Clement John Zablocki (November 18, 1912December 3, 1983) was an American politician who served nearly 35 years in the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

, representing

Wisconsin's 4th congressional district Wisconsin's 4th congressional district is a congressional district of the United States House of Representatives in Wisconsin, encompassing a part of Milwaukee County and including almost all of the city of Milwaukee (except the slivers of the c ...

. A liberal Democrat, he built his reputation in foreign policy by taking strong anticommunist positions and supporting the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

. He rose to become chairman of the

House Foreign Affairs Committee The United States House Committee on Foreign Affairs, also known as the House Foreign Affairs Committee, is a standing committee of the U.S. House of Representatives with jurisdiction over bills and investigations concerning the foreign affairs o ...

for the last six years of his career.

Career

Zablocki was born in

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee i ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

, and graduated from Milwaukee's

Marquette University Marquette University () is a private Jesuit research university in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Established by the Society of Jesus as Marquette College on August 28, 1881, it was founded by John Martin Henni, the first Bishop of the diocese of ...

. Zablocki was elected to the

Wisconsin State Senate The Wisconsin Senate is the upper house of the Wisconsin State Legislature. Together with the larger Wisconsin State Assembly they constitute the legislative branch of the state of Wisconsin. The powers of the Wisconsin Senate are modeled after t ...

in 1942, at age 30, representing the 3rd senatorial district. He served one full four-year term and was re-elected in 1946.

Tenure in Congress

In 1948, he challenged incumbent Republican congressman John C. Brophy, who had been narrowly elected in a three-way race in 1946. Zablocki faced no opposition in the Democratic primary, and defeated Brophy in the general election, carrying 55% of the vote. He was sworn in as the representative of

for the

81st United States Congress The 81st United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from January 3, 19 ...

and was subsequently reelected 17 times, serving from January 3, 1949, until his death from a heart attack on December 3, 1983. Zablocki was the chairman of the

from 1977 until his death in 1983. He served during the

presidencies A presidency is an administration or the executive, the collective administrative and governmental entity that exists around an office of president of a state or nation. Although often the executive branch of government, and often personified by a ...

Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he previously served as th ...

and

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...

, a period that included several significant international events, including the

Iran hostage crisis On November 4, 1979, 52 United States diplomats and citizens were held hostage after a group of militarized Iranian college students belonging to the Muslim Student Followers of the Imam's Line, who supported the Iranian Revolution, took over ...

. Zablocki introduced the

Taiwan Relations Act The Taiwan Relations Act (TRA; ; Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: ''Thôi-van Kwan-hè-fap''; ) is an act of the United States Congress. Since the formal recognition of the People's Republic of China, the Act has defined the officially substantial but non-diplo ...

on February 28, 1979. Clement J

Zablocki was a co-author of the

Case-Zablocki Act {{Short description, 1972 American law The Case-Zablocki Act of 1972 is an American law, still in effect, designed to ensure that Congress would be informed about the international commitments made by executive agreements. The law was named after D ...

of 1972 which required that executive agreements by the president be reported to Congress in 60 days. He in 1970-72 helped design an early version of the War Powers Act, which put presidential war-making power under congressional control. He was instrumental in House passage of the final version in late 1973 over President Nixon's veto. An advocate for the interests of Vietnam War prisoners of war and missing in action, Zablocki during May 1973 hearings observed that returning prisoners uniformly had expressed their belief that there were no U.S. servicemen still alive in Vietnam.

Personal life

Zablocki was buried at St. Adalbert's Cemetery in Milwaukee. Clement J. Zablocki Veterans Affairs Medical Center at 5000 West National Avenue in Milwaukee is named for him, as is the Zablocki Library and the Clement J. Zablocki Elementary School in Milwaukee.

Electoral history

Wisconsin Senate (1942, 1946)

, colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", Democratic Primary, September 1942 , colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", General Election, November 3, 1942 , colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", Democratic Primary, August 13, 1946 , colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", General Election, November 5, 1946

U.S. House of Representatives (1948–1982)

References

External links

Clement J. Zablocki Papers
at Marquette University.
Clement J. Zablocki, Photographs of Wisconsin’s “Mr. Democrat”
at Marquette University. * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Zablocki, Clement J. 1912 births 1983 deaths Democratic Party Wisconsin state senators Politicians from Milwaukee American politicians of Polish descent Marquette University alumni Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Wisconsin 20th-century American politicians