FACTOID # 29: Qataris have lots and lots of gas.
 
 Home   Encyclopedia   Statistics   Countries A-Z   Flags   Maps   Education   Forum   FAQ   About 
 
 
 
WHAT'S NEW
RECENT ARTICLES
More Recent Articles »
 

SEARCH ALL

FACTS & STATISTICS    Advanced view

Search encyclopedia, statistics and forums:

 

 

(* = Graphable)

 

 


Encyclopedia > Fiorello H. La Guardia

Fiorello Henry LaGuardia (December 11, 1882September 20, 1947) was the Mayor of New York from 1934 to 1945.


LaGuardia was born in The Bronx and grew up in New York City and was educated at the New York University. The family moved to Trieste after his father was discharged from his bandmaster position in the U.S. Army in 1898. La Guardia served in the U.S. consulate at Fiume (1904–1906). Fiorello returned to the U.S. to continue his education, and during this time he worked as a translator at Ellis Island (1907–1910).


He became the deputy attorney general of New York in 1914. In 1916 he was elected to the New York State House of Representatives, where he developed a reputation as a fiery and devoted reformer. In Congress, LaGuardia represented then-Italian East Harlem. Extending his record as a reformer, LaGuardia sponsored labor legislation and railed against immigration quotas. He was overwhelming defeated by incumbent James J. Walker in the 1929 mayoral election.


LaGuardia was elected mayor of New York City on an anti-corruption "fusion" ticket during the Great Depression. LaGuardia was the City's first Italian American mayor, but LaGuardia was far from being a typical Italian New Yorker. He was Republican, Episcopalian, had grown up in Arizona, and had a Jewish mother.


LaGuardia is famous for, among other things, reading the comics on the radio during a newspaper strike, and pushing to have a commercial airport (Floyd Bennett Field, and now LaGuardia Airport) within city limits. Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts and LaGuardia Community College are also named for him.

Preceded by
John P. O'Brien
Mayors of New York City Succeeded by
William O'Dwyer


 
 

COMMENTARY     


Share your thoughts, questions and commentary here
Your name
Your comments

Want to know more?
Search encyclopedia, statistics and forums:

 


Lesson Plans | Student Area | Student FAQ | Reviews | Press Releases |  Feeds | Contact
The Wikipedia article included on this page is licensed under the GFDL.
Images may be subject to relevant owners' copyright.
All other elements are (c) copyright NationMaster.com 2003-5. All Rights Reserved.
Usage implies agreement with terms, 1022, m