Thomas D'Alesandro III
{{Short description|American politician (1929–2019)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2019}}
{{Infobox officeholder
|image = 1d'alesandro.jpg
|caption = D'Alesandro in 2011
|office = 44th Mayor of Baltimore
|term_start = December 1967
|term_end = December 1971
|predecessor = Theodore McKeldin
|successor = William Donald Schaefer
|birth_name = Thomas Ludwig John D'Alesandro III
|birth_date = {{Birth date|1929|07|24}}
|birth_place = Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.
|death_date = {{Death date and age|2019|10|20|1929|07|24}}
|death_place = Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.
|party = Democratic
|spouse = {{marriage|Margie Piracci|1952}}
|children = 5
|parents = Thomas D'Alesandro Jr.
Annunciata Lombardi
|relatives = Nancy Pelosi (sister) Paul Pelosi (brother-in-law)
|education = Loyola University Maryland (BA)
University of Maryland, Baltimore (LLB)
|allegiance = {{Flag|United States}}
|branch = {{Army|United States}}
|serviceyears = 1952–1955
}}
Thomas Ludwig John D'Alesandro III (July 24, 1929 – October 20, 2019) was an American attorney and politician who served as the 44th mayor of Baltimore from 1967 to 1971. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the president of the Baltimore City Council from 1962 to 1967.{{Cite book |first=Melvin G. |last=Holli |title=Biographical Dictionary of American Mayors, 1820–1980 |publisher=Greenwood Press |year=1981 |location=Westport, CT |oclc=164919589 }} During his tenure as mayor, the Baltimore riot of 1968 occurred.
He was the eldest son of Thomas D'Alesandro Jr., the 41st mayor of Baltimore; and brother of Nancy Pelosi, the 52nd speaker of the United States House of Representatives, and first woman to hold that office.{{cite news |url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/politics/bs-md-pol-dalesandro-family-20191021-w5ftn3ue2zdhfhzvvjr6fmu644-story.html |title=The D'Alesandros: a Baltimore political powerhouse that gave us two mayors and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi |last=Campbell |first=Colin |newspaper=The Baltimore Sun |language=en-US |access-date=October 22, 2019 |date=October 21, 2019}}
Early life
D'Alesandro was born in Baltimore, to Annunciata (née Lombardi) and Thomas J. D'Alesandro Jr.{{cite news |first1=Mariel |last1=Padilla |first2=Mihir |last2=Zaveri |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/20/us/thomas-dalesandro-dead.html |title=Thomas D'Alesandro III, Nancy Pelosi's Brother, Dies at 90 |newspaper=The New York Times |date=October 20, 2019}} He was the oldest of six children, of whom his youngest sister Nancy Pelosi would later become prominent in her own right. He attended Loyola College in Baltimore and studied law at the University of Maryland School of Law.{{cite news |first=Bart |last=Barnes |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/thomas-dalesandro-iii-maryland-political-prince-who-gave-up-the-throne-dies-at-90/2019/10/20/7c28ca0a-3f75-11e9-922c-64d6b7840b82_story.html |title=Thomas D'Alesandro III, Maryland political prince who gave up the throne, dies at 90 |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=October 20, 2019}}
In 1952, he married Margaret "Margie" Piracci at the Baltimore Basilica; more than 5,000 people attended the wedding.{{cite news |url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/features/retro-baltimore/bal-retro-baltimore-65-years-ago-tommy-and-margie-got-married-in-baltimore-s-own-royal-wedding-20170607-story.html |title=65 years ago, Tommy and Margie got married in Baltimore's own royal wedding |last=Tkacik |first=Christina |newspaper=The Baltimore Sun |language=en-US |access-date=May 21, 2019 |date=June 8, 2017}} He served in the United States Army from 1952 to 1955.
Political career
After military service, D'Alesandro entered into politics, becoming president of the Baltimore City Council in 1963. As City Council president, he worked with Mayor Theodore McKeldin, a liberal Republican, to eliminate racial barriers in employment, education and other areas.{{cite news |first1=Jean |last1=Marbella |first2=Luke |last2=Broadwater |url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/obituaries/bs-md-ob-tommy-dalesandro-20191020-dzzetsbbi5cehdiqupcp5slwca-story.html |title=Former Baltimore Mayor Thomas 'Young Tommy' D'Alesandro III, brother of Nancy Pelosi, dies at 90 |newspaper=The Baltimore Sun |date=October 20, 2019}}
= Mayor of Baltimore =
D'Alesandro ran for mayor in 1967 as a Democrat and easily defeated Republican challenger Arthur W. Sherwood, winning all 555 of the city's precincts.{{cite news |url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bs-xpm-1998-04-04-1998094106-story.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130702011946/http://articles.baltimoresun.com/1998-04-04/features/1998094106_1_dalesandro-baltimore-riot-gay-street |url-status=live |archive-date=July 2, 2013 |title=For 30 years, people have wondered how Tommy D'Alesando III, a born winner, could walk away from politics. It wasn't the '68 riot, he insists |access-date=July 1, 2013 |newspaper=The Baltimore Sun |last1=O'Mara |first1=Richard |date=April 4, 1998}}{{cite web |url=https://www.jmoreliving.com/2018/10/25/recalling-old-times-with-tommy-the-younger/ |title=Recalling Old Times with Tommy the Younger |last=Olesker |first=Michael |date=October 25, 2018 |website=JMORE |language=en-US |access-date=May 21, 2019}}
As Baltimore's 44th mayor, he opened new schools, built a new police headquarters and pushed for open housing. D'Alesandro got Baltimoreans to approve an $80 million bond issue to build schools. He devised summer recreation programs for the city's youth, such as mobile pools and day camps, and also laid legislative groundwork for the Inner Harbor development.
