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John Pastore
John Orlando Pastore (March 17, 1907 – July 15, 2000) was an American lawyer and politician. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as a United States Senator from Rhode Island from 1950 to 1976 and as the 61st governor of Rhode Island from 1945 to 1950. He was the first Italian American elected to the Senate.
John Pastore was born in the Federal Hill neighborhood of Providence, Rhode Island. The second of five children, he was the son of Michele and Erminia (née Asprinio) Pastore, who were Italian immigrants. His father, a tailor who had moved from Potenza to the United States in 1899, died when John was nine, and his mother went to work as a seamstress to support the family. She married her late husband's brother, Salvatore, who also ran a tailoring business. As a child, Pastore worked delivering coats and suits for his uncle/stepfather, as an errand boy in a law office, and as a foot-press operator in a jewelry factory.
Pastore graduated with honors from Classical High School in 1925, and spent a year working a $15-a-week job as a claims adjuster for the Narragansett Electric Company. In 1927, he enrolled in an evening law course given by Northeastern University at YMCA in Providence. He received a Bachelor of Laws degree (equivalent to a modern J.D. degree) in 1931, and was admitted to the bar the following year. He then established a law office in the basement of his family's home, but attracted few clients due to the Great Depression.
In 1934, Pastore was elected as a Democrat to the Rhode Island House of Representatives. He was re-elected in 1936, and became chairman of the House Corporations Committee. He served as an assistant attorney general from 1937 until 1938, when he lost that position after the Republican Party swept several statewide offices. He then served as a member of the Providence Charter Revision Commission from 1939 to 1940.
When the Democratic Party returned to power in 1940, Pastore was appointed assistant attorney general in charge of the criminal calendar, serving in that position until 1944. In July 1941, he married Elena Caito, to whom he remained married until his death; the couple had one son and two daughters.
Pastore was elected Lieutenant Governor of Rhode Island in 1944. On October 6, 1945, he succeeded to the office of Governor of Rhode Island when Governor J. Howard McGrath resigned to become U.S. Solicitor General under President Harry S. Truman. During his first year in office, he established a one-percent sales tax.
In 1946, Pastore was elected to a full term as governor after defeating his Republican opponent, John G. Murphy, by a margin of 54%-46%. With his victory, he became the first Italian American to be elected a governor in the United States; Charles Poletti, who served as Governor of New York in December 1942, also succeeded to office but never sought election in his own right. He was re-elected in 1948, defeating Warwick mayor Albert P. Ruerat by 61%-38%. During his tenure, he enacted the state's first primary election law and corporate income tax. He also created a program to combat water pollution and a $20 million bonus for World War II veterans. As chairman of the New England Governors' Conference, he called for a uniform nationwide unemployment insurance tax, either through "federalization of the program or some form of federal reinsurance".
In 1950, Pastore was elected to the United States Senate as a Democrat in a special election to succeed J. Howard McGrath, who had resigned in 1949 to become United States Attorney General (Edward L. Leahy held the office during a 16-month interim appointment). Pastore was reelected in 1952, 1958, 1964, and 1970.
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John Pastore
John Orlando Pastore (March 17, 1907 – July 15, 2000) was an American lawyer and politician. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as a United States Senator from Rhode Island from 1950 to 1976 and as the 61st governor of Rhode Island from 1945 to 1950. He was the first Italian American elected to the Senate.
John Pastore was born in the Federal Hill neighborhood of Providence, Rhode Island. The second of five children, he was the son of Michele and Erminia (née Asprinio) Pastore, who were Italian immigrants. His father, a tailor who had moved from Potenza to the United States in 1899, died when John was nine, and his mother went to work as a seamstress to support the family. She married her late husband's brother, Salvatore, who also ran a tailoring business. As a child, Pastore worked delivering coats and suits for his uncle/stepfather, as an errand boy in a law office, and as a foot-press operator in a jewelry factory.
Pastore graduated with honors from Classical High School in 1925, and spent a year working a $15-a-week job as a claims adjuster for the Narragansett Electric Company. In 1927, he enrolled in an evening law course given by Northeastern University at YMCA in Providence. He received a Bachelor of Laws degree (equivalent to a modern J.D. degree) in 1931, and was admitted to the bar the following year. He then established a law office in the basement of his family's home, but attracted few clients due to the Great Depression.
In 1934, Pastore was elected as a Democrat to the Rhode Island House of Representatives. He was re-elected in 1936, and became chairman of the House Corporations Committee. He served as an assistant attorney general from 1937 until 1938, when he lost that position after the Republican Party swept several statewide offices. He then served as a member of the Providence Charter Revision Commission from 1939 to 1940.
When the Democratic Party returned to power in 1940, Pastore was appointed assistant attorney general in charge of the criminal calendar, serving in that position until 1944. In July 1941, he married Elena Caito, to whom he remained married until his death; the couple had one son and two daughters.
Pastore was elected Lieutenant Governor of Rhode Island in 1944. On October 6, 1945, he succeeded to the office of Governor of Rhode Island when Governor J. Howard McGrath resigned to become U.S. Solicitor General under President Harry S. Truman. During his first year in office, he established a one-percent sales tax.
In 1946, Pastore was elected to a full term as governor after defeating his Republican opponent, John G. Murphy, by a margin of 54%-46%. With his victory, he became the first Italian American to be elected a governor in the United States; Charles Poletti, who served as Governor of New York in December 1942, also succeeded to office but never sought election in his own right. He was re-elected in 1948, defeating Warwick mayor Albert P. Ruerat by 61%-38%. During his tenure, he enacted the state's first primary election law and corporate income tax. He also created a program to combat water pollution and a $20 million bonus for World War II veterans. As chairman of the New England Governors' Conference, he called for a uniform nationwide unemployment insurance tax, either through "federalization of the program or some form of federal reinsurance".
In 1950, Pastore was elected to the United States Senate as a Democrat in a special election to succeed J. Howard McGrath, who had resigned in 1949 to become United States Attorney General (Edward L. Leahy held the office during a 16-month interim appointment). Pastore was reelected in 1952, 1958, 1964, and 1970.