Stuyvesant Wainwright II (March 16, 1921 – March 6, 2010) 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 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 * ...

Early life

Wainwright was born in

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 ...

, the son of Carroll Livingston Wainwright (1899–1967) and

Edith Catherine Gould Edith Catherine MacNeal ( Gould, formerly Wainwright) (August 3, 1901 – September 10, 1937) was an American heiress and writer. Early life Edith was born aboard her father's yacht, ''Sybarite'', on August 3, 1901, while it was anchored off Co ...

(1901–1937), daughter of financier George Jay Gould (1864–1923) and Edith M. Kingdon (1864–1921). His siblings were Carroll L. Wainwright Jr. (1925–2016) and Caroline Wainwright (1924–1969), and his paternal grandparents were Stuyvesant Wainwright (1863–1930) and Caroline Smith Snowden (1865–1960). His grandmother later married Carl F. Wolff. He was a great-nephew of General Jonathan Mayhew Wainwright (1883–1953), a four star-general who was the hero of

Bataan Bataan (, , , ; ) , officially the Province of Bataan, is a province in the Central Luzon region of the Philippines. Its capital is the city of Balanga while Mariveles is the largest town in the province. Occupying the entire Bataan Peninsula ...

and commander of the U.S. forces in the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

during World War II. His uncle, Loudon Wainwright, was the father of Loudon Wainwright Jr. (his cousin), and the grandfather of

Loudon Wainwright III Loudon Snowden Wainwright III (born September 5, 1946) is an American singer-songwriter and occasional actor. He has released twenty-six studio albums, four live albums, and six compilations. Some of his best-known songs include "The Swimmin ...

, the singer and songwriter, himself the father of

Rufus Wainwright Rufus McGarrigle Wainwright (born July 22, 1973) is a Canadian and American singer, songwriter, and composer. He has recorded eleven studio albums and numerous tracks on compilations and film soundtracks. He has also written two classical opera ...

Martha Wainwright Martha Wainwright (born May 8, 1976) is a Canadian singer-songwriter and musician. She has released seven critically-acclaimed studio albums. Wainwright is the daughter of musicians Kate McGarrigle and Loudon Wainwright III and the younger si ...

, and Lucy Wainwright Roche. In 1927, his family moved to

East Hampton, New York East Hampton is a Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town in southeastern Suffolk County, New York United States. It is located at the eastern end of the South Shore (Long Island), South Shore of Long Island. It is the easternmost town i ...

where they built an imposing house called "Gulf Crest," that was valued at $350,000 in 1937. His parents divorced in 1932, and his mother married Sir Hector MacNeal, the Scottish shipowner. He attended Lawrenceville School in 1936–37, playing on the tennis team and residing in Dickinson House. He then attended the

Westminster School Westminster School is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school in Westminster, London, England, in the precincts of Westminster Abbey. It descends from a charity school founded by Westminster Benedictines before the Norman Conquest, as do ...

Simsbury, Connecticut Simsbury is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States, incorporated as Connecticut's 21st town in May 1670. The town is part of the Capitol Planning Region. The population was 24,517 in the 2020 census. History Early history At ...

and graduated from

Yale Law School Yale Law School (YLS) is the law school of Yale University, a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was established in 1824. The 2020–21 acceptance rate was 4%, the lowest of any law school in the United ...

in 1947.

Career

On January 30, 1942, at the age of 20, he left Yale and enlisted as a private 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 ...

. He attended officers' candidate school and, on December 30, 1943, went overseas 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 rose through the ranks and became a commanding officer of the

Office of Strategic Services The Office of Strategic Services (OSS) was the first intelligence agency of the United States, formed during World War II. The OSS was formed as an agency of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) to coordinate espionage activities behind enemy lines ...

, a wartime

intelligence agency An intelligence agency is a government agency responsible for the collection, Intelligence analysis, analysis, and exploitation of information in support of law enforcement, national security, military, public safety, and foreign policy obj ...

and predecessor of the modern

Central Intelligence Agency The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...

. He returned to the U.S. on June 10, 1945, and spent the last three months of his service as an adviser on intelligence coordination in the War Department in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

He was honorably discharged from the Army as a Captain on December 13, 1945. After the War, he served in the Active Army Reserve and retired as a Lieutenant Colonel in 1960. He resumed his legal studies at Yale, was graduated in 1947, was admitted to the New York State Bar in 1948, and began practicing in New York City, where he was a partner in the firm of Walker, Beale, Wainwright & Wolf.

United States Congress

1952 Events January–February * January 26 – Cairo Fire, Black Saturday in Kingdom of Egypt, Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses. * February 6 ** Princess Elizabeth, ...

, he was elected to Congress in the Republican wave that flipped the

House A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air c ...

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

, and

Presidency A presidency is an administration or the executive, the collective administrative and governmental entity that exists around an office of president of a state or nation. Although often the executive branch of government, and often personified b ...

from

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (Cyprus) (DCY) **Democratic Part ...

to Republican. Wainwright went on to serve four consecutive terms as the Representative for

New York's 1st congressional district New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995 * "New" (Daya song), 2017 * "New" (No Doubt song), 1 ...

from January 3, 1953, until January 3, 1961, in the 83rd, 84th, and

85th United States Congress The 85th 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, 1957 ...

es. While serving in Congress, he was a member of the

House Armed Services Committee The U.S. House Committee on Armed Services, commonly known as the House Armed Services Committee or HASC, is a standing committee of the United States House of Representatives. It is responsible for funding and oversight of the Department of ...

Foreign Affairs Committee Foreign Affairs Committee may refer to: * Canadian House of Commons Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development * Canadian Senate Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade * Foreign Affairs Committee of t ...

, the Education and Labor Committee and the Merchant Marine Committee. Wainwright voted in favor of the Civil Rights Acts of 1957 and

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Janu ...

. He narrowly lost a re-election bid in 1960 against

Otis G. Pike.

Later career

After leaving the House of Representatives, he taught political science at

Rutgers University Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's C ...

from 1960 to 1961. Afterwards, he resumed the practice of law with the firm Battle, Fowler, Lidstone, Jaffin, Pierce & Kheel. From 1975 until 1979, he was president of the Miltope Corporation and a director of the corporation from 1975 to 1985.

Personal life

In 1941, Wainwright was married to Janet Isabel Parsons (1920–2000), the daughter of Thomas Crouse Parsons. Before their divorce, they were the parents of: * Stuyvesant Wainwright III * Jonathan Mayhew Wainwright (b. 1944) * Janet Snowden Wainwright, who married Charles Brandon Waring in 1967. * Laura Wainwright Until his death he was a resident of

Wainscott, New York Wainscott is a Hamlet (New York), hamlet in the Administrative divisions of New York#Town, Town of East Hampton (town), New York, East Hampton in Suffolk County, New York, Suffolk County, New York (state), New York, United States, on the South F ...

and lived on

Georgica Pond Georgica Pond is a coastal lagoon on the west border of East Hampton Village and Wainscott, New York, and was the site of a Summer White House of Bill Clinton in 1998 and 1999. The lagoon is separated by a sandbar and is managed by the East ...

, a

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counte ...

that roughly corresponds to the

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...

with the same name in the

Town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

of East Hampton in Suffolk County,

, on the South Fork of

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...

. He served on the Boards of the Southampton Hospital, Guild Hall of East Hampton, the vestry of St. Luke's Church in East Hampton, the

Maidstone Club The Maidstone Club is a private country club on the Atlantic Ocean in the village of East Hampton, New York. Maidstone has both an 18-hole and nine-hole private golf course. The architect of the golf course's club house was Roger Bullard. Hist ...

of East Hampton, and the

Union Club of the City of New York The Union Club of the City of New York (commonly known as the Union Club) is a private social club on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City that was founded in 1836. The clubhouse is located at 101 East 69th Street on the corner of ...

. He was also a member of the

New York Young Republican Club The New York Young Republican Club (NYYRC) is an organization for members of the Republican Party between the ages of 18 and 40 in Manhattan. The New York Young Republican Club is the oldest and largest chapter in the United States, founded in 1 ...

, the

Cruising Club of America The Cruising Club of America (CCA) is an international organization of cruisers whose objects are to promote cruising and racing by amateurs, to encourage the development of suitable types of cruising craft, to stimulate interest in seamanship, nav ...

, and the

Royal Bermuda Yacht Club The Royal Bermuda Yacht Club (RBYC) is a private yacht club that was established as the ''Bermuda Yacht Club'' on 1 November, 1844, after the sport of racing yachts had become established in Bermuda primarily as a pastime of idle officers of the ...

References

;Notes ;Sources {{DEFAULTSORT:Wainwright, Stuyvesant 1921 births 2010 deaths United States Army personnel of World War II Stuyvesant Wainwright Stuyvesant Wainwright New York (state) lawyers People from East Hampton (town), New York People of the Office of Strategic Services Politicians from New York City Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from New York (state) Stuyvesant Wainwright United States Army colonels United States Army reservists Westminster School (Connecticut) alumni Yale Law School alumni Stuyvesant 20th-century New York (state) politicians 20th-century members of the United States House of Representatives