John Thomas Connor

John T. "Jack" Connor (November 3, 1914 - October 6,2000) was United States Secretary of Commerce from January 18, 1965 to January 31, 1967.

Born in Syracuse, New York, John T Connor was a lawyer in New York who in 1942 became a researcher for the Office of Scientific Research and Development which helped to find cures for many diseases and illnesses.

He served in the United States Marine Corps as an assistant to future Navy secretary James V Forrestal working on penicillin production and procurement issues. He worked in the pharmaceutical industry after World War II, entering politics as the co-chairman of the Johnson-Humphrey Campaign in 1964.

He was awarded with Commerce Secretaryship in 1965 but wielded less influence within the administration than Treasury Secretary Henry H. Fowler and Economic Advisor Gardner Ackley.

He helped settle an East Coast dock strike in 1965, as well as the General Electric employees strike in 1966. In the 1970s he headed the Committee of Business Executives against the Vietnam War. [http://www.law.harvard.edu/alumni/bulletin/2001/spring/memoriam_main.html#1930]

Connor graduated from Syracuse University and Harvard Law School, where he was a member of Phi Kappa Psi Fraternity.

Connor died from cancer at the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts, in 2000.

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