Charles Poletti

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Charles Poletti (July 2, 1903 – August 8, 2002) was an American lawyer and politician. He became the 46th governor of New York in December 1942, and was the first person entirely of Italian-American ancestry to become the governor of a U.S. state.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Born in Barre, Vermont to Italian immigrants, Poletti graduated from Barre's Spaulding High School, Harvard University, and Harvard Law School, and became an attorney in New York City. He became active in the Democratic Party, and served as counsel to the Democratic National Committee, counsel to Governor Herbert H. Lehman, and a justice of the New York State Supreme Court.

Poletti served as lieutenant governor of New York from 1939 to 1942. He lost his bid for reelection in 1942, as did gubernatorial nominee John J. Bennett Jr. In December, Lehman resigned as governor in order to accept an appointment with the United States Department of State; Poletti succeeded to the governorship and served the final month of Lehman's term. After leaving office, Poletti served in World War II, initially as a special assistant to the Secretary of War, and then in the United States Army as a Civil Affairs officer responsible for rebuilding and restoring democracy in Italy following its liberation by the Allies.

After the war, Poletti practiced law, served as a member of the New York State Power Authority, and was an executive responsible for planning and overseeing execution of foreign exhibits at the 1964 New York World's Fair. After retiring, he resided in Florida and Elizabethtown, New York. He died in Florida at age 99, and was buried in Elizabethtown. At the time of his death, he was the earliest-serving living former governor of a U.S. state.

Early life and educationEdit

Aldo Charles Poletti was born in Barre, Vermont to Dino Poletti (April 28, 1865, Pogno, Italy—February 12, 1922, Barre, Vermont) and Carolina (Gervasini) Poletti. Dino Poletti worked as a stonecutter in a Barre granite quarry.<ref>State of Vermont Death certificate, Dino Poletti</ref><ref>1920 US Census entry, Dino Poletti family</ref><ref>Newsletter article, Eleonora Duse Fellowship, Italy America Society News Bulletin, Number 34 (May, 1924), page 6</ref>

Poletti intended to manage a bakery after graduating from Spaulding High School in 1920,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> but was encouraged by his principal to attend college.<ref>New York Red Book: An Illustrated State Manual, published by Williams Press, 1940, page 19</ref> He attended Harvard University on a scholarship, and worked a variety of part-time jobs to finance his studies, including waiting tables, washing dishes, and tutoring.<ref>Italian Americana: Volume 25, Issue 2, page 138</ref> In 1924, he received his Bachelor of Arts degree in economics summa cum laude, was admitted to Phi Beta Kappa, and then studied at the University of Rome, the University of Bologna and the University of Madrid.<ref>New York Red Book: An Illustrated State Manual, published by Williams Press, 1942, page 61</ref><ref>Vermont History, Proceedings of the Vermont Historical Society, Volumes 31-32, 1963, page 283</ref> Poletti later served on Harvard's Board of Overseers.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Start of careerEdit

In 1928, Poletti graduated from Harvard Law School with a LL.B. degree, cum laude. After passing the bar exam he joined the New York City firm of 1924 Democratic presidential nominee John W. Davis.<ref>The Italian American Experience: An Encyclopedia, by Salvatore John LaGumina, 2000, page 271</ref>

In 1928 Poletti was active in the presidential campaign of Governor Alfred E. Smith, and in 1932 he became counsel to the Democratic National Committee.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In addition, he was appointed to a seat on the state Board of Social Welfare.Template:Sfn

In 1933 Poletti was appointed on Felix Frankfurter's recommendation to be counsel to Governor Herbert H. Lehman.Template:Sfn Lehman relied heavily on Poletti, asked him to move into the executive mansion, and assigned him tasks from drafting legislation and speeches to lobbying for passage of New Deal measures advocated by the administration of President Franklin Roosevelt.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In 1937 Lehman appointed Poletti to a vacancy as a justice of the New York State Supreme Court, and later that year he was elected to a full 14-year term.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Election as lieutenant governor and succession to governorshipEdit

File:Mrs. Charles Poletti.jpg

Jean Knox Ellis Poletti, President, New York State League of Women Voters, May, 1938. She resigned when her husband became a candidate for Lieutenant Governor

In 1938, Poletti was elected lieutenant governor of New York on the Democratic ticket with Lehman.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In 1939 Poletti was elected to the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People's board of directors.<ref>Magazine article, Poletti and Roosevelt elected to N.A.A.C.P. Board, The Crisis, February, 1939</ref> In 1940 he threw out the first pitch at a game between the New York Cubans and the New York Black Yankees, opening the season of the Negro National League with a speech advocating the integration of Major League Baseball.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Poletti, state Attorney General John J. Bennett Jr. and U.S. Senator James M. Mead were candidates for the Democratic nomination for governor in 1942.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> When party leaders coalesced around Bennett, Poletti withdrew and accepted renomination for lieutenant governor.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Bennett defeated Mead for the gubernatorial nomination.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The ticket of Bennett and Poletti were defeated in the general election by Thomas E. Dewey and Thomas W. Wallace.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

When Lehman resigned as governor on December 3, 1942, to accept appointment as Director of Foreign Relief and Rehabilitation Operations for the United States Department of State, Poletti succeeded to the governorship.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He served 29 days, the shortest term of any New York governor.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

