Martin Patrick Durkin

{{For|the television director of the same name|Martin Durkin (television director)}}

{{Infobox officeholder

|name = Martin Durkin

|image = mpdurkin.jpg

|office = 7th United States Secretary of Labor

|president = Dwight D. Eisenhower

|term_start = January 21, 1953

|term_end = September 10, 1953

|predecessor = Maurice J. Tobin

|successor = James P. Mitchell

|birth_date = {{birth date|1894|3|18}}

|birth_place = Chicago, Illinois, U.S.

|death_date = {{death date and age|1955|11|13|1894|3|18}}

|death_place = Washington, D.C., U.S.

|party = Democrat

|spouse = Anna McNicholas

|children = 3

}}

Martin Patrick Durkin (March 18, 1894 – November 13, 1955) was a U.S. administrator. He served as Secretary of Labor from January 21, 1953, to September 10, 1953, where he was the "plumber" of President Dwight Eisenhower's "Nine Millionaires and a Plumber"{{cite news| publisher=Politico| url=http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1108/15893_Page2.html| title=Whither the Cabinet Republicans?| author= Jonathan Martin| author-link= Jonathan Martin (journalist)| date=2008-11-23}} cabinet.

Biography

Durkin was born in Chicago, Illinois, on March 18, 1894, the son of James J. Durkin and Mary Catherine (née Higgins). At the age of 17, Durkin became involved in the plumber's and pipe fitter's union. On August 29, 1921, Durkin married the former Anna H. McNicholas. They had three sons: Martin Bernard, William Joseph and John Francis Durkin. He eventually became president of that union, and then served as Director of Labor for the State of Illinois from 1933 to 1941. He worked closely with the President Franklin D. Roosevelt's Secretary of Labor, Frances Perkins.

Durkin served as the Secretary of Labor during the Eisenhower administration. A Democrat among Republicans, he unsuccessfully pushed for his revisions in the Taft-Hartley Act. This led to his resignation after less than eight months in office, the shortest tenure of any Secretary of Labor.{{cite web|url=https://www.dol.gov/oasam/programs/history/durkin.htm|title=U.S. Department of Labor -- History -- Portraits: Martin P. Durkin|publisher=|accessdate=27 January 2017}}

He died in Washington D.C., from complications of cancer surgery. He was interred in St. Mary Catholic Cemetery in Evergreen Park, Illinois.

References

External links

[https://web.archive.org/web/20140806091416/http://www.dol.gov/oasam/programs/history/durkin.htm Department of Labor biography]
[http://www.dol.gov/oasam/programs/history/dolchp05.htm Department of Labor history of Eisenhower years]

{{U.S. Cabinet official box

| before= Maurice J. Tobin

| after= James P. Mitchell

| years= January 21–September 10, 1953

| president= Dwight D. Eisenhower

| department= Secretary of Labor}}

{{succession box|title=President of the United Association|years=1943–1953|before=George Masterton|after=Peter Schoemann}}

{{succession box|title=President of the United Association|years=1953–1955|before=Peter Schoemann|after=Peter Schoemann}}

Category:1894 births

Category:1955 deaths

Category:American plumbers

Category:Eisenhower administration cabinet members