Clement Zablocki

Clement John Zablocki (November 18, 1912December 3, 1983) was a Polish American politician from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He was one of Wisconsin's longest-serving members of the U.S. House of Representatives, representing Wisconsin's 4th congressional district for 18 terms, from 1949 until his death in 1983.

A liberal Democrat, he built his reputation in foreign policy by taking strong anti-communist positions and supporting the Vietnam War. He was a sponsor of the original Gulf of Tonkin Resolution which launched the American intervention, but near the end of the war he was a driving force for the War Powers Resolution, which sought to put restraints on the war-making powers of future presidents. He rose to become chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee for the last seven years of his career.

Early life and education

Clement Zablocki was born, raised, and lived most of his life in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The son of Polish immigrants, he grew up speaking both Polish and English in Milwaukee's flourishing Polish American community. He attended St. Vincent's Catholic Parochial School and then graduated from Marquette University High School. He took lessons as an organist from age 10, and earned money for college by performing at church services and directing the church choir. He also worked as a department store clerk. He went on to attend Milwaukee's Marquette University, where he earned his Ph.B. in 1936. After graduating, he continued his work as a musician, and supplemented his income by teaching English and citizenship test preparation courses for Polish immigrants.

Early political career

According to Milwaukee legend, Zablocki often emphasized with his Polish immigrant students the importance of participating in American politics. At one point, a student in his class, Mrs. Geniusz, responded to him saying that if he knew so much about politics, he should run for office. Zablocki responded by immediately declaring his candidacy for Wisconsin Senate. Whether or not that story is true, Zablocki had a strong base to begin a life in politics. His aunt, Leone Wozinski, was a leading figure in Milwaukee's Polish American community and was highly active with civic organizations which crossed over into other communities in the city. She introduced Zablocki to those organizations, and he quickly became "the life of the party".

Zablocki's run for Wisconsin Senate in 1938 was his first campaign for public office. He was only 26 and was launching a primary challenge against incumbent Arthur L. Zimny of Wisconsin's 3rd Senate district. Zimny had run afoul of local Democrats and the Polish community by accepting a number of personal benefits from the Wisconsin Progressive Party in exchange for his support in organizing the legislature. As it does today, the 3rd Senate district spanned a swath of the south side of the city of Milwaukee, from Walker's Point to the Jackson Park neighborhood, comprising many of the Polish American neighborhoods of the city. In addition to Zablocki, however, six other Democrats also sought to challenge Zimny in 1938, significantly diluting the vote. Zimni won renomination, but Zablocki posted a surprisingly strong second-place finish in the primary, falling only 411 votes short.

Zimny did not run again in 1942, and Zablocki was immediately seen as a frontrunner to replace him. Nevertheless, he did still face a competitive Democratic primary against Richard F. Maruszewski. Zablocki prevailed with 53.6% of the vote.

In the state Senate, Zablocki championed common Democratic issues of the time, supporting Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal policies, labor unions, and veterans benefits, but was deep in the minority and held little influence in the crafting of legislation. He defeated a primary challenge from former state representative Martin Franzkowiak in 1946, and won a landslide in the general election. In the Spring 1948 election, Zablocki sought election as Milwaukee city comptroller, but lost.

Congress

In 1946, Milwaukee's then-incumbent congressman Thaddeus Wasielewski lost the Democratic primary when seeking re-election, and then ran as an independent in the general election, splitting the Democratic vote and allowing Republican John C. Brophy to eke out a victory with 36% of the vote. When Wasielewski indicated he would not run again in 1948, Zablocki jumped into the race and quickly cleared the primary field. In the general election, however, Zablocki faced the danger of a split Democratic vote again, as the 1946 Democratic nominee Edmund V. Bobrowicz entered the race on the Progressive Party ticket. Zablocki and other prominent Milwaukee Democrats sought to head off this problem by denouncing Bobrowicz over past communist affiliations. The incumbent, Brophy, had only served on the Milwaukee City Council before his election to Congress and was regarded by the Wisconsin press as a weak campaigner relative to the gregarious Zablocki. At the general election, Zablocki won by a wide margin, taking nearly 56% of the vote.

He represented Wisconsin's 4th congressional district, which at that time comprised all of the southern half of Milwaukee County, including the south side of the city of Milwaukee, and also included the city and town of Wauwatosa. He was sworn in at the start of the 81st Congress and was reelected 17 times, serving from January 3, 1949, until his death on December 3, 1983. Zablocki faced several primary challenges during his career and nearly always faced a Republican opponent in the general election, but he never received less than 60% in another election after the 1948 general.

Early years in Congress

Zablocki was assigned to the House Foreign Affairs Committee from his first term in Congress. He immediately struck a strong anti-communist line, insisting that the United States should not recognize the newly established People's Republic of China, and asserting that the people of China—and those of Eastern Europe—would eventually overthrow Communism. Controversially, he also then said that the U.S. should sooner recognize the Franco regime than Communist China. During his first term, he also hailed the establishment of the state of Israel on the first anniversary of its founding, praising it as a haven for refugees and displaced persons after the devastation of . Zablocki's continued support for rapprochement with Francoist Spain also led him into a public dispute with then-U.S. President Harry S. Truman in 1952. Zablocki also supported the Republican plan to invite General Douglas MacArthur to testify before Congress after his dismissal by President Truman.

