Rudolph Halley (June 19, 1913 – November 19, 1956) was an American attorney and

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

from

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

who served as President 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 1951 to 1953.

Early life and career

Born in

Harrison, New York Harrison is a Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town and Administrative divisions of New York (state), village in Westchester County, New York, Westchester County, New York (state), New York, United States. It is a suburb of New York Cit ...

and raised in the

South Bronx The South Bronx is an area of the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The area comprises neighborhoods in the southern part of the Bronx, such as Concourse, Bronx, Concourse, Mott Haven, Bronx, Mott Haven, Melrose, B ...

, Halley graduated from

Townsend Harris High School Townsend Harris High School (THHS; often also shortened to Townsend Harris or simply Townsend) is a public high school for the humanities in the New York City borough of Queens. It is located on the campus of Queens College, a public college p ...

at age 14, and was forced to wait until age 16 to enroll at

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

, from which he graduated with a ''

Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

'' at age 20. After waiting until his twenty-first birthday to become eligible to pass the

bar examination A bar examination is an examination administered by the bar association of a jurisdiction that a lawyer must pass in order to be admitted to the bar of that jurisdiction. Australia Administering bar exams is the responsibility of the bar associat ...

, he went into private practice. Fulton, Rowe & Hart LLP was formed in 1946 by Hugh Fulton, Rudolph Halley, and Henry G. Walter, Jr. Mr. Fulton was executive assistant to the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York from 1938 to 1941. Mr. Fulton and Mr. Halley were members of the 1941 U.S. Senate Special Truman Committee, created to investigate the national defense program (Mr. Fulton was its chief counsel), and the 1950 U.S. Senate Special Kefauver Committee, created to investigate crime in interstate commerce (Mr. Halley was its chief counsel). Mr. Halley was President of the New York City Council from 1951 until 1953, and in 1953 he ran for mayor of New York City, finishing in third place (Robert Wagner won the election). . During this time, he married and

divorce Divorce (also known as dissolution of marriage) is the process of terminating a marriage or marital union. Divorce usually entails the canceling or reorganising of the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage, thus dissolving the M ...

d twice. In 1941, he went to work for the U.S. Senate Special Committee to Investigate the National Defense Program, better known as the " Truman Committee" for its chairman, then-Senator

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 ...

, which investigated fraud and waste in defense contracting 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 ...

. In 1950, Halley was named Chief Counsel to the Senate Special Committee to Investigate Crime in Interstate Commerce, better known as the Kefauver Committee, which was charged with investigating the influence of

organized crime Organized crime is a category of transnational organized crime, transnational, national, or local group of centralized enterprises run to engage in illegal activity, most commonly for profit. While organized crime is generally thought of as a f ...

, particularly its involvement in

gambling Gambling (also known as betting or gaming) is the wagering of something of Value (economics), value ("the stakes") on a Event (probability theory), random event with the intent of winning something else of value, where instances of strategy (ga ...

and

political corruption Political corruption is the use of powers by government officials or their network contacts for illegitimate private gain. Forms of corruption vary but can include bribery, lobbying, extortion, cronyism, nepotism, parochialism, patronage, influen ...

. In his role as Chief Counsel, Halley personally questioned every witness called to testify before the Committee. The Committee's hearings, which were televised nationally, made Halley a celebrity. On May 1, 1951, shortly after the Committee concluded its hearings in New York City, Halley announced his resignation. Over the course of the next several months, he translated his celebrity into work in

television Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

, narrating the CBS crime drama '' Gang Busters'' and hosting the documentary program '' Crime Syndicated''. He also wrote a short-lived

column A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression member ...

for

Hearst Newspapers Hearst may refer to: Places * Hearst, former name of Hacienda, California, United States * Hearst, Ontario, town in Northern Ontario, Canada * Hearst, California, an unincorporated community in Mendocino County, United States * Hearst Island, a ...

New York City Council

In the summer of 1951, Halley announced his candidacy for President of the

, a position that would later be replaced by that of

New York City Public Advocate The office of New York City Public Advocate (President of the City Council) is a citywide elected position in New York City, which is first in line to succeed the Mayor of New York City, mayor. The office serves as a direct link between the wikti ...

, in a

special election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, or a bypoll in India, is an election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections. A vacancy may arise as a result of an incumben ...

held to replace Vincent R. Impellitteri, who had ascended to the

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

's office after the resignation of William O'Dwyer. He ran on an anti-corruption, anti-crime, anti-

Tammany Hall Tammany Hall, also known as the Society of St. Tammany, the Sons of St. Tammany, or the Columbian Order, was an American political organization founded in 1786 and incorporated on May 12, 1789, as the Tammany Society. It became the main local ...

platform and promised to "teach the

political boss In the politics of the United States of America, a boss is a person who controls a faction or local branch of a political party. They do not necessarily hold public office themselves; most historical bosses did not, at least during the times of th ...

es a lesson." Although a lifelong Democrat, he did not seek the party's nomination, instead running as the nominee of the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

. He also appeared on the ballot as the nominee of the

Fusion Party Fusion Party is a name for multiple political parties in United States history and more recently a Federal political party established in Australia. The different parties that used the name don't share any particular political positions; instead ...

and the Independent Citizens Party. On Election Day, Halley unexpectedly triumphed, tallying 657,871 votes (39%). Rudolph Halley Takes Office 1951

As President of the City Council, Halley was best known for feuding with both Mayor Impellitteri and Governor Thomas E. Dewey over state funding for the City, which was necessary to balance the municipal budget. While Dewey demanded increases in

property tax A property tax (whose rate is expressed as a percentage or per mille, also called ''millage'') is an ad valorem tax on the value of a property.In the OECD classification scheme, tax on property includes "taxes on immovable property or Wealth t ...

es and the subway

fare A fare is the fee paid by a passenger for use of a public transport system: rail, bus, taxi, etc. In the case of air transport, the term airfare is often used. Fare structure is the system set up to determine how much is to be paid by various p ...

in return for state aid, Halley favored leaving both taxes and fares alone and instead cutting government waste. Impellitterri opposed both plans. Things turned ugly when Halley accused Dewey of "ruthlessly playing politics" with the budget, and Dewey publicly called Halley "as stupid and ignorant as he is shallow and venomous."

Candidacy for Mayor

In 1953, Halley declined to run for re-election and instead declared his candidacy for Mayor of New York. Running once again on the Liberal and Independent Citizens lines, he ran third with 467,104 votes (21%), behind Democratic

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 ...

Borough President Robert F. Wagner, Jr. and Republican attorney Harold Riegelman. (Halley beat Riegelman for second place in

the Bronx The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...

and nearly did so in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

Post-politics

After the election, Halley retired from politics, becoming a name partner in the

law firm A law firm is a business entity formed by one or more lawyers to engage in the practice of law. The primary service rendered by a law firm is to advise consumer, clients (individuals or corporations) about their legal rights and Obligation, respon ...

of Fulton, Walter & Halley, headquartered at

Rockefeller Center Rockefeller Center is a complex of 19 commerce, commercial buildings covering between 48th Street (Manhattan), 48th Street and 51st Street (Manhattan), 51st Street in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. The 14 original Art De ...

. Although there was speculation that he might run for

Attorney General of New York The attorney general of New York is the chief legal officer of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and head of the Department of Law of the government of New York (state), state government. The office has existed in various forms since ...

in 1954, he never sought office again. On November 19, 1956, Halley died in Manhattan at age 43, attributed to both

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 ...

and

pancreatitis Pancreatitis is a condition characterized by inflammation of the pancreas. The pancreas is a large organ behind the stomach that produces digestive enzymes and a number of hormone A hormone (from the Ancient Greek, Greek participle , "se ...

. He was survived by his wife and four children (Marian, Henry, Peter, and Michael).

External links

*Gill, Brendan, The Talk of the Town,
Romantic
" ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...

'', February 27, 1954 *Moritz, Owen,
Rudolph Halley: Streak of Light
" ''

New York Daily News The ''Daily News'' is an American newspaper based in Jersey City, New Jersey. It was founded in 1919 by Joseph Medill Patterson in New York City as the ''Illustrated Daily News''. It was the first U.S. daily printed in Tabloid (newspaper format ...

'', June 24, 1999
Paid notice
''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', November 19, 2006 {{DEFAULTSORT:Halley, Rudolph 1913 births 1956 deaths Columbia Law School alumni New York (state) lawyers Townsend Harris High School alumni Deaths from pneumonia in New York City Deaths from pancreatitis People from Harrison, New York 20th-century American lawyers