As governor, Poletti controversially pardoned three convicts with ties to labor unions, without consulting New York's parole board. These included Alexander Hoffman, a CIO official who had served just eight months of a four-to-eight year prison term for the attempted arson of a non-union laundry firm. In response to adverse media coverage, Poletti stated "I was advised that Hoffman enjoyed an excellent reputation as an honorable citizen [...] I acted honestly and I believe courageously on the basis of the facts submitted to me".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

After leaving office Poletti was appointed special assistant to Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In this position he worked to racially integrate the military.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

World War IIEdit

On Dec. 27, 1942, Poletti broadcast for the Office of War Information a radio address in the Italian language to the Italian people, urging them to "throw out both Hitler and Mussolini."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In July 1943 Poletti was assigned to serve as a U.S. Army civil affairs officer in Italy, largely because as a first-generation Italian-American who had studied in Italy, was fluent in Italian and had served as a governor, he had an understanding of the local culture and sufficient stature to earn the Sicilian people's respect. Initially assigned to assist in restoring civil government in Palermo, he became responsible for rebuilding efforts throughout Sicily.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

As the Allies continued to liberate mainland Italy Poletti's command followed to restore water and electricity, distribute food and water, and begin returning the formerly fascist country to democracy.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

File:Notice By Order of Charles Poletti.jpg

Notice by order of Lt. Col. Charles Poletti (Regional Commissioner - Allied Control Commission - Headquarters Region 3)

Some sources say that while Poletti served in Sicily his driver and interpreter was Mafia boss Vito Genovese, who had fled New York in the 1930s to escape prosecution for murder.<ref>Antony Shugaar, "Forward" in Salvatore Lupo, History of the Mafia (New York: Columbia University Press, 2009), p. xiii.</ref> Genovese was allegedly heavily involved in black-market activities with other Sicilian Mafiosi, including Calogero Vizzini.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Another Mafia boss, Lucky Luciano, is also alleged to have once described Poletti as "one of our good friends."<ref>The Great Heroin Coup: Drugs, Intelligence, & International Fascism, by Henrik Krüger, 1981, page 24</ref> Poletti always said he had no connection to Genovese, Luciano, the Mafia, or black market activities.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>The Godfathers: Lives and Crimes of the Mafia Mobsters, Roberto Olla, 2007</ref> In a 1993 interview for BBC TV, Poletti said, "We had no problems at all with the Mafia. Nobody ever heard of it. While we were there, nobody heard of it. Nobody ever talked about it."<ref>Fighting the Mafia in World War Two, by Tim Newark, 2007, page 218</ref> In addition, the stories alleging a Genovese-Poletti connection fail to explain why Poletti would have needed an Italian language interpreter, given his fluency in Italian (including the Sicilian and Neapolitan dialects), Spanish, and German as the result of his heritage, his college studies, a job in his twenties working as a tour guide for college students visiting Europe, and his regular visits to his mother after she began residing in Italy following the death of his father.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

After World War IIEdit

After leaving the Army as a colonel Poletti became the senior partner in a Manhattan law firm, which was reorganized as Poletti, Diamond, Rabin, Freidin & MacKay, and later became known as Poletti, Freidin, Prashker, Feldman and Gartner<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> From May 1946 to June 1947 he carried out an appointment as an arbitrator assigned to resolve labor disputes in New York City's clothing industry.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In 1955 Poletti was appointed to the New York State Power Authority, serving until 1960, the period in which the St. Lawrence Project and Niagara Project were built.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

File:Charles Poletti (NY).jpg

Poletti at the time of the World's Fair in 1964

From 1960 to 1965 he was the executive responsible for foreign exhibits at the 1964 New York World's Fair.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Retirement and deathEdit

Poletti died at age 99 in his San Marco Island, Florida home.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He was survived by his second wife, Elizabeth, and his children, Charles Poletti, Carla Tidmarsh, and Joanna Todisco. At the time of his death, he was the earliest-serving living former U.S. governor. He was interred at Calkins Cemetery in Elizabethtown, New York.<ref>Social Security Death Index</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Awards and honorsEdit

Poletti received the Legion of Merit for his service in Italy.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 1945 Poletti received the Order of Saint Gregory the Great from Pope Pius XII.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In addition, Italy's government named him a Knight of the Grand Cross of the Crown of Italy.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Poletti was named an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1948.<ref>Newspaper photo headline and caption, Poletti Honored for Wartime Service, New York Post, July 6, 1948</ref> For his work at the World's Fair Poletti received the Order of the Star of Jordan.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He also received the Grand Officer of the Order of Saint Agatha of San Marino.<ref>Who's Who in the World, published by Marquis, 1978</ref> The Charles Poletti Power Project (renamed in 1982 to honor him) was located in Astoria, Queens, across the East River from Manhattan in New York City. In 2002 it was scheduled to be closed, and it was shut down in February, 2010.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

ReferencesEdit

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External linksEdit

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Poletti papers at Columbia University
National Governors Association biography
Press Release, NYPA Trustees Honor Charles Poletti, New York State Power Authority, September 17, 2002

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