Stewart Brett McKinney (January 30, 1931 – May 7, 1987) was an American politician who represented

Connecticut's 4th congressional district Connecticut's 4th congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of Connecticut. Located in the southwestern part of the state, the district is largely suburban and extends from Bridgeport, the largest city in the state, to ...

in the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

from 1971 until his death in 1987. He is perhaps best known for coining the phrase “

too big to fail "Too big to fail" (TBTF) and "too big to jail" is a theory in banking and finance that asserts that certain corporations, particularly financial institutions, are so large and so interconnected that their failure would be disastrous to the great ...

” in regard to large American financial institutions, and his struggle with, and eventual death from,

AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual ma ...

Early life

McKinney was born in

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

and raised in

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the ...

. He attended

Kent School Kent School is a private, co-educational, college preparatory boarding school in Kent, Connecticut, United States. Frederick Herbert Sill established the school in 1906. It is affiliated with the Episcopal Church of the United States. Acade ...

and later

Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...

from 1949 to 1951, but dropped out and enlisted in the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Si ...

. He attained the rank of

sergeant Sergeant ( abbreviated to Sgt. and capitalized when used as a named person's title) is a rank in many uniformed organizations, principally military and policing forces. The alternative spelling, ''serjeant'', is used in The Rifles and other ...

, and completed his enlistment in 1955. McKinney then returned to college, and received a

B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

from

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the w ...

in 1958. He raced cars and was involved in several car-related businesses, including Auto Interior Decorators, Inc. and Fairfield Firestone, and was president of a chain of tire stores called CMF Tires. He also owned Lantern Point Real Estate Development and other ventures.

Political career

In 1966, McKinney was elected as a

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

to the

Connecticut State House of Representatives The Connecticut State House of Representatives is the lower house in the Connecticut General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The house is composed of 151 members representing an equal number of districts, with ...

, where he served two terms between 1967 and 1971. During his second term, he served as minority leader. In 1970, McKinney ran for the U.S. House and won. He served in the House, as a moderate Republican, until his death in Washington, D.C. He is widely known for the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act of 1986, which provides federal money for shelter programs. McKinney served on the Banking, Finance and Urban Affairs Committee, and is credited with coining the phrase "

", in connection with large banks. In Congress, he served on the House Select Committee on Assassinations. During this time, he also served as a director of

Bridgeport Hospital Bridgeport Hospital is a not-for-profit general medical and surgical hospital in Bridgeport, Connecticut. It is a member of Yale New Haven Health System and affiliated with Yale School of Medicine. During 2018, Bridgeport Hospital received profes ...

Death and legacy

His death in 1987 was brought about by complications of

. His physician speculated that McKinney became infected with HIV in 1979 as the result of blood transfusions during heart surgery. McKinney was known by friends to be bisexual, though his family said this was not the case, which raised the issue of how he had contracted the disease. Anti-gay prejudice at the time of McKinney's death in 1987 may have promoted a disingenuous approach to speculations on the cause of McKinney's HIV infection. Arnold Denson, the man with whom McKinney had been living in Washington, and to whom McKinney left property in his will, said that he had been McKinney's lover, and that he believed McKinney was already infected when Denson met him. In 1987,

Barney Frank Barnett Frank (born March 31, 1940) is a former American politician. He served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Massachusetts from 1981 to 2013. A Democrat, Frank served as chairman of the House Financial Services Committ ...

became the first U.S. congressman to come out as gay of his own volition, and was inspired to do so in part by the death of McKinney; Frank told ''The Washington Post'' that after McKinney's death there was, "An unfortunate debate about 'Was he or wasn't he? Didn't he or did he?' I said to myself, I don't want that to happen to me." After McKinney's death, Congress renamed the Salt Meadow National Wildlife Refuge in Connecticut the

Stewart B. McKinney National Wildlife Refuge The Stewart B. McKinney National Wildlife Refuge is a National Wildlife Refuge in ten units across the U.S. state of Connecticut. Located in the Atlantic Flyway, the refuge spans of Connecticut coastline and provides important resting, feedin ...

. Additionally, in 1988, Connecticut's legislature honored McKinney's legacy by naming the

Stamford Transportation Center Stamford station, officially known as the Stewart B. McKinney Transportation Center or the Stamford Transportation Center, is a major railroad station in the city of Stamford, Connecticut, serving passengers traveling on Metro-North Railroad's ...

after him.

Family

McKinney married Lucie Cunningham, the daughter of Briggs Cunningham II and Lucie Bedford, the granddaughter of a co-founder of

Standard Oil Standard Oil Company, Inc., was an American oil production, transportation, refining, and marketing company that operated from 1870 to 1911. At its height, Standard Oil was the largest petroleum company in the world, and its success made its co- ...

. They had five children—Stewart Jr. (b. June 7, 1957), Lucie (b. June 8, 1958), Jean, Elizabeth (b. October 15, 1960), and John (b. March 6, 1964). John McKinney was minority leader of the

Connecticut State Senate The Connecticut State Senate is the upper house of the Connecticut General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The state senate comprises 36 members, each representing a district with around 99,280 inhabitants. Sen ...

until the end of 2014, and was an unsuccessful candidate for the Republican nomination for

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

in the

2014 elections The following elections occurred in the year 2014. * 2014 United Nations Security Council election 16 October 2014 Africa * 2014 Algerian presidential election 17 April 2014 * 2014 Botswana general election 24 October 2014 * 2014 Comorian presi ...

References

External links