Politically, Zablocki also clashed in these early years with the state Democratic Party leadership, particularly over patronage opportunities.

U.S. Senate special election (1957)

Zablocki made only one attempt to run for higher office after being elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. That attempt occurred in the 1957 special election for U.S. Senate following the death of senator Joseph McCarthy. In the Democratic primary election, Zablocki was opposed by former state representative William Proxmire, who had been the Democratic nominee for Governor of Wisconsin in the previous three general elections. Proxmire was an enthusiastic campaigner, and was—by then—well known throughout the state. At the primary, Zablocki put up a large majority in Milwaukee County, but Proxmire won nearly every other county and took the nomination easily. After losing the primary, however, Zablocki campaigned in Catholic communities around the state for Proxmire, sometimes accompanied by Massachusetts U.S. Senator John F. Kennedy. Their combined efforts led to Proxmire winning a surprise upset in the election, and was then emulated by future Democratic statewide campaigns.

Eisenhower and Kennedy administrations

During the presidency of Dwight D. Eisenhower, Zablocki was appointed as one of the United States delegates to the thirteenth session of the United Nations General Assembly.

Zablocki was an early supporter of Senator John F. Kennedy's presidential ambitions, endorsing his presidential campaign in early 1959 and volunteering to run as a Kennedy delegate in the 1960 primary. Later that year, Kennedy attended a series of events in Wisconsin culminating in a Pulaski Day dinner which included a celebration of Zablocki's decade of service in Congress. Zablocki later took credit for introducing Kennedy to the Polish-American community, which became part of Kennedy's base in the 1960 election. Zablocki was ultimately elected as a delegate to the 1960 Democratic National Convention. Kennedy would, in 1962, refer to Zablocki as his campaign manager in Wisconsin.

Zablocki shepherded many of Kennedy's foreign policy initiatives through Congress, including the Peace Corps, the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency, and his foreign aid program.

Civil rights

Zablocki voted in favor of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, but saw significant backlash from his Polish American constituency. After segregationist candidate George Wallace was warmly received by his constituents in 1964, Zablocki began to waver on civil rights issues, opposing a fair housing law and taking other symbolic steps—distancing himself from activist Catholic priest James Groppi and maintaining his membership in the Fraternal Order of Eagles, which then excluded African Americans.

Vietnam War

Zablocki was assigned to the House Foreign Affairs subcommittee on the Far East and Pacific, and began taking a particular interest in checking Communist expansion in southeast Asia in the early 1950s. In response to increased activity by the Pathet Lao, he suggested that a United Nations mission might be needed for Laos, not unlike the U.S.-led UN mission that had just fought the Korean War.

Zablocki traveled to South Vietnam to assess the government of president Ngo Dinh Diem just weeks before his assassination in 1963. Zablocki expressed that he believed criticism of Diem was overblown, and accusations of corruption were unfounded. Further, he expressed that there was no viable replacement for Diem, and that the Diem regime would remain stable so long as the United States support remained steadfast.

After the assassinations of Diem and Kennedy, Zablocki opposed increased American troop presence in Vietnam. He remained reticent about utilizing American troops after the Gulf of Tonkin incident, but co-sponsored the enabling Gulf of Tonkin Resolution in August 1964. In the year after Tonkin, Zablocki warmed to the idea of direct American involvement in the war, and suggested that he would be comfortable with maintaining an American presence in South Vietnam for more than 15 years.

Although Zablocki's position on Vietnam became more politically unpopular within his party as the war dragged on, he easily survived several primary challenges. He served as chair of President Lyndon B. Johnson's doomed re-election effort in Wisconsin in 1968.

Following the election of Richard Nixon as president, Zablocki continued to support the administration's Vietnam policy. Behind the scenes, however, Zablocki was souring on the war. In 1970, he began work on an early version of the War Powers Resolution. By 1971, Zablocki publicly supported a resolution from the House Foreign Affairs Committee calling for Nixon to set a date for a final American withdrawal from Vietnam as part of a broader effort to return American prisoners of war. And in 1972, Zablocki was a co-author of the Case-Zablocki Act, which required that executive agreements by the president be reported to Congress in 60 days. He ultimately helped push through the final version of the War Powers Resolution in 1973, over Nixon's veto.

Zablocki remained an advocate for the interests of Vietnam War prisoners of war and missing in action. During May 1973 hearings, Zablocki observed that returning prisoners uniformly had expressed their belief that there were no U.S. servicemen still alive in Vietnam.

Chair of House Foreign Affairs

With the retirement of House Foreign Affairs Committee chairman Thomas E. Morgan in 1977, Zablocki—with 28 years of seniority in the House—was a strong candidate to succeed him in the 95th Congress. But Zablocki faced intense opposition, led by veteran New York congressman Benjamin Rosenthal. Rosenthal circulated a memo criticizing Zablocki's temperament, reputation, and policy positions, accusing him of being more like a conservative Republican on foreign policy issues. Among Rosenthal's policy charges, he faulted Zablocki for frequently siding with nationalist parties, such as the South Korean military dictatorship and the Kuomintang of Taiwan. He accused Zablocki of blocking human rights proposals and attempts to cut off or limit support to regimes that were committing human rights violations. He said Zablocki's stance on the middle east isolated him from all sides—where Zablocki had suggested withdrawing support from both Israel and Egypt. And he assailed Zablocki's continued vocal support for the war in Vietnam long after most of the party had turned against the conflict.

Zablocki reacted angrily and compared the memo to McCarthyism. He charged that Rosenthal's criticism was mostly motivated by his opinion that Zablocki was not sufficiently supportive of Israel. He further responded to some of Rosenthal's specific points, saying that cutting off aid to allies would not improve human rights, and that withdrawing from Vietnam harmed the United States reputation in Asia. But Zablocki did acknowledge that his support of South Vietnam and other nationalist governments in Asia may have "gone overboard" at times.

Ultimately, 72 Democrats voted against Zablocki becoming chair of the committee, but 182 voted in favor, giving him more than enough support to secure the seat. After taking the chair, Zablocki indicated strong support for the policies of the incoming Jimmy Carter administration, including reopening negotiations over the status of the Panama Canal Zone and holding the Soviet Union to their commitments on the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks and the Helsinki Accords. Zablocki also sought to mend fences with Rosenthal, saying the first bill he would issue from his committee would be an amendment to the Export Control Act which would prohibit U.S. traders from joining boycotts against Israel.

At the start of the 96th Congress, President Carter formally recognized the government of the People's Republic of China. Zablocki then introduced the Taiwan Relations Act, which clarified and formalized the position of the United States toward Taiwan in the wake of that recognition. The Taiwan Relations Act remains the foundation of U.S.–Taiwan relations, and restricts an American president from making unilateral changes to that policy.

In the presidency of Ronald Reagan, Zablocki sought common ground and consensus with the Republican administration. Reagan strongly disputed the constitutionality of the War Powers Resolution, which Zablocki had championed. Zablocki—intent on preserving congressional oversight of war powers—negotiated a compromise with Reagan in which his deployment of armed forces to Lebanon would be authorized by Congress, and in exchange Reagan would sign legislation tacitly acknowledging the limits imposed by the war powers resolution.

Later years and death

Zablocki was wrapping up his seventh year as chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and was at the height of his power and influence when he suffered a heart attack in his office on November 30, 1983, just before a planned meeting with Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Shamir. Zablocki was hospitalized in critical condition for three days, but did not recover. He died December 3, 1983, at Capitol Hill Hospital (now ).

Zablocki's funeral mass was held at Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church in Milwaukee, and was attended by roughly 1,000 people. Distinguished guests included House speaker Tip O'Neill, several dozen members of Congress, diplomats, and congressional staffers, as well as Wisconsin's governor, Tony Earl, both of Wisconsin's U.S. senators, and Milwaukee mayor Henry Maier. In his eulogy, Reverend Lesniewski described Zablocki as one who was equally at home with "those who ate caviar and those who ate kielbasa". Zablocki was buried at Saint Adalbert Catholic Cemetery in Milwaukee.

Personal life and family

Clement Zablocki was the fifth of nine children born to Mathias Zablocki and his wife Mary (''née'' Jankowski). Both of Zablocki's parents were immigrants from the Poznań region, part of Poland that was controlled by the German Empire during their lifetime. The Zablockis were Catholics and were members of the Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church in Milwaukee.

Clement Zablocki married his childhood sweetheart, Blanche Janic, in 1937. They had no biological children, but adopted a son and daughter. Zablocki's mother and wife died within days of each other in July 1977.

Legacy

The Clement J. Zablocki Veterans Affairs Medical Center at in Milwaukee is named for him, as is the Zablocki Library and the Clement J. Zablocki Elementary School in Milwaukee.

Electoral history

Wisconsin Senate (1938, 1942, 1946)

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

Further reading

* Barone, Michael et al. ''The Almanac of American Politics: 1976'' (1975) pp 930–32
* Leahy, Stephen M. ''The Life of Milwaukee's Most Popular Politician, Clement J. Zablocki: Milwaukee Politics and Congressional Foreign Policy.'' Lewiston, NY: The Edward Mellen Press, 2002.

See also

* List of United States Congress members who died in office (1950–99)

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
1912 births
1983 deaths
Politicians from Milwaukee
Marquette University alumni
American politicians of Polish descent
Democratic Party Wisconsin state senators
Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Wisconsin
Catholic politicians from Wisconsin
20th-century members of the Wisconsin Legislature
20th-century members of the United States House of Representatives