M. J. Cleary
{{short description|American politician}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2020}}
{{Infobox officeholder
|name = M. J. Cleary
|image = M. J. Cleary.png
|alt =
|caption =
|order = 9th
|title = Commissioner of Insurance of Wisconsin
| appointer = Emanuel L. Philipp
| term_start = June 30, 1915
| term_end = April 10, 1919
| predecessor = Herman Ekern
| successor = Platt Whitman
|state_assembly1 = Wisconsin
|district1 = Lafayette County
| term_start1 = January 7, 1907
| term_end1 = January 2, 1911
| predecessor1 = Richard E. Tarrell
| successor1 = Eugene D. Parkinson
|party = Republican
|birth_date = {{Birth date|1877|09|23}}
|birth_place = Blanchardville, Wisconsin, U.S.
|death_date = {{Death date and age|1947|02|21|1877|09|23}}
|death_place = Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S.
|resting_place =
|profession = Lawyer
|spouse = Bonnie B. Blanchard
|children = {{unbulleted list
| Catherine Blanchard Cleary
| {{sup|(b. 1916; died 2010)}}
| Mary Elizabeth (Stehlin) (Gallagher)
| {{sup|(b. 1920)}}
| James Thomas Cleary
| {{sup|(b. 1923; died 1987)}}
}}
|education =
}}
Michael James Cleary (September 23, 1877{{spnd}}February 21, 1947) was an American lawyer, insurance executive, and Republican politician from Lafayette County, Wisconsin. He was the 9th Wisconsin Insurance Commissioner and served two terms in the Wisconsin State Assembly (1907 & 1909). Later he was president of the Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company. His name was often abbreviated as {{nowrap|M. J. Cleary}}.
Biography and career
Cleary was born on September 23, 1877, in Blanchardville, Wisconsin{{cite news|title=Michael Cleary Is Heart Victim|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/20375769/m_j_cleary_18771947/|newspaper=Waukesha Daily Freeman|date=February 22, 1947|page=1|via = Newspapers.com|accessdate = May 26, 2018}} {{Open access}} or Moscow, Wisconsin.{{cite web|url=http://files.usgwarchives.net/wi/history/bluebook/1907/bios/c4600001.txt|title=M. J. Cleary|publisher=USGenWeb Archives|accessdate=2014-02-05}} He attended the University of Wisconsin–Madison.{{cite news|title=M. J. Cleary, 69, Insurance Official and UW Regent, Dies|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/20350620/m_j_cleary_18771947/|newspaper=Wisconsin State Journal|date=February 22, 1947|page=1|via = Newspapers.com|accessdate = May 25, 2018}} {{Open access}}
Cleary was elected to the Assembly in 1906 and re-elected in 1908.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AEwNAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA1145 |title=Biographical Sketches|year=1909|publisher=Wisconsin Blue Book|accessdate=2014-02-05}} He was a Republican.
He was an attorney, and worked in insurance and banking in Blanchardville, Wisconsin. He also spent two years as the Chairman of the County Board of Lafayette County, Wisconsin.
He served as Commissioner of Insurance from July 1, 1915 to April 10, 1919.{{Cite web
|title = Object details - M. J. Clearly election poster
|work = Chudnow Museum
|accessdate = 2014-05-17
|url = http://www.chudnowmuseum.org/col/001956.htm
|url-status = dead
|archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20140517122353/http://www.chudnowmuseum.org/col/001956.htm
|archivedate = 2014-05-17
}} During World War I, he organized a "far reaching and effective food conservation campaign" with a "corps of 125 insurance agents."{{Cite book
| publisher = The Wisconsin War History Company
| last = Pixley
| first = R.B.
| title = Wisconsin in the world war; an account of the activities of Wisconsin citizens during the great world war, giving in part the record of a loyal state and acknowledging in part its devotion and untiring service to the nation and to its ideals for a lasting and benevolent democracy
| location = Milwaukee
| accessdate = 2014-05-17
| date = 1919
| url = https://archive.org/details/wisconsininworld00pixlrich
}}
In 1919, he assumed the presidency of the Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company.{{Cite web
| title = INSURANCE CHIEF SEES INTEREST RATES RISE - M.J. Cleary of Northwestern Life Expects Normal Trade to Increase Money Demand
| work = New York Times
| accessdate = 2014-05-17
| date = January 1935
| url = http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F50F15F93E59107A93C1A9178AD85F418385F9
}} He also served as a member of the Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin and of the Board of Governors of Marquette University.{{Cite web
| title = M.J. CLEARY DIES - SURETY FIRM HEAD - President of the Northwestern Mutual Life, Regents Board Member at Wisconsin U.
| work = New York Times
| accessdate = 2014-05-17
| date = 1947-02-23
| url = http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F1081EFE385E12748DDDAA0A94DA405B8788F1D3
}}
Personal life and family
M. J. Cleary married Bonnie B. Blanchard of Blanchardville—she was a granddaughter of Alvin Blanchard, who founded Blanchardville. They had at least three children.
Their eldest daughter, Catherine Blanchard Cleary, was a pioneer woman in business, graduating from the University of Wisconsin Law School and serving as the first female board member of General Motors, AT&T, Kraft Foods, Northwestern Mutual, and Kohler Co. After the 1952 United States presidential election, she challenged president-elect Dwight D. Eisenhower to appoint a woman as Treasurer of the United States. Eisenhower responded by appointing Ivy Baker Priest, and then named Cleary as assistant treasurer.{{cite news|url= https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-capital-times-catherine-cleary/127153215/ |title= Miss Cleary in Treasury Office |newspaper= The Capital Times |date= May 25, 1953 |page= 3 |accessdate= June 26, 2023 |via= Newspapers.com }} Cleary served less than a year in that role, however—she determined that the role of assistant treasurer was not needed and had the position abolished. She was subsequently appointed assistant to the Secretary of the Treasury, George M. Humphrey.{{cite news|url= https://archive.jsonline.com/news/obituaries/111403764.html |title= Cleary led way for women in business |newspaper= Milwaukee Journal Sentinel |date= December 6, 2010 |first= Amy Rabideau |last= Silvers |accessdate= June 26, 2023 }} She retired at the end of her business career as chairman, president, and C.E.O. of the First Wisconsin Trust Co.
References
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Category:People from Blanchardville, Wisconsin
Category:Politicians from Milwaukee
Category:County supervisors in Wisconsin
Category:Republican Party members of the Wisconsin State Assembly
Category:University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni
Category:Businesspeople from Milwaukee