Charles Malcolm Wilson (February 26, 1914 – March 13, 2000) was the 50th governor of New York from December 18, 1973, to December 31, 1974. He was a member of the New York State Assembly from 1939 to 1958. He also served in the

Navy A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions. It in ...

during World War II. In

1958 Events January * January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being. * January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed. * January 4 ** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the third ...

, he was elected the lieutenant governor of New York on the gubernatorial ticket with Nelson Rockefeller, and when they won he served as lieutenant governor until succeeding to the governorship after Rockefeller resigned. Wilson lost the 1974 gubernatorial election to

Hugh Carey Hugh Leo Carey (April 11, 1919 – August 7, 2011) was an American politician and attorney. He was a seven-term U.S. representative from 1961 to 1974 and the 51st governor of New York from 1975 to 1982. He was a member of the Democratic Part ...

. In 1994, the original Tappan Zee Bridge was renamed in Wilson's honor. There is also a park in

Yonkers, New York Yonkers () is a city in Westchester County, New York, United States. Developed along the Hudson River, it is the third most populous city in the state of New York, after New York City and Buffalo. The population of Yonkers was 211,569 as en ...

named for him.

Early life

Wilson was born in New York City into a Roman Catholic family of

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

and Scottish extraction. He had three siblings. His father, Charles H. Wilson, was a patent attorney who unsuccessfully ran for a seat in the State Assembly in 1912. His mother, Agnes, was a Republican activist and local party leader. The family moved to

, when Wilson was eight, and Wilson continued to reside there after he began his career.

Education and professional career

After graduating from

Fordham Preparatory School Fordham Preparatory School (also known as Fordham Prep) is an American private, Jesuit, boys' college-preparatory school located on the Rose Hill campus of Fordham University in the Bronx, New York City. From its founding in 1841 until 1970, t ...

in 1929 at only 15 years of age, Wilson earned a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

from Fordham University in 1933 at age 19 and a law degree from

Fordham University School of Law Fordham University School of Law is the law school of Fordham University. The school is located in Manhattan in New York City, and is one of eight ABA-approved law schools in that city. In 2013, 91% of the law school's first-time test t ...

in 1936 at age 22. Wilson was admitted to the bar and joined the

White Plains, New York (Always Faithful) , image_seal = WhitePlainsSeal.png , seal_link = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Country , subdivision_name = , subdivision_type1 = U.S. state, State , su ...

firm that would eventually become known as Kent, Hazzard, Jaeger, Greer, Wilson, and Fay. Wilson practiced law at this firm for his entire career, and was made a partner in 1946.

Political career

At age 24, just two years after graduating from Fordham Law, Wilson was elected to the New York State Assembly where he represented the 5th district of

Westchester County Westchester County is located in the U.S. state of New York. It is the seventh most populous county in the State of New York and the most populous north of New York City. According to the 2020 United States Census, the county had a population ...

from 1939 to 1945, and after re-districting the 1st district from 1945 to 1959. He sat in the 162nd, 163rd, 164th, 165th, 166th, 167th, 168th, 169th,

170th Seventeen or 17 may refer to: *17 (number), the natural number following 16 and preceding 18 * one of the years 17 BC, AD 17, 1917, 2017 Literature Magazines * ''Seventeen'' (American magazine), an American magazine * ''Seventeen'' (Japanese m ...

and 171st New York State Legislatures. During his tenure as a legislator, Wilson sponsored a large number of bills that became law. Among his bills that came into law was the Wilson Pakula Act, which prevented candidates from running in a party primary if they were not members of that party. Wilson's political and legal careers were interrupted by the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. He joined the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

as an

ensign An ensign is the national flag flown on a vessel to indicate nationality. The ensign is the largest flag, generally flown at the stern (rear) of the ship while in port. The naval ensign (also known as war ensign), used on warships, may be diffe ...

in June 1943 and trained at the

Little Creek, Virginia Little is a synonym for small size and may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Little'' (album), 1990 debut album of Vic Chesnutt * ''Little'' (film), 2019 American comedy film *The Littles, a series of children's novels by American author John P ...

Armed Guard School. He served as a gun crew commander on

Liberty ship Liberty ships were a class of cargo ship built in the United States during World War II under the Emergency Shipbuilding Program. Though British in concept, the design was adopted by the United States for its simple, low-cost construction. Ma ...

s, including duty in the British Isles and the Mediterranean, and also took part in the Operation Overlord invasion of Normandy. He was promoted to

lieutenant (junior grade) Lieutenant junior grade is a junior commissioned officer rank used in a number of navies. United States Lieutenant (junior grade), commonly abbreviated as LTJG or, historically, Lt. (j.g.) (as well as variants of both abbreviations), ...

in December 1944 and transferred to the inactive reserve in October 1945. While he was at war, in 1944 Wilson won reelection to the Assembly ''

in absentia is Latin for absence. , a legal term, is Latin for "in the absence" or "while absent". may also refer to: * Award in absentia * Declared death in absentia, or simply, death in absentia, legally declared death without a body * Election in ab ...