D'Alesandro's term as mayor was dominated by civil unrest and budgetary troubles. In 1968, D'Alesandro ordered the relocation of the East-West Expressway, unstarted since 1941, to be rerouted through the Western Cemetery, then cancelled the project.{{cite news |first=Michael P. |last=McCarthy |url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bs-xpm-1998-04-08-1998098055-story.html |title=Cross-town expressway had saving graces for inner city |date=April 8, 1998 |newspaper=The Baltimore Sun}} He later implemented a HUD program to finance 475 of the vacant homes abandoned after they were previously condemned to create "homes for the poor". The homes were demolished in 1974, with The Rouse Company creditors abandoning the project.{{Cite book|title=Baltimore '68 : Riots and Rebirth in an American City|author=Elfenbein, Jessica|author2=Hollowak, Thomas L.|author3=Nix, Elizabeth|page=62}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.governor.maryland.gov/pressreleases/100910.asp|title=Governor O'Malley Breaks Ground on Removal of West Baltimore's 'Highway to Nowhere'|access-date=August 28, 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140426065933/http://www.governor.maryland.gov/pressreleases/100910.asp|archive-date=April 26, 2014|date=September 10, 2010|website=Office of Governor Martin O'Malley}}
Just four months after D'Alesandro's inauguration, the Baltimore riot of 1968 erupted after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., and Maryland Governor Spiro Agnew called National Guard troops in to control the situation.{{Cite interview|url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=89427135|title=Former Baltimore Mayor Looks Back|website=NPR|language=en|access-date=May 21, 2019|interviewer=Michel Martin|last1=D'Alesandro III|first1=Thomas|date=April 7, 2008}}
D'Alesandro, who took office vowing to "root out every cause or vestige of discrimination", remained proud throughout his life of his progressive record on civil rights.{{Cite news |first=Justine |last=Coleman |url=https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/466644-thomas-dalesandro-iii-brother-of-nancy-pelosi-dies-at-90 |title=Thomas D'Alesandro III, brother of Nancy Pelosi, dies at 90 |newspaper=The Hill |date=October 20, 2019}}{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4t8yDV_rMc&feature=youtu.be&t=318 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211213/a4t8yDV_rMc |archive-date=2021-12-13 |url-status=live|title=What do you think of Trump's comments on Baltimore and what is your vision to improve cities like it? |date=December 5, 2019 |website=CNN |language=en-US |access-date=July 2, 2020}}{{cbignore}} As mayor, he appointed multiple African-Americans to his administration, some of them, such as George Russell Jr., the city solicitor and member of the Board of Estimates, the first African Americans to hold those positions.
In 1971, D'Alesandro stepped down as mayor and retired from politics and went into private law practice. Years later, D'Alesandro insisted that the riots were not the reason that he walked away from politics. He said that the reason was simply that he had five children and his mayoral salary was not sufficient for him to support his family.
In 1998, Jack Eddinger, D'Alesandro's former press secretary, wrote in The Baltimore Sun that "Tommy D'Alesandro was Baltimore's first modern mayor. He not only presided over its emergence as a Renaissance City that it is today, but he gave it unmatched leadership. Much of what other mayors get credit for began in those tumultuous four years, from urban design and labor law reform to streamlined governmental administration and the flowering of the vital alliance between the city and the Greater Baltimore Committee".{{cite news |first=John W. |last=Eddinger |url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bs-xpm-1998-04-19-1998109029-story.html |title=Tommy D'Alesandro was Baltimore's first modern mayor |newspaper=The Baltimore Sun |date=April 19, 1998}}
Death
D'Alesandro died after complications from a stroke at his home in North Baltimore on October 20, 2019, at the age of 90.
His sister, Nancy Pelosi said upon his death: {{cquote|Tommy dedicated his life to our city. A champion of civil rights, he worked tirelessly for all who called Baltimore home. Tommy was a leader of dignity, compassion and extraordinary courage, whose presence radiated hope upon our city during times of struggle and conflict.{{cite web |url=https://www.speaker.gov/newsroom/102019|title=Pelosi Statement on the Passing of Thomas D'Alesandro III |publisher=Office of the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives |date=October 20, 2019}}}} At a CNN Town Hall in December 2019, Pelosi also noted that "his vision was to say that I want to rid our society of every vestige of discrimination and that was his call to action."
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [https://msa.maryland.gov/megafile/msa/speccol/sc3500/sc3520/012400/012491/html/dalesandro3.html Biography] Provided by the Baltimore City Government
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{{s-bef|before=Theodore McKeldin}}
{{s-ttl|title=Mayor of Baltimore|years=1967–1971}}
{{s-aft|after=William Schaefer}}
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{{BaltimoreMayors}}
{{Nancy Pelosi}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:D'Alesandro III, Thomas}}
Category:American people of Italian descent
Category:Baltimore City Council members
Category:Italian-American culture in Baltimore
Category:Lawyers from Baltimore
Category:Loyola University Maryland alumni
Category:Military personnel from Baltimore
Category:University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law alumni