Sedgwick William Green (October 16, 1929 – October 14, 2002) was a Republican 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. He represented a district covering most or all of Manhattan's East Side. To date, he is the last Republican to have represented Manhattan in the U.S. House.

Life and career

Bill Green was born on October 16, 1929, in New York City, the son of Louis A. Green and Evelyn (née Schoenberg) Green. His father was a wealthy investor who was one of the main shareholders in

Grand Union A grand union is a rail track junction where two double-track railway or tramway lines cross at grade, often in a street intersection or crossroads. A total of sixteen railroad switches (sets of points) allow streetcars (or in rarer install ...

, and Bill Green grew up 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 ...

. He graduated from The

Horace Mann School Horace Mann School (also known as Horace Mann or HM) is an American private, independent college-preparatory school in the Bronx, founded in 1887. Horace Mann is a member of the Ivy Preparatory School League, educating students from the New Yo ...

in 1946,

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 ...

in 1950, and

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, Harvard Law School is the oldest law school in continuous operation in the United ...

in 1953. From 1953 to 1955, he served in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

. After leaving the army, he was legal secretary for U.S. Court of Appeals (D.C.) Judge George T. Washington before leaving to practice law. From 1961-64, Green was the chief counsel to the New York Joint Legislative Committee on Housing and Urban Development. He was a member of the

New York State Assembly The New York State Assembly is the lower house of the New York State Legislature, with the New York State Senate being the upper house. There are 150 seats in the Assembly. Assembly members serve two-year terms without term limits. The Ass ...

from 1965 to 1968, sitting in the 175th, 176th and

177th New York State Legislature The 177th New York State Legislature, consisting of the New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly, met from January 4, 1967, to May 25, 1968, during the ninth and tenth years of Nelson Rockefeller's governorship, in Albany. Back ...

s. In 1968 he ran for Congress, but lost the Republican nomination to

Whitney North Seymour Jr. Whitney North Seymour Jr. (July 7, 1923 – June 29, 2019), known to friends as Mike Seymour, was an American politician and attorney from New York City. Born to a prominent family, Seymour graduated from Princeton University and Yale Law Scho ...

, who went on to be defeated by Democrat

Ed Koch Edward Irving Koch ( ; December 12, 1924February 1, 2013) was an American politician. He served in the United States House of Representatives from 1969 to 1977 and was mayor of New York City from 1978 to 1989. Koch was a lifelong Democrat who ...

., Afterwards he was the New York City director of the

United States Department of Housing and Urban Development The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It administers federal housing and urban development laws. It is headed by the secretary of housing and u ...

. Green was elected as a Republican to the

95th United States Congress The 95th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C., from January 3, 19 ...

, to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of

, and was re-elected to the 96th, 97th, 98th, 99th, 100th, 101st and

102nd United States Congress The 102nd United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C., from January 3, 1 ...

es, holding office from February 14, 1978, to January 3, 1993. A mostly liberal Republican, he was one of the few members of his party to have a long run in office from a city long dominated by Democrats. However, the East Side-based district, long considered a bastion of moderate Republicans, had been trending Democratic at the national level for some time. Redistricting in 1992 made his district friendlier to Democrats, as it gained some heavily Democratic portions of Queens and Brooklyn. As a result, he narrowly lost his re-election bid that year to New York City Councilwoman

Carolyn Maloney Carolyn Jane Maloney (née Bosher, February 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the U.S. representative for from 2013 to 2023, and for from 1993 to 2013. The district includes most of Manhattan's East Side, Astoria and Long I ...

. Green sought the Republican nomination for

Governor of New York The governor of New York is the head of government of the U.S. state of New York. The governor is the head of the executive branch of New York's state government and the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The governor ...

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

, but was defeated by State Senator

George Pataki George Elmer Pataki (; born June 24, 1945) is an American politician who served as the 53rd governor of New York from 1995 to 2006. He previously served in the State Legislature from 1985 to 1994, and as the mayor of Peekskill from 1981 to 1984 ...

. , Green is the last Republican to represent any part of Manhattan in Congress. The Republicans have only made one substantive bid for the seat–renumbered as the 12th in 2013–since Green left office, and have never cracked the 40 percent barrier in the district.

Personal life and death

Green and his wife, the former Patricia Freiburg, had two children. He died from liver cancer at a hospital in Manhattan on October 14, 2002, two days before his 73rd birthday.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Green, Bill 1929 births 2002 deaths 20th-century American Jews 20th-century American lawyers 21st-century American Jews Deaths from liver cancer in New York (state) Harvard College alumni Harvard Law School alumni Horace Mann School alumni Jewish American military personnel Jewish members of the United States House of Representatives Lawyers from New York City Republican Party members of the New York State Assembly Politicians from Manhattan Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from New York (state) United States Army officers 20th-century members of the New York State Legislature 20th-century members of the United States House of Representatives

Life and career

Personal life and death

See also

References

External links