Hugh Joseph Addonizio

Hugh Joseph Addonizio
33rd Mayor of Newark
In office July 1, 1962 – July 1, 1970
Preceded by	Leo P. Carlin
Succeeded by	Kenneth A. Gibson
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New Jersey's 11th district
In office January 3, 1949 – June 30, 1962
Preceded by	Frank Sundstrom
Succeeded by	Joseph Minish
Personal details
Born	(1914-01-31)January 31, 1914 Newark, New Jersey
Died	Red Bank, New Jersey
Political party	Democratic Party
Alma mater	Fordham University
Awards	Silver Star
Military service
Allegiance	United States
Service/branch	United States Army
Rank	Captain
Battles/wars	World War II

Hugh Joseph Addonizio (January 31, 1914, in Newark, New Jersey – February 2, 1981, in Red Bank, New Jersey) was an Italian-American Democratic Party politician, who was the 33rd Mayor of Newark, New Jersey, from 1962 to 1970, and a U.S. Congressman for 13 years prior to that.

Biography

He graduated from Fordham University in New York City in 1939 and went to work for A&C Clothing Company in Newark where he became vice president in 1946.

During World War II he had served in the United States Army earning the Silver Star. He served in North Africa, Italy and France. Among the first Americans drafted in 1940 a year before Pearl Harbor, he rose from the rank of private and was discharged with the rank of captain and named to the Officer Candidate School Hall of Fame at Fort Benning.

In 1948, Addonizio ran for and won a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives as a Democrat, representing New Jersey's 11th congressional district. He resigned his seat on June 30, 1962, to run for mayor of Newark. He ran on a reform platform, defeating what he characterized as the corrupt political machine of Leo P. Carlin, who had been mayor since 1953.

Addonizio served as mayor from 1962 until 1970 when he lost his reelection bid. A state investigation into his administration on the heels of the 1967 riots, which occurred during his tenure, led to the discovery that Addonizio and other city officials were taking kickbacks from city contractors. Addonizio was prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of New Jersey and convicted of corruption after leaving office.

Much of the corruption became public when he was convicted, along with five others working in or through his administration, of "literally delivering the city into the hands of organized crime," according to former U.S. District Judge Herbert J. Stern.

Addonizio was interred in Gate of Heaven Cemetery in East Hanover.

See also

• List of mayors of Newark, New Jersey

External links

• Hugh Joseph Addonizio at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress Retrieved on 2008-02-18.

United States House of Representatives
Preceded by Frank Sundstrom	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New Jersey's 11th congressional district 1949–1962	Succeeded by Joseph Minish
Political offices
Preceded by Leo P. Carlin	Mayor of Newark 1962–1970	Succeeded by Kenneth A. Gibson