Ed Derwinski

He was born in Chicago, Illinois, on September 15, 1926, to Sophia Zmijewski and Casimir Ignatius Derwinski, who died in 1947. He attended Loyola University of Chicago. Derwinski served in the United States Army in the Pacific Theater during World War II and in the postwar U.S. occupation of Japan. He graduated from Loyola University Chicago in 1951. He was a celebrated member of Alpha Delta Gamma National Fraternity.

In 1957, he was elected to the Illinois House of Representatives, where he served one term before winning election to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1958. He served 12 terms as a Republican representative from the 4th District of Illinois, a suburban region south and west of Chicago, eventually becoming ranking member of the House Foreign Relations Committee. He also served as a delegate to the United Nations General Assembly 1971–1972 and as chairman of the U.S. delegation to the Interparliamentary Union from 1970–1972 and 1978-1980.

A Democratic redistricting plan after the 1980 Census carved up the 4th District, with only about 15% of its territory being retained and added to various territory from other districts; Derwinski and fellow Republican congressman George M. O'Brien were placed in the same district, and O'Brien won the 1982 primary on the strength of having more of his previous district included in the new configuration. After Derwinski's loss, President Ronald Reagan appointed him Counselor to the State Department. In 1987, Reagan appointed him Under Secretary of State for Security Assistance, Science and Technology, where he served until the end of Reagan's term, shortly after which he was appointed Administrator of Veterans Affairs, in charge of the Veterans Administration, which was elevated to cabinet-level status as the Department of Veterans Affairs in 1989, making Derwinski the first Secretary of Veterans Affairs.{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/congress/edward-j-derwinski-first-secretary-of-the-department-of-veterans-affairs-dies/2012/01/18/gIQA5IlL9P_story.html|title=Edward J. Derwinski, first secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs, dies|newspaper=The Washington Post |date=January 18, 2012}}

A Polish American, Derwinski was noted for his efforts on behalf of Eastern Europe throughout his career. Notably, he aided in the rehabilitation of the Serbian Royalist general Draža Mihailović. Mihailović had received the Legion of Merit for his resistance efforts against the Axis—but this information was marked "secret" at the behest of the State Department so as not to harm relations with Marshal Tito, the current ruler of Yugoslavia in 1967. Tito was Mihailović's rival in World War II, and after Tito's forces emerged triumphant, Mihailović was accused of collaboration with the Nazis and executed. At the urging of airmen involved in Operation Halyard who had been saved by Mihailović's forces and had heard rumors of the award to him, Derwinski insisted that the State Department make the text of President Truman's citation public, confirming that Mihailović had not collaborated.{{cite book|last=Freeman|first=Gregory A.|title=The Forgotten 500|date=September 2007|publisher=Penguin Books|location=London|isbn=978-0-451-22212-1|page=271}} Derwinski served as head of "Ethnic Americans for Dole/Kemp" during the 1996 presidential election.

Derwinski resided in Glen Ellyn, Illinois with his wife, the former Bonita Hickey, known as Bonnie. He had two adult children, Maureen and Michael, from his first marriage to Patricia Derwinski.

Derwinski died in a nursing home from Merkel cell carcinoma, on January 15, 2012, at age 85.{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/congress/edward-j-derwinski-first-secretary-of-the-department-of-veterans-affairs-dies/2012/01/18/gIQA5IlL9P_story.html|title=Edward J. Derwinski, first secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs, dies|newspaper=The Washington Post |date=January 18, 2012}} He was buried in Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia.

On learning of his death, former United States Senator Peter Fitzgerald (R-IL) described Derwinski as "a giant in Illinois politics [...] [H]e had incredible connections in all the different ethnic neighborhoods in Chicago, he was really loved by everybody on both sides".

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• [http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?r101:E17MY0-507: Congressional Record: Tribute to Ed Derwinski by Dan Rostenkowski]{{Dead link|date=August 2021 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}, May 17, 1990
• {{C-SPAN|4878}}

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Category:1926 births

Category:2012 deaths

Category:United States Army personnel of World War II

Category:American people of Polish descent

Category:Deaths from cancer in Illinois

Category:Deaths from Merkel-cell carcinoma

Category:George H. W. Bush administration cabinet members

Category:Republican Party members of the Illinois House of Representatives

Category:Military personnel from Illinois

Category:Politicians from Chicago

Category:Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Illinois

Category:United States Army soldiers

Category:United States Department of Veterans Affairs officials

Category:United States secretaries of veterans affairs

Category:United States under secretaries of state

Category:Burials at Arlington National Cemetery

Category:20th-century members of the United States House of Representatives

Category:20th-century members of the Illinois General Assembly