Thaddeus Francis Boleslaw Wasielewski (December 2, 1904 – April 25, 1976) was an American lawyer from

Milwaukee Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

who spent six years as a Democratic

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

Wisconsin's 4th congressional district Wisconsin's 4th congressional district is a congressional district of the United States House of Representatives in Wisconsin, encompassing a part of Milwaukee County and including almost all of the city of Milwaukee (except the slivers of the c ...

Background

Thad F. Wasielewski was born in Milwaukee, son of Dr. Frank S. and Felicia H. (Baranowski) Wasielewski. He attended SS. Cyril and Methodius Parochial School and

South Division High School South Division High School is a public high school in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. South Division is part of the Milwaukee Public Schools. History The building was built after an 1890 motion by the Milwaukee Board of School Directors, as a second Mi ...

, and received degrees from the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

(B.A., 1927) and from

Marquette University Law School Marquette University Law School is the Law school in the United States, law school of Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It is one of two law schools in Wisconsin and the only private law school in the state. Founded in 1892 as the Mil ...

(J.D., 1931) and practiced law in Milwaukee. On 28 October 1939, he married Stephanie M. Gorak, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Gorak of Milwaukee. He was active in many local

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, ...

organizations and would make campaign speeches both in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

and in the

Polish language Polish (, , or simply , ) is a West Slavic languages, West Slavic language of the Lechitic languages, Lechitic subgroup, within the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family, and is written in the Latin script. It is primarily spo ...

Congress

In 1938, Wasielewski unseated incumbent Congressman

Raymond Joseph Cannon Raymond Joseph Cannon (August 26, 1894 – November 25, 1951) was an attorney, baseball player and Democratic politician who represented Wisconsin's 4th congressional district in the Congress from 1933 to 1939. Early life Born in Iron ...

in the Democratic

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for Wisconsin's 4th congressional district, but was narrowly defeated in turn by a former incumbent, Republican John Schafer, with 33,559 votes (31.40%), to Schafer's 34,196 (32.00%), Progressive Paul Gauer's 30,817 (28.84%), 7,498 votes (7.02%) for Cannon (who ran as an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

) and 794 votes (0.74%) for a Union Party candidate. Wasielewski was again nominated in 1940, and this time was elected to the 77th Congress. Wasielewski was an interventionist (supported American entry into World War II) in a largely isolationist state. He voted in favor of both the 1941 Lend Lease Act to send more military aid to Great Britain, and the 1944 Lend Lease Act as well. He served as part of the 77th, 78th and

79th Congress The 79th 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 ...

es. He lost the Democratic nomination in 1946 to Edmund Bobrowicz (he was accused of voting for anti-

labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

legislation), then ran unsuccessfully for his seat as an

when accusations surfaced that Bobrowicz was a Communist Party member. As a result, they both lost to Republican

John C. Brophy John Charles Brophy (October 8, 1901December 26, 1976) was an American labor union organizer and Wisconsin Progressive Party, Progressive and Republican Party (United States), Republican politician from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He was a member of t ...

, who drew 49,144 votes to Bobrowicz' 44,398, Wasielewski's 38.502, and

Socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

George Helberg's 2,470.

After Congress

Wasielewski returned to private life, although he served as a delegate to the

1948 Democratic National Convention The 1948 Democratic National Convention was held at Philadelphia Convention Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from July 12 to July 15, 1948, and resulted in the nominations of President Harry S. Truman for a full term and Senator Alben W. ...

and would make one more unsuccessful try for the Democratic nomination in 1950, losing 27,717 to 10,692 in an effort to unseat incumbent

Clement Zablocki Clement John Zablocki (November 18, 1912December 3, 1983) was a Polish American politician from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He was one of Wisconsin's longest-serving members of the U.S. House of Representatives, representing Wisconsin's 4th congressio ...

. He practiced law until his death in 1976. His papers are owned by the

Wisconsin Historical Society The Wisconsin Historical Society (officially the State Historical Society of Wisconsin) is simultaneously a state agency and a private membership organization whose purpose is to maintain, promote and spread knowledge relating to the history of ...

, and are housed in the

University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee The University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee (UW–Milwaukee, UWM, or Milwaukee) is a Public university, public Urban university, urban research university in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. It is the largest university in the Milwaukee metropo ...

Golda Meir Library Golda is a term of which the various forms stem from Proto-Germanic ''wiktionary:Appendix:Proto-Germanic/gulþą, gulþą'' "gold", and may refer to: Geography * Golda, the original name of Gouda, South Holland, Netherlands * Golda, the earliest k ...

Archives Department, in the Milwaukee Area Research Center.Wisconsin Historical Society. "Thaddeus F.B. Wasielewski Papers, 1932-1973" ''Archival Resources in Wisconsin: Descriptive Finding Aids'' University of Wisconsin Digital Collections
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References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wasielewski, Thaddeus 1904 births 1976 deaths American politicians of Polish descent Marquette University Law School alumni Politicians from Milwaukee University of Michigan alumni Wisconsin lawyers South Division High School alumni Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Wisconsin Catholics from Wisconsin 20th-century American lawyers 20th-century members of the United States House of Representatives