Frederick William Richmond (November 15, 1923 – December 28, 2019) was an American politician who served as a Democratic four-term member of 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

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

from 1975 to 1982.

Early life

Richmond was born in

Boston, Massachusetts Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

, to Frances (née Rosen) and George Richmond; his father was a lawyer and his mother a homemaker. He was

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

. He graduated from Roxbury Memorial High School in 1940 and enrolled at

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. BU was founded in 1839 by a group of Boston Methodism, Methodists with its original campus in Newbury (town), Vermont, Newbur ...

for a year before transferring to

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

, where he majored in

history History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...

and served as advertising manager of ''

The Harvard Lampoon ''The Harvard Lampoon'' is an undergraduate Humor magazine, humor publication founded in 1876 by seven undergraduates at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Overview The ''Harvard Lampoon'' publication was founded in 1876 by seve ...

''. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, he served in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

from 1943 to 1945 as a

petty officer third class A Petty officer third class is a non-commissioned officer in some navies and coast guards. By country United States Petty officer third class is the fourth enlisted rank in the United States Navy, U.S. Navy and the United States Coast Guard, ...

(with the rating of

radioman Radioman (RM) was a rating for United States Navy and United States Coast Guard enlisted personnel, specializing in communications technology. History of the rating The rating was created originally in 1921. In 1997, under the direction of Ch ...

) before returning to Boston University, where he received his undergraduate degree in 1946. In college, he supported himself by playing the

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

and forming the Freddie Richmond Swing Band.

Politics

He served as deputy finance chairman of the

Democratic National Committee The Democratic National Committee (DNC) is the principal executive leadership board of the United States's Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party. According to the party charter, it has "general responsibility for the affairs of the ...

from 1958 until 1960 and was a delegate to the

1964 Democratic National Convention The 1964 Democratic National Convention of the Democratic Party, took place at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey, from August 24 to 27, 1964. President Lyndon B. Johnson was nominated for a full term. Senator Hubert H. Humphrey of Mi ...

. He was also member of the

New York City Council The New York City Council is the lawmaking body of New York City in the United States. It has 51 members from 51 council districts throughout the five boroughs. The council serves as a check against the mayor in a mayor-council government mod ...

from 1973 until 1974 when he was elected to the US Congress in 1974 and represented

New York's 14th congressional district New York's 14th congressional district is a List of United States congressional districts, congressional district for the United States House of Representatives located in New York City, represented by United States Democratic Party, Democrat A ...

from January 3, 1975, until August 25, 1982. Upon his election, Richmond joined the House Agriculture Committee where he spent many years to develop new support for federally funded inner city gardens which he hoped would spread across the nation. Due to his work, and with help from House veterans in Congress like Jamie Whitten, the Urban Gardening Program (UGP) was created.

Business

From the 1950s to the 1980s he built a conglomerate, incorporated in 1960 as Walco National, buying up and usually improving the operations of a diverse group of smaller operating companies. His business career was not without notoriety. Richmond was also known as an opportunist who skirted ethics. In one instance, he was accused of involvement in greenmail, the purchase of strategic blocks of shares for resale back to a target for a profit.

Personal

In April 1978, Richmond was arrested in Washington for soliciting sex from a 16-year-old boy. In 1982, Richmond was convicted on federal corruption charges, which included possession of marijuana and payment of an illegal gratuity to a Brooklyn Navy Yard employee. He resigned his seat and was found guilty of making illegal payments to a government employee and marijuana possession. He was sentenced to a year and a day in federal prison and fined $20,000. He served nine months in prison. With a personal fortune estimated at $34 million, Richmond was one of the wealthiest members of Congress. Richmond died on December 28, 2019, at a nursing home in

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

from

pneumonia Pneumonia is an Inflammation, inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as Pulmonary alveolus, alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of Cough#Classification, productive or dry cough, ches ...

, aged 96.

References

External links

Retrieved on 2009-05-19.
"What's Really Wrong with Fred Richmond?"
Jim Sleeper, ''

Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture publication based in Greenwich Village, New York City, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Ma ...

'', March 30, 1982.
"The Rise and Fall of Fred Richmond"

Pete Hamill William Peter Hamill (June 24, 1935August 5, 2020) was an American journalist, novelist, essayist and editor. During his career as a New York City journalist, he was described as "the author of columns that sought to capture the particular flavo ...

and Denis Hamill, ''

New York Magazine ''New York'' is an American biweekly magazine concerned with life, culture, politics, and style generally, with a particular emphasis on New York City. Founded by Clay Felker and Milton Glaser in 1968 as a competitor to ''The New Yorker'' a ...

'', November 22, 1982. , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Richmond, Fred 1923 births 2019 deaths 20th-century American businesspeople 20th-century American pianists 21st-century American Jews American businesspeople convicted of crimes American people convicted of drug offenses American people convicted of tax crimes American politicians convicted of bribery American politicians convicted of federal public corruption crimes Boston University alumni Deaths from pneumonia in New York City Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from New York (state) Jewish members of the United States House of Representatives Military personnel from Massachusetts New York (state) politicians convicted of corruption New York City Council members Politicians from Boston Swing bandleaders The Harvard Lampoon alumni United States Navy personnel of World War II 20th-century New York (state) politicians 20th-century members of the United States House of Representatives