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Theodore McKeldin

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53rd Governor of Maryland (1900-1974)
Theodore McKeldin
McKeldin in 1951
53rd Governor of Maryland
In office
January 10, 1951 – January 14, 1959
Preceded byWilliam Preston Lane Jr.
Succeeded byJ. Millard Tawes
40th Mayor of Baltimore
In office
May 19, 1963 – December 1967
Preceded byPhilip H. Goodman
Succeeded byThomas D'Alesandro III
In office
May 16, 1943 – May 16, 1947
Preceded byHoward W. Jackson
Succeeded byThomas D'Alesandro Jr.
Personal details
BornTheodore Roosevelt McKeldin
(1900-11-20)November 20, 1900
Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.
DiedAugust 10, 1974(1974-08-10) (aged 73)
Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.
Resting placeGreen Mount Cemetery
Baltimore, Maryland
Political partyRepublican
SpouseHonolulu Manzer
Children2
Alma materUniversity of Maryland, Baltimore (LLB)
Signature

Theodore Roosevelt McKeldin (November 20, 1900 – August 10, 1974) was an American politician. A member of the Republican Party, McKeldin served as mayor of Baltimore twice, from 1943 to 1947 and again from 1963 to 1967, and as Governor of Maryland from 1951 to 1959.

Early life

McKeldin was born in Baltimore as one of eleven children. His father had worked as a stonecutter and later was a Baltimore City police officer. McKeldin attended high school at Baltimore City College in the evenings while working as a bank clerk during the day. He later graduated from the University of Maryland Law School at the University of Maryland, Baltimore, and was admitted to the Maryland bar.

Two years later, he began his political ascent when worked as a secretary to Mayor William F. Broening, one of few Republican mayors of the predominantly Democratic city. McKeldin also served as vice president of the local chapter of the U.S. Junior Chamber of Commerce. In 1934, he co-founded the charity Santa Claus Anonymous.

Political career

McKeldin challenged Democratic mayor of Baltimore Howard W. Jackson in the 1939 election, but was defeated. He subsequently challenged the incumbent governor of Maryland, Democrat Herbert R. O'Conor, in 1942, but lost by five points.

McKeldin would ultimately be elected mayor of Baltimore in 1943 on his second attempt. During his first term, he oversaw the construction of Friendship Airport, now Baltimore-Washington International Airport, in Anne Arundel County. McKeldin ran for governor again in 1946, challenging William Preston Lane Jr., but was defeated again by a wider margin than in 1942.

McKeldin ran for governor a third time in 1950, defeating Lane in a rematch. As governor, McKeldin endeavored to improve the state highway system by establishing the Baltimore Beltway (now Interstate 695), the Capital Beltway (Interstate 495), and the John Hanson Highway portion of U.S. Route 50. He was a staunch supporter of interstate cooperation, saying once: "I rode by train over several state borders. I carried no passports. No one asked me to identify myself. No one had the right to. This is America." He was also an advocate for civil rights for African Americans, and received the Sidney Hollander Award for his pro-civil rights efforts. He was also a supporter of Israel.

In 1952, McKeldin was a major figure among moderate Republicans who campaigned for Dwight D. Eisenhower to receive the Republican nomination for President, and would deliver the principal nominating speech for Eisenhower at the 1952 Republican National Convention in Chicago.

In 1954, McKeldin was re-elected governor against president of the University of Maryland, College Park Harry C. "Curley" Byrd, who had controversially resisted desegregating the university. After his second term in Government House, McKeldin returned to his law practice in Baltimore; he was succeeded as Governor by Democrat J. Millard Tawes.

In 1963, McKeldin returned to public service after being narrowly elected to a second non-consecutive term as mayor of Baltimore. In his second term, his administration focused on the urban renewal of the city's Inner Harbor. In 1964, he decided to support Democratic candidate Lyndon B. Johnson over Republican Barry M. Goldwater in the presidential election, due to Goldwater's opposition to the Civil Rights Act of 1964. In 1966, the city council voted to condemn and demolish 700 homes in the Rosemont neighborhood to build the Interstate 170 "highway to nowhere" that McKeldin had conceived with urban planner Robert Moses in 1941. McKeldin's second term as mayor ended in 1967, and he did not seek re-election.

McKeldin remains the last Republican mayor of Baltimore to date; indeed, he is the last Republican mayoral candidate to win even one-third of the vote in the city. He was the first Republican governor of Maryland to be re-elected, and the only one until Larry Hogan was re-elected in 2018.

Personal life

McKeldin married Honolulu Claire Manzer on October 17, 1924. They had two children.

McKeldin died on August 10, 1974, and is buried in Green Mount Cemetery in Baltimore.

Dedications

References

  1. "Theodore R. McKeldin (1900-1974) Biographical Series; Governor of Maryland, 1951-1959 (Republican)". Archives of Maryland, MSA SC 3520-1484. Maryland State Government. 9 November 2001. Retrieved 11 September 2018.
  2. White, Frank F. Jr. (1970). The Governors of Maryland 1777-1970. Annapolis: The Hall of Records Commission. pp. 285–291. ISBN 978-0942370010. Retrieved 11 September 2018.
  3. Vera Foster Rollo. Your Maryland A History. p. 387.
  4. "Theodore R. McKeldin, 1951–1959". Retrieved 17 December 2015.
  5. Maryland Historical Society: Sidney Hollander Collection 1926–1972
  6. Baltimore GOP Mayor Says Goldwater Made Tacit Deal for Extremist Help; The Harvard Crimson, November 9, 1965
  7. Elfenbein, Jessica, Hollowak, Thomas L., Nix, Elizabeth. Baltimore '68 : Riots and Rebirth in an American City. p. 62.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  8. "Governor O'Malley Breaks Ground on Removal of West Baltimore's 'Highway to Nowhere' MARC Station improvement plan reunites West Baltimore communities". Retrieved 28 August 2014.
  9. "Clara Ziegler Obituary". The Washington Post. October 20, 2005.

General references

External links

Political offices
Preceded byHoward W. Jackson Mayor of Baltimore
1943–1947 		Succeeded byThomas D'Alesandro Jr.
Preceded byWilliam Preston Lane Jr. Governor of Maryland
1951–1959 		Succeeded byJ. Millard Tawes
Preceded byPhilip H. Goodman Mayor of Baltimore
1963–1967 		Succeeded byThomas D'Alesandro III
Party political offices
Preceded byHarry Nice Republican nominee for Governor of Maryland
1942, 1946, 1950, 1954 		Succeeded byJames Devereux
Governors of Maryland
Provincial (1632–1776)
State (since 1776)
  • Italics indicate acting officeholders
Mayors of Baltimore
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