30 Facts About Charles Poletti

Charles Poletti was an American lawyer and politician.

Charles Poletti 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 US state.

Charles Poletti 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.

Charles Poletti served as lieutenant governor of New York from 1939 to 1942.

Charles Poletti lost his bