Francis John Myers (December 18, 1901 – July 5, 1956) was an American teacher, lawyer, and Democratic Party politician. He represented most of

West Philadelphia West Philadelphia, nicknamed West Philly, is a section of the city of Philadelphia. Although there are no officially defined boundaries, it is generally considered to reach from the western shore of the Schuylkill River, to City Avenue to the n ...

and Southwest Philadelphia in the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

from 1939 to 1945 and represented

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

in the

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

for one term from 1945 to 1951. He was Senate Majority Whip from 1949 to 1951.

Early life and education

Francis Myers was born in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, to John Francis and Mary (née Donnelly) Myers, who were the children of Irish immigrants. His father was a

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employee in Philadelphia for forty years, holding the position of chief auditor upon his retirement. He received his early education at George L. Brooks Elementary School in

, and graduated from St. Joseph's Preparatory School in 1919. He then attended St. Joseph's University, where he received a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

degree in 1923. During college, he was a member of the

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

, and

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teams.

Early career

From 1923 to 1927, Myers served as an instructor in Latin, English, and ancient history at St. Joseph's Preparatory School. In addition to his teaching duties, he studied law in the evenings at Temple University Law School. He was admitted to the bar in 1927, and then entered private practice. From 1929 to 1931, he worked as a secretary with the Philadelphia law firm of Monaghan and Phillips. The head of the firm, John Monaghan, was also the

district attorney In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, county prosecutor, state attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or solicitor is the chief prosecutor or chief law enforcement officer represen ...

of the city. Myers was an attorney for the Home Owners' Loan Corporation from 1934 to 1935. He became active in Democratic politics, and was a member of the successful campaign of George Earle for

Governor of Pennsylvania The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

. In 1937, he was appointed deputy

attorney general In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...

of Pennsylvania, serving in that position for only a year.

Political career

U.S. House of Representatives

In 1938, Myers was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania's 6th congressional district. He defeated incumbent Michael Stack, who largely opposed the

New Deal The New Deal was a series of wide-reaching economic, social, and political reforms enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the United States between 1933 and 1938, in response to the Great Depression in the United States, Great Depressi ...

, in the Democratic primary. He received just below 50% of the vote in the general election, defeating Republican J. Howard Berry and Congressman Stack, who ran on the Royal Oak ticket. He was re-elected over Republican city solicitor Frank Truscott in 1940, winning by a margin of 61%-38%. In 1942, he won a third term after defeating Republican businessman William Sylk by a ten percentage point margin.

U.S. Senate

In 1944, Myers was elected to the U.S. Senate after narrowly defeating Republican incumbent James Davis by 50%-49%. He was the first Catholic to serve as Senator from Pennsylvania. At the 1948 Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, Myers served as chairman of the platform committee; in that position, he helped draft a party platform that strongly supported

civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' political freedom, freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and ...

. He was Senate Majority Whip from 1949 to 1951, serving under Majority Leader Scott Lucas. He lost his bid for a second term in 1950, losing to Governor Jim Duff by 51%-48%. His defeat came after being linked to President

Harry S. Truman Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884December 26, 1972) was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. As the 34th vice president in 1945, he assumed the presidency upon the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt that year. Subsequen ...

's unpopular administration.

Later life and death

Following his Senate career, Myers resumed the practice of law. He also served as chairman of the Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority, and as a member of the General State Authority and the Greater Philadelphia Movement. Myers died of

leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia; pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and produce high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or '' ...

at Graduate Hospital in 1956, at age 55. He is buried in Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in Cheltenham Township, Pennsylvania.

References

External links

* , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Myers, Francis J. 1901 births 1956 deaths American people of Irish descent Burials at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Pennsylvania Democratic Party United States senators from Pennsylvania Pennsylvania lawyers Politicians from Philadelphia Saint Joseph's University alumni Temple University Beasley School of Law alumni 20th-century American lawyers 20th-century United States senators 20th-century members of the United States House of Representatives