Speaker of the House 88th, 89th, 90th and 91st Congresses
McCORMACK, John William, a
Representative from Massachusetts; born in Boston, Suffolk County, Mass.,
December 21, 1891; attended the public schools; studied law in a private law
office; was admitted to the bar in 1913 and began practice in Boston, Mass.;
member of the State constitutional convention in 1917 and 1918; during the First
World War served in the United States Army in 1917 and 1918; served in the State
house of representatives, 1920-1922; member of the State senate, 1923-1926,
serving as Democratic floor leader in 1925 and 1926; delegate to all Democratic
State conventions since 1920; delegate to the Democratic National Conventions in
1932, 1940, 1944, and 1948; elected as a Democrat to the Seventieth Congress to
fill the vacancy caused by the death of James A. Gallivan and on the same day
was elected to the Seventy-first Congress; reelected to the Seventy-second and
to the nineteen succeeding Congresses and served from November 6, 1928, to
January 3, 1971; chairman, Committee on Territories (Seventieth Congress),
Select Committee on Astronautics and Space Exploration (Eighty-fifth Congress);
majority leader (Seventy-sixth through Seventy-ninth, Eighty-first,
Eighty-second and Eighty-fourth through Eighty-seventh Congresses), minority
whip (Eightieth and Eighty-third Congresses), Speaker of the House of
Representatives (Eighty-seventh through Ninety-first Congresses); was not a
candidate for renomination in 1970 to the Ninety-second Congress; resided in
Boston, Mass., until his death in Dedham, Mass., November 22, 1980; interment in
Saint Joseph Cemetery, West Roxbury, Mass.
Bibliography
Gordon, Lester I. “John McCormack and the Roosevelt Era.” Ph.D.
dissertation, Boston University, 1976.
-- Biographical
Data courtesy of the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.