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Nathan Straus Jr.
Nathan Straus Jr. (May 27, 1889 – September 13, 1961) was an American journalist and politician who served as a member of the New York State Senate from 1921 to 1926, then later as director of the United States Housing Authority from 1937 to 1942.
He was the son of Lina (née Gutherz) and Nathan Straus (1848–1931), co-owner of Macy's department store. He attended Princeton University and Heidelberg University. He worked as a reporter for The New York Globe from 1909 to 1910 and was editor and publisher of Puck magazine from 1913 to 1917. During World War I he served as an ensign in the United States Navy.
After the war, Straus became Assistant Editor of the New York Globe, but left in 1920 because of the paper's support for Republican presidential candidate Warren G. Harding. Instead, he entered politics as a Democrat, and was a member of the New York State Senate from 1921 to 1926, sitting in the 144th, 145th, 146th, 147th, 148th, and 149th New York State Legislatures. He chaired the Committee on Agriculture from 1923 to 1924. During his three terms, he introduced legislation for mandatory automobile insurance, female-inclusive juries, and ratification of the Child Labor Amendment. His staunch political progressivism led Time magazine to label him an "almost Socialistic" Democrat.
Although he had ambitions of becoming Senate majority leader, the widespread public antisemitism of the 1920s and the selection of fellow Jew Maurice Bloch as Democratic leader in the State Assembly made Straus feel as though a Jew leading both bodies would not be possible. Seeing his Senate career as a dead-end, he chose not to run for re-election in 1926, although he remained politically active.
In the leadup to the 1933 New York City mayoral election, Straus was approached by the City Fusion Party to run for mayor against incumbent Tammany Democrat John P. O'Brien. Despite the fact that his ambition "had always been to be Mayor of New York," Straus was once again fearful of inciting antisemitism, this time because another Jew, Herbert H. Lehman, was already governor of New York. In what he described as "one of the most difficult decisions of my life," Straus declined the mayoral nomination, which ultimately went to Republican Fiorello La Guardia.
Opposed to O'Brien but unwilling to join the Republicans, Straus chose to back former mayor Joseph V. McKee, a former Democrat running as the Recovery Party candidate. In turn, Straus was named the Recovery candidate for president of the Board of Aldermen. During the election campaign, McKee was dogged by allegations of antisemitism stemming from a 1915 essay titled "A Serious Question," which questioned the moral and political reliability of young Jewish people in New York City. Although McKee insisted his words had been taken out of context (and several prominent Jewish supporters, including Straus, came to his defense), the damage from the controversy had been done and the entire Recovery ticket was defeated.
After his loss in the aldermanic presidential election, Straus was New York State Administrator of the National Recovery Administration in 1934; a member of the New York City Housing Authority in 1936; and Administrator of the United States Housing Authority from 1937 to 1942. He published two books on housing issues: Seven Myths of Housing (1944), and Two-Thirds of a Nation – A Housing Program (1952).
Outside of politics, Straus was a founding trustee of the Palestine Endowment Fund, Inc. in 1922 along with Julian Mack and Stephen Samuel Wise. He was also chairman of the WMCA radio station from 1943 until his death.
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Nathan Straus Jr.
Nathan Straus Jr. (May 27, 1889 – September 13, 1961) was an American journalist and politician who served as a member of the New York State Senate from 1921 to 1926, then later as director of the United States Housing Authority from 1937 to 1942.
He was the son of Lina (née Gutherz) and Nathan Straus (1848–1931), co-owner of Macy's department store. He attended Princeton University and Heidelberg University. He worked as a reporter for The New York Globe from 1909 to 1910 and was editor and publisher of Puck magazine from 1913 to 1917. During World War I he served as an ensign in the United States Navy.
After the war, Straus became Assistant Editor of the New York Globe, but left in 1920 because of the paper's support for Republican presidential candidate Warren G. Harding. Instead, he entered politics as a Democrat, and was a member of the New York State Senate from 1921 to 1926, sitting in the 144th, 145th, 146th, 147th, 148th, and 149th New York State Legislatures. He chaired the Committee on Agriculture from 1923 to 1924. During his three terms, he introduced legislation for mandatory automobile insurance, female-inclusive juries, and ratification of the Child Labor Amendment. His staunch political progressivism led Time magazine to label him an "almost Socialistic" Democrat.
Although he had ambitions of becoming Senate majority leader, the widespread public antisemitism of the 1920s and the selection of fellow Jew Maurice Bloch as Democratic leader in the State Assembly made Straus feel as though a Jew leading both bodies would not be possible. Seeing his Senate career as a dead-end, he chose not to run for re-election in 1926, although he remained politically active.
In the leadup to the 1933 New York City mayoral election, Straus was approached by the City Fusion Party to run for mayor against incumbent Tammany Democrat John P. O'Brien. Despite the fact that his ambition "had always been to be Mayor of New York," Straus was once again fearful of inciting antisemitism, this time because another Jew, Herbert H. Lehman, was already governor of New York. In what he described as "one of the most difficult decisions of my life," Straus declined the mayoral nomination, which ultimately went to Republican Fiorello La Guardia.
Opposed to O'Brien but unwilling to join the Republicans, Straus chose to back former mayor Joseph V. McKee, a former Democrat running as the Recovery Party candidate. In turn, Straus was named the Recovery candidate for president of the Board of Aldermen. During the election campaign, McKee was dogged by allegations of antisemitism stemming from a 1915 essay titled "A Serious Question," which questioned the moral and political reliability of young Jewish people in New York City. Although McKee insisted his words had been taken out of context (and several prominent Jewish supporters, including Straus, came to his defense), the damage from the controversy had been done and the entire Recovery ticket was defeated.
After his loss in the aldermanic presidential election, Straus was New York State Administrator of the National Recovery Administration in 1934; a member of the New York City Housing Authority in 1936; and Administrator of the United States Housing Authority from 1937 to 1942. He published two books on housing issues: Seven Myths of Housing (1944), and Two-Thirds of a Nation – A Housing Program (1952).
Outside of politics, Straus was a founding trustee of the Palestine Endowment Fund, Inc. in 1922 along with Julian Mack and Stephen Samuel Wise. He was also chairman of the WMCA radio station from 1943 until his death.