Michael A. Feighan

Michael Aloysius Feighan (February 16, 1905 – March 19, 1992) was an American politician from Lakewood, Ohio, near Cleveland. He served as a member of the Ohio House of Representatives, and as a Democratic Party U.S. Representative from 1943 to 1971, serving Ohio's 20th congressional district.

Michael Aloysius Feighan
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Ohio's 20th district
In office
January 3, 1943 – January 3, 1971
Preceded byMartin L. Sweeney
Succeeded byJames V. Stanton
Member of the Ohio House of Representatives
In office
1937-1940
Personal details
Born(1905-02-16)February 16, 1905
Lakewood, Ohio
DiedMarch 19, 1992(1992-03-19) (aged 87)
Washington, D.C.
NationalityAmerican
Political partyDemocratic
Spouse(s)Florence Feighan
RelationsEd Feighan (nephew)
Alma materJohn Carroll University;

Princeton University;

Harvard Law School

Originally, he was recruited by national Democrats who wanted to replace Congressman Martin L. Sweeney (D-OH), who had for eleven years held the seat representing the west side of Cleveland. They considered Sweeney to be too isolationist; for example, he had argued against enacting Lend-Lease to the United Kingdom.

After Feighan had served almost three decades in the House of Representatives, some local Democratic officials, led by Cleveland City Council President James V. Stanton, had grown tired of his leadership. Sensing that they could not beat Feighan in one election, they set up a stalking horse running a Michael Sweeney, a local lawyer with a good political name. Sweeney lost, but his vote total showed that Feighan could be vulnerable in a rematch. Two years later, in 1970, Stanton himself ran and defeated Feighan in the Democratic primary, concluding Feighan's political career.

During the legislation of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 Feighan insisted that "family unification" should take priority in immigration policy over "employability", on the premise that such a weighting would maintain the existing ethnic profile of the country. That change instead resulted in chain migration dominating the subsequent patterns of immigration to the United States and consequently a more ethnically diverse population.[1][2]

Electoral history
Ohio's 20th congressional district: Results 1942–1968[3]
Year Democrat Votes Pct Republican Votes Pct 3rd Party Party Votes Pct
1942 Michael A. Feighan 34,462 61.81% Harry T. Marshall 14,001 25.11% Marie R. Sweeney Independent 7,289 13.07%
1944 Michael A. Feighan 75,218 75.85% A. R. McNamara 23,945 24.15%
1946 Michael A. Feighan 49,670 66.99% Walter E. Obert 24,476 33.01%
1948 Michael A. Feighan 64,241 100% no candidate
1950 Michael A. Feighan 60,565 74.21% Paul W. Cassidy 21,044 25.79%
1952 Michael A. Feighan 109,211 65.21% John H. Ferguson 58,271 34.79%
1954 Michael A. Feighan 81,304 67.66% John H. Ferguson 38,865 32.34%
1956 Michael A. Feighan 105,562 65.25% John H. Ferguson 56,209 34.75%
1958 Michael A. Feighan 113,200 79.43% Malvern E. Schultz 29,308 20.57%
1960 Michael A. Feighan 113,302 67.79% Leonard G. Richter 53,845 32.21%
1962 Michael A. Feighan 91,544 71.04% Leonard G. Richter 37,325 28.96%
1964 Michael A. Feighan 115,675 74.43% Joseph A. Cipollone 39,747 25.57%
1966 Michael A. Feighan 63,629 76.05% Clarence E. McLeod 20,034 23.95%
1968 Michael A. Feighan 72,918 72.38% J. William Petro 27,827 27.62%

See also

References
  1. Tom Gjelten, Laura Knoy (2016-01-21). NPR's Tom Gjelten on America's Immigration Story (Radio broadcast). The Exchange. New Hampshire Public Radio. Retrieved 2016-06-07.
  2. Gjelten, Tom (2015-08-12). "Michael Feighan and LBJ". Archived from the original on 2016-05-06. Retrieved 2016-06-07.
  3. "Election Statistics". Office of the Clerk of the House of Representatives. Archived from the original on 2008-07-30. Retrieved 2008-08-24.
U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by
Martin L. Sweeney		 Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Ohio's 20th congressional district
1943 – 1971		 Succeeded by
James V. Stanton
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