Edward J. Flynn

Edward Joseph Flynn (September 22, 1891 The Bronx, then New York County, now Bronx County, New York City - August 18, 1953 Dublin, Republic of Ireland) was an American lawyer and politician.

Life

He was the youngest son of Henry T. Flynn and Sarah Mallon Flynn. He graduated from Fordham Law School in 1912, and was admitted to the bar in June 1913. Flynn practiced law in partnership with Bill McKeown from 1913 to 1922, and with Monroe Goldwater from 1924 to 1953. On June 15, 1927, he married Helen Margaret Jones.

He was a member from Bronx County of the New York State Assembly from 1918 to 1921, Sheriff of Bronx County from 1922 to 1925, Chamberlain of the City of New York from 1926 to 1928, Secretary of State of New York from 1929 to 1939, He was also the United States Commissioner General on the 1939 New York World's Fair Commission.

He was Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Bronx County Democratic Committee from 1922 to 1953, a delegate to the 1924, 1928, 1932, 1936, 1940, 1944, 1948 and 1952 Democratic National Conventions, a Democratic National Committeeman from New York from 1930 to 1953, and Chairman of the Democratic National Committee from 1940 to 1943. In 1943, he was appointed Envoy to Australia by President Roosevelt and resigned the Democratic National chair, but was not confirmed by the U.S. Senate and remained on the National Democratic Committee.

He accompanied President Franklin D. Roosevelt to the Yalta Conference and remained in Europe after the conference, carrying out various missions for the President, until the trip was terminated by news of Roosevelt's death. In 1947, Flynn wrote the book "You're the Boss" about his experiences in politics. He had helped Roosevelt through all of his elections, and was one of the driving forces behind Harry S. Truman's 1948 election victory.

Flynn died in 1953 while on a visit to Ireland.

ources

* [http://www.fdrlibrary.marist.edu:8000/findbrow.cgi?collection=Flynn%2C+Edward+J.] Biography at FDR Library
* [http://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/flynn.html] Political Graveyard
* [http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-E-Flynn-Ed.html] Short biographical entry from The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th edition, at Encyclopedia.com (giving wrong birth year), also available from [http://www.bartleby.com/65/e-/E-Flynn-Ed.html Bartleby.com]
* [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,823014,00.html?iid=chix-sphere] Obituary paragraph in TIME Magazine, on August 31, 1953