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Rev. Joe N. Welsh: Fiorello LaGuardia, A Real Uniter, Not A Divider Another Angle, the occasional musings of a Kentucky pastor, originally published in the Hart County News-Herald, Munfordville, KY, 11 December 2005. Editor Robert Stone re-read this story about a uniter, one-time Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia, a Republican mayor of New York, who, "though short in stature, stood tall as a uniter." Mr. Stone thought thought it especially fit the times today By the Rev. Joey N. Welsh E-Mail: joey_n_welsh@hotmail.com We now live in an era when children are growing up to believe that voting and participation in politics mean primarily prejudging, judging, and labeling other people. Kids today mostly see that anyone who asks questions or disagrees with one side in a political dispute is viewed by the opposing side as an evil threat to a way of life. We are feeding our children today on weak gruel flavored with the bitter spiciness of superficial civics. I occasionally hear talk about uniting rather than dividing the American public, but I see precious little unification or cooperation going on amongst the spasms of name-calling these days. There is solace in remembering the life of a uniter In the current poisonous political atmosphere, I find solace in remembering the life of someone who did live his public life as a uniter rather than as a divider. It gives me hope to know that it was -- and perhaps is yet -- possible to find success as a uniter of people. Last Friday was the birth date of Fiorello LaGuardia, born in New York City on December 11, 1882. His father was a U. S. Army bandmaster of Italian heritage. His mother came from a Hungarian Jewish family that had settled in the port city of Trieste on the Adriatic Sea. Raised in the Episcopal church, LaGuardia's family moved with his father, and he spent his youth in AZ. When LaGuardia's father left the army in 1898, the family went to Trieste for a while, and as a young man Fiorello worked in U. S. diplomatic facilities in Budapest and Trieste. Returning to the U. S. in his mid-20s to complete his education at NYU, he worked his way through school as a translator on Ellis Island from 1907 until 1910. LaGuardia was fluent in seven languages By the time he completed his education for a career as an attorney, LaGuardia was fluent in seven languages, having helped to welcome many immigrants to a new life in America. Lots of people view the concept of cultural diversity as an innovation of the late 20th Century, but Fiorello LaGuardia was a walking emblem of that ideal well before World War I. As an attorney LaGuardia was an advocate for the poor -- especially immigrant families -- and a social reformer. Based on his reputation he was elected to Congress as a liberal Republican in 1916. When World War I was declared, he left his congressional seat and volunteered to serve in the armed forces in Europe; he was 35 years old. Volunteered for World War I LaGuardia did not believe that he should vote to send others to war unless he was willing to go as well. (I think he would be out of place in today's Congress, where many people talk loudly about supporting our troops, while not one has volunteered to go to Afghanistan or Iraq to serve in the troops.) He left the military with the rank of major, having commanded a force of U. S. airmen in biplanes on the Austro-Hungarian border. Fiorello returned home, resumed service in Congress, and loyally nursed his wife for a year and a half until she died of tuberculosis. He lost a race for mayor in New York City in 1929, but won election four years later on a reform platform when the incumbent administration of Jimmy Walker became mired in corruption. Ran on a fusion ticket that crossed lines of party affiliation He ran on a fusion ticket that crossed lines of party affiliation. He served as mayor from 1933 until 1945. In his position he had to forge uneasy alliances with members of the city's wealthy, blueblood powerbrokers who looked down on New York's ethnic immigrants with disdain. One of the elite of the city was Isaac Newton Phelps-Stokes, a prominent and influential architect and historian. Though initially despising the man, LaGuardia discovered that Phelps-Stokes had cared for his late wife for several years after strokes had robbed her of speech and movement. LaGuardia decided that the common bond they shared through their experiences with the illnesses of their wives was more crucial than any social differences, and the two of them became loyal friends. Though a Republican he endorsed FDR during presidential races Though a Republican, LaGuardia endorsed Democrat Franklin Roosevelt during presidential races, courted and won the support of labor unions in his own races, and refused to cross picket lines of striking workers to make public appearances while serving as mayor. He was a uniter, not a divider. Dying of pancreatic cancer in 1947 shortly after leaving office, LaGuardia leaves institutions as diverse as a community college, a high school for the performing arts, and an airport to bear his name. Fiorello was known in immigrant neighborhoods by the nickname "little flower." The translation of his Italian first name is "flower," and LaGuardia was only five feet tall. Though he was short in stature, LaGuardia stood tall as a uniter. I long for a few more leaders in our own day would stand as tall, and I wish a few more "little flowers" could spring up in this winter of bitter divisiveness.(Note of Interest: A good way to experience a bit of the atmosphere of LaGuardia and his times is to listen to a recording of the 1960 musical Fiorello!, by Bock and Harnick (the same team that later wrote Fiddler on the Roof). Based on LaGuardia and his life as a uniter and reformer, the musical won a Pulitzer Prize and also tied for the Tony Award for Best Musical with The Sound of Music, though far too few people know much about it these days. Both the man and the musical merit our renewed appreciation.) To read other articles by Rev. Joey N. Welsh, use the search box and type in "Rev. Joey N. Welsh." E-mail: joey_n_welsh@hotmail.com This story was posted on 2009-12-13 01:58:36
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