Roman Conrad Pucinski (May 13, 1919 – September 25, 2002) was an American Democratic politician from

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

. He was a

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the 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 Article One of th ...

from 1959 to 1973 and alderman from the 41st Ward of Chicago from 1973 to 1991. He was considered a longtime leader of

Chicago Polonia Both immigrant Poles and Americans of Polish heritage live in Chicago, Illinois. They are a part of worldwide '' Polonia'', the Polish term for the Polish Diaspora outside of Poland. Poles in Chicago have contributed to the economic, social an ...

and was seen to represent its interests in Washington.

Early and family life

He was born in

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is a Administrative divisions of New York (state), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and county seat of Erie County, New York, Erie County. It lies in Western New York at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of ...

, but moved to Chicago with his family as a child. In 1941, he graduated from

Northwestern University Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...

. 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

Air Force An air force in the broadest sense is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an army aviati ...

. After the war, he attended John Marshall Law School in Chicago and graduated in 1949.

Career

Pucinski worked in journalism for many years, notably at the ''

Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily nonprofit newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has long held the second largest circulation among Chicago newspaper ...

''. In 1952, he was chief investigator for the Congressional Special Committee which investigated the

Katyn Massacre The Katyn massacre was a series of mass killings under Communist regimes, mass executions of nearly 22,000 Polish people, Polish military officer, military and police officers, border guards, and intelligentsia prisoners of war carried out by t ...

. This was of special interest to him as a

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Polish people, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken * Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin ...

-American. In 1958, Pucinski was elected U.S. Representative from the heavily

Polish-American Polish Americans () are Americans who either have total or partial Polish ancestry, or are citizens of the Republic of Poland. There are an estimated 8.81 million self-identified Polish Americans, representing about 2.67% of the U.S. population, ...

11th District on the Northwest Side of Chicago. He was re-elected to six additional terms, serving from 1959 to 1973. As a representative, Pucinski pushed for the installation of "black box"

flight recorder A flight recorder is an electronic recording device placed in an aircraft for the purpose of facilitating the investigation of aviation accidents and incidents. The device may often be referred to colloquially as a "black box", an outdated nam ...

s on all passenger airliners and supported federal assistance to

community college A community college is a type of undergraduate higher education institution, generally leading to an associate degree, certificate, or diploma. The term can have different meanings in different countries: many community colleges have an open enr ...

s. When congressional districts were redrawn after the 1970

Census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

, Pucinski's district remained solidly Democrat but he was chosen as the Democratic nominee for 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 ...

against incumbent Senator

Charles H. Percy Charles Harting Percy (September 27, 1919 – September 17, 2011), also known as Chuck Percy, was an American businessman and politician. He was president of the Bell & Howell Corporation from 1949 to 1964, and served as a Republican U.S. sen ...

; he lost in a landslide. In 1973, he was first elected alderman from the 41st Ward of Chicago, which had been part of his old congressional district and was heavily

. Pucinski also served as Democratic Ward Committeeman from the 41st Ward for many years. After Mayor

Richard J. Daley Richard Joseph Daley (May 15, 1902 – December 20, 1976) was an American politician who served as the mayor of Chicago from 1955, and the chairman of the Cook County Democratic Party from 1953, until his death. He has been called "the last of ...

died in 1976, Pucinski ran in the Democratic primary of the special election to succeed him in 1977, even though the Democratic Party had endorsed

Michael Bilandic Michael Bilandic may refer to: * Michael A. Bilandic (1923–2002), American politician, mayor of Chicago * Michael M. Bilandic, American film director, writer and producer {{hndis, Bilandic, Michael ...

. Bilandic won, Pucinski was the second-place finisher, and

Harold Washington Harold Lee Washington (April 15, 1922 – November 25, 1987) was an American lawyer and politician who was the 51st mayor of Chicago. In April 1983, Washington became the first African American to be elected as the city’s mayor at the age of ...

came in third with 11%. During the

Council Wars The Council Wars were a racially polarized political conflict in the city of Chicago from 1983 to 1986, centered on the Chicago City Council. The term came from a satirical comedy sketch of the same name written and performed by comedian and jou ...

of Harold Washington's first term as mayor, Pucinski was part of the

Vrdolyak 29 The Council Wars were a racially polarized political conflict in the city of Chicago from 1983 to 1986, centered on the Chicago City Council. The term came from a satirical comedy sketch of the same name written and performed by comedian and jo ...

opposition bloc. In 1987, he proposed requiring employee voting on any

Employee Stock Ownership Plan Employee stock ownership, or employee share ownership, is where a company's employees own shares in that company (or in the parent company of a group of companies). US employees typically acquire shares through a share option plan. In the UK, Emp ...

established by a corporation based in Chicago. In 1984, he supported a redistribution of

Community Development Block Grant The Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), one of the longest-running programs of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, funds local community development activities with the stated goal of providing affordable housing, anti- ...

funds that would have allocated $1.3 million to repave streets in the 41st Ward. The 41st Ward usually voted for Republicans and the aging Pucinski was defeated in his campaign for re-election as alderman by Republican Brian Doherty in 1991.

Death and legacy

Pucinski was a

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

. His daughter Aurelia followed him into law and politics. She eventually left the Democratic Party for its Republican counterpart in 1997, but switched back to the Democrats seven years later. Pucinski died in Chicago in 2002, and his son Christopher in 2006.

References

External links

Biographical Data
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pucinski, Roman 1919 births 2002 deaths Politicians from Buffalo, New York Polish-American culture in Chicago American politicians of Polish descent Military personnel from Buffalo, New York Northwestern University alumni Chicago City Council members Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Illinois University of Illinois Chicago School of Law alumni Catholics from New York (state) United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II 20th-century members of the United States House of Representatives