''.

Rockefeller's right-hand man

, Wilson decided to support Rockefeller for Governor despite the fact that Rockefeller was new to state politics and had never run for office before. Wilson took pains to introduce Rockefeller to many politically powerful people in the state. They would frequently travel in Wilson's personal car in order to play down the candidate's wealth. Rockefeller was nominated for governor, and Wilson for lieutenant governor. The Rockefeller-Wilson ticket defeated the incumbent Democrats W. Averell Harriman and George DeLuca. Wilson served as lieutenant governor for nearly 15 years, the entirety of Rockefeller's governorship. The Rockefeller-Wilson ticket was reelected in

1962 Events January * January 1 – Western Samoa becomes independent from New Zealand. * January 3 – Pope John XXIII excommunicates Fidel Castro for preaching communism. * January 8 – Harmelen train disaster: 93 die in the wor ...

, 1966 and

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (''Extreme''). Between 10,000 and ...

. Throughout his tenure, he tended to agree with Rockefeller's liberal Republicanism, with the notable exception of abortion, the legalization of which Wilson opposed. Wilson defined himself as "an economic conservative and a human-rights liberal".

Governor of New York

In December 1973, Rockefeller resigned as governor to run the

Commission on Critical Choices for Americans The Commission on Critical Choices for Americans was a bipartisan working group proposed by President Richard Nixon and established at his behest in 1973 by New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller. Its purpose was to examine the impact of rapid chang ...

, and Wilson assumed the governorship. He completed the remaining year of Rockefeller's term and ran for election to a full term in 1974. The period was a difficult one for the nation, both in terms of economic and foreign policy and for the Republican Party, which was weakened by the

Watergate scandal The Watergate scandal was a major political scandal in the United States involving the administration of President Richard Nixon from 1972 to 1974 that led to Nixon's resignation. The scandal stemmed from the Nixon administration's contin ...

. Democrats swept to power across the nation in the 1974 general election, with Wilson losing the governor's mansion to

, who won with 58% of the vote. While governor, Wilson worked to improve passenger rail service in the state and under his leadership, New York City-Albany-Montréal and New York City-Buffalo-Detroit service were revived. Concerned that city governments, especially New York City, were financing their budgets with financial sleight-of-hand, Wilson warned New York State's mayors that there would be a reckoning unless they got their fiscal houses in order. His warning turned out to be prescient when New York City was found to be nearly bankrupt, and had to resort to federal assistance to regain a sound footing. But Wilson's concern over government finances turned into a campaign issue for Carey in the 1974 election, when an agency under Wilson's purview, the state's Urban Development Corporation, was discovered to be near bankruptcy. After taking office, Carey accused Wilson of hiding the severity of the crisis, and complained that the Wilson administration had not been helpful or engaged during the transition between governors.

Later life and death

After losing the election, Wilson returned to his legal practice and served as Chairman of the Board and CEO of the Manhattan Savings Bank from 1977 until 1986. Wilson's wife, Katherine, (née McCloskey) died in 1980. In 1991 Wilson's health deteriorated and he retired to New Rochelle, New York. Wilson died in New Rochelle on March 13, 2000. His memorial service was held at Holy Family Church in New Rochelle. He was buried at

Gate of Heaven Cemetery Gate of Heaven Cemetery, approximately 25 miles (40 km) north of New York City, was established in 1917 at 10 West Stevens Ave. in Hawthorne, Westchester County, New York, as a Roman Catholic burial site. Among its famous residents is ...

Hawthorne, New York Hawthorne is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) located in the town of Mount Pleasant in Westchester County, New York, United States. The population was 4,586 at the 2010 census. History The village was originally known as Hammond's Mill ...

Personal life

Wilson had two daughters, Katharine, an attorney, and Anne, and six grandsons. Wilson was a Catholic and attended the St. Denis Catholic Church in Yonkers, New York.

Notes

References

*Wolfgang Saxon, ''Former Gov. Malcolm Wilson, 86, Is Dead'',

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

, March 14, 2000, at C31, '' passim''

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Malcolm 1914 births 2000 deaths United States Navy personnel of World War II Burials at Gate of Heaven Cemetery (Hawthorne, New York) Fordham Preparatory School alumni Fordham University alumni Fordham University School of Law alumni Republican Party governors of New York (state) American people of Irish descent American people of Scottish descent Lieutenant Governors of New York (state) Republican Party members of the New York State Assembly United States Navy officers Military personnel from New York City Politicians from New Rochelle, New York Politicians from New York City 20th-century American politicians Lawyers from New Rochelle, New York Catholics from New York (state) 20th-century American lawyers