was elected chairman of the Democratic Organization of Queens County in 1986, succeeding John Sabini who had served as the interim chairman following the suicide of Donald Manes.

Tom Manton was the first major party chairman in the nation to endorse Bill Clinton for during the 1992 United States presidential election. As the co-chairman of the Ad Hoc Committee on Irish Affairs in the House, he was instrumental in obtaining a visa for Gerry Adams to travel to the United States. As a member of Congress, Manton served as a member of the United States House Committee on Energy and Commerce and was a subcommittee chairman of the House Government Operations Committee that supervised the United States Capitol Police.

His last vote in the House was to vote against the impeachment of President Bill Clinton.

Retirement

Manton retired from the Congress in 1998, having already filed for and circulated petitions for re-election. He withdrew on the last day it was legally possible to do so and arranged for his chosen successor, State Assemblyman Joseph Crowley, to replace him on the ballot. Crowley wasn't aware of this until Manton phoned him to tell him his name would be on the general election ballot. Crowley won the election and held the seat until losing in the 2018 Democratic primary to Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.[3] Manton continued to serve as the party chairman to the date of his death.

Personal life

After leaving Congress, he lived in the Queens neighborhoods of Woodside, later moving to Sunnyside, and finally to Astoria.

Thomas Manton died on July 22, 2006, following a battle with prostate cancer.[4]

The Thomas J. Manton Post Office in Woodside, New York was named in his honor after his death. Also a 20 block stretch of Queens Boulevard in Queens, New York City was renamed Thomas J. Manton Boulevard.[5]

See also

References

• "Thomas Manton, former congressman from New York, dies", Newsday, July 23, 2006
• "Thomas J. Manton Dies; Ex-Congressman Was 73", by Sewell Chan, July 23, 2006, New York Times
• Congressional Biographical Directory

1. Barone, Michael; Ujifusa, Grant (1987). The Almanac of American Politics 1988. National Journal. p. 813.
2. Barone, Michael; Ujifusa, Grant (1987). The Almanac of American Politics 1988. National Journal. p. 813.
3. "Many Foes May Struggle To Replace Rangel". The New York Sun. August 4, 2006. Retrieved November 11, 2014.
4. Thomas J. Manton, 73, Influential Queens Democrat, Dies
5. Stretch Of Queens Boulevard Renamed For Manton

External links

• United States Congress. "Thomas J. Manton (id: M000117)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
• Appearances on C-SPAN