Walter J. Mahoney (March 10, 1908 in

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from South ...

– March 1, 1982) was an American

lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solic ...

and

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

Life

He graduated from

Canisius College Canisius College is a private Jesuit college in Buffalo, New York. It was founded in 1870 by Jesuits from Germany and is named after St. Peter Canisius. Canisius offers more than 100 undergraduate majors and minors, and around 34 master's ...

in 1930, and from the University at Buffalo Law School. He was admitted to the bar in 1934, and practiced law in Buffalo. While studying law, he was a reporter for the '' Buffalo Times''. He attended on October 2, 1932, in a vacant storefront in the old Gerron's Building in Buffalo, the first meeting of the Association of New York State Young Republican Clubs. The association was incorporated in 1934 and in 1935 Mahoney was elected president, a post he resigned after he was elected to the

New York State Senate The New York State Senate is the upper house of the New York State Legislature; the New York State Assembly is its lower house. Its members are elected to two-year terms; there are no term limits. There are 63 seats in the Senate. Partisan com ...

. He was a member of the

from 1937 to 1964, sitting in the 160th, 161st, 162nd, 163rd, 164th, 165th, 166th, 167th, 168th, 169th, 170th, 171st, 172nd, 173rd and

174th New York State Legislature The 174th New York State Legislature, consisting of the New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly, met from January 9, 1963, to December 30, 1964, during the fifth and sixth years of Nelson Rockefeller's governorship, in Albany. Ba ...

s; and was Temporary President of the State Senate from 1954 to 1964. He was also Acting

Lieutenant Governor of New York The lieutenant governor of New York is a constitutional office in the executive branch of the Government of the State of New York. It is the second highest-ranking official in state government. The lieutenant governor is elected on a ticket wit ...

in 1954. He was a delegate to the

1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian Missionary, missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, Ed McCully, Jim ...

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Ja ...

and

1964 Republican National Convention The 1964 Republican National Convention took place in the Cow Palace, Daly City, California, from July 13 to July 16, 1964. Before 1964, there had been only one national Republican convention on the West Coast, the 1956 Republican National Conven ...

s. In 1965 he was appointed by Gov.

Nelson D. Rockefeller Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller (July 8, 1908 – January 26, 1979), sometimes referred to by his nickname Rocky, was an American businessman and politician who served as the 41st vice president of the United States from 1974 to 1977. A member of t ...

to the

New York State Thruway Authority The New York State Thruway Authority (NYSTA) is a public benefit corporation in New York State, United States. The NYSTA was formed in 1950 with the responsibility of constructing, maintaining, and operating the New York State Thruway, a syste ...

. In 1967, he was elected as a justice of the

New York Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the State of New York is the trial-level court of general jurisdiction in the New York State Unified Court System. (Its Appellate Division is also the highest intermediate appellate court.) It is vested with unlimited civ ...

(8th D.), and in 1974 he was designated to the Appellate Division (4th Dept.). He retired in 1977, and resumed his private practice in Buffalo. The Walter J. Mahoney State Office Building at 65 Court Street, in his hometown Buffalo, was named after him.

Sources

Walter J. Mahoney (1908-1982)
at the Historical Society of the New York Courts {{DEFAULTSORT:Mahoney, Walter J Lieutenant Governors of New York (state) 1908 births 1982 deaths New York Supreme Court Justices Republican Party New York (state) state senators Majority leaders of the New York State Senate Politicians from Buffalo, New York Canisius College alumni University at Buffalo Law School alumni 20th-century American judges Lawyers from Buffalo, New York 20th-century American politicians 20th-century American lawyers