Michael DiSalle
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| Michael Vincent DiSalle | |
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60th Governor of Ohio
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| In office January 12, 1959 – January 14, 1963 |
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| Lieutenant | John W. Donahey |
| Preceded by | C. William O'Neill |
| Succeeded by | Jim Rhodes |
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| Born | January 6, 1908 New York City, New York |
| Died | September 14, 1981 (aged 73) Italy |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse | Myrtle Eugene England |
| Profession | Lawyer |
| Religion | Catholic |
Michael Vincent DiSalle (January 6, 1908 - September 14, 1981)[1] was a Democratic politician from Ohio. He served as the 60th Governor of Ohio.
He was born in New York City to Italian American immigrant parents. His family moved to Toledo, Ohio, when he was three years old. He graduated with a bachelor's degree from Georgetown University and married the former Myrtle E. England. The couple had four daughters and one son.[1]
DiSalle attended law school and was admitted to the Ohio bar in 1932.[1] He was elected to the Ohio House of Representatives in 1937, then ran for and was elected to a series of positions in Toledo. In 1946, DiSalle ran for a seat in the United States House of Representatives but lost to the incumbent, Republican Homer A. Ramey. DiSalle was elected as mayor of Toledo, and served from 1948 to 1950.[2]
He ran (unsuccessfully) for the Democratic nomination for the United States Senate in 1950.[2] In December 1950, President Harry S. Truman named DiSalle director of the Office of Price Stabilization, a Korean War-era agency which established and enforced wartime price controls. He resigned on January 23, 1952, to run for the Senate again, and lost in the general election to incumbent Republican Senator John W. Bricker.[3]
DiSalle was elected Governor of Ohio in 1958, and served from 1959 to 1963. In July 1959 DiSalle signed the bill making "With God, all things are possible" the official motto of the State of Ohio. The motto was taken from the Gospel of Matthew 19:26.
DiSalle was Ohio's favorite-son candidate for the Democratic nomination for the presidency in 1960. He run only in his home state, which won by comfortable margin of 60.25% against his opponent, Albert S. Potter[4]. This secured him a sixth place in total number of primaries popular vote (behind John F. Kennedy, Pat Brown, George H. McLain, Hubert Humphrey and George Smathers)[5].
He lost reelection as governor in 1962 after voters disapproved of his support for an end to capital punishment, a tax hike, and a state policy which billed wards of the state for living necessities.[2]
DiSalle was an death penalty opponent and commuted number of sentences[6], despite allowing six executions as Governor[7]. DiSalle personally investigated all cases of people schedulded to be electrocuted and even personally meet with some of them[8].
One of the main reasons of DiSalle concern on the death penalty came due to fact, that poorer defendants did not have the same access to counsel as rich defendants, they were sure to suffer the death penalty disproportionately. He recalled: I found that the men in death row had one thing in common: they were penniless[9].
After leaving Governorship DiSalle co-founded and served as a chairman of the National Committee to Abolish Federal Death Penalty[10][11]. His 1965 book, The Power of Life and Death, discusses this issue and chronicles his difficult experiences as the man charged with making the final decision regarding a sentence commutation[12]. He is quoted in the book Mercy on Trial: What It Means to Stop an Execution as saying, "No one who has never watched the hands of a clock marking the last minutes of a condemned man's existence, knowing that he alone has the temporary Godlike power to stop the clock, can realize the agony of deciding an appeal for executive clemency." [13]
In 1966, he joined the Washington, D.C., law firm of Chapman, Duff & Paul.[1] The same year, DiSalle also authored the book Second Choice, a history of the U.S. vice presidency.[14]
DiSalle led a draft movement for Massachusetts Senator Edward M. Kennedy in 1968, and served as the honorary chairman of Kennedy's 1980 presidential bid.[1][2]
DiSalle died in 1981 of unreported causes while vacationing in Italy.[1]
[edit] See also
- Election Results, Ohio Governor
- Election Results, Ohio Governor (Democratic Primaries)
- Election Results, U.S. Representative from Ohio, 9th District
[edit] Notes
- ^ a b c d e f "Michael V. DiSalle, 73, Former Governor of Ohio," New York Times, September 17, 1981.
- ^ a b c d Zimmerman, Call Me Mike: A Political Biography of Michael V. DiSalle, 2003.
- ^ Loftus, "Key Price Job Goes to Toledo's Mayor," New York Times, December 1, 1950; Marcus, Truman and the Steel Seizure Case: The Limits of Presidential Power, 1977; Egan, "DiSalle to Enter Race For Senate," New York Times, January 24, 1952.
- ^ http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=35933
- ^ http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=55200
- ^ Martha Stephens, The Treatment: The Story of Those who Died in the Cincinnati Radiation Tests, 2001, p 201
- ^ http://users.bestweb.net/~rg/execution/OHIO.htm
- ^ http://www.religionnewsblog.com/17915/resistance-to-death-penalty-growing
- ^ http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,712126,00.html?promoid=googlep
- ^ http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1745-9125.1967.tb00711.x
- ^ http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,712126,00.html?promoid=googlep
- ^ DiSalle, The Power of Life or Death, 1965.
- ^ Sarat, Mercy on Trial: What It Means to Stop An Execution, 2005.
- ^ DiSalle, Second Choice, 1966.
[edit] References
- DiSalle, Michael V. The Power of Life or Death. New York: Random House, 1965.
- DiSalle, Michael V. Second Choice. Stroud, Gloucester, United Kingdom: Hawthorn Books, 1966.
- Egan, Charles E. "DiSalle to Enter Race For Senate." New York Times. January 24, 1952.
- Loftus, Joseph A. "Key Price Job Goes to Toledo's Mayor." New York Times. December 1, 1950.
- Marcus, Maeva. Truman and the Steel Seizure Case: The Limits of Presidential Power. New York: Columbia University Press, 1977. ISBN 0231041268
- "Michael V. DiSalle, 73, Former Governor of Ohio." New York Times. September 17, 1981.
- Sarat, Austin. Mercy on Trial: What It Means to Stop An Execution. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 2005. ISBN 0691121400
- Zimmerman, Richard. Call Me Mike: A Political Biography of Michael V. DiSalle. Kent, Ohio: Kent State University Press, 2003. ISBN 0873387554
| Preceded by C. William O'Neill |
Governor of Ohio 1959–1963 |
Succeeded by Jim Rhodes |
| Preceded by Lloyd Emerson Roulet |
Mayor of Toledo 1948–1950 |
Succeeded by Ollie Czelusta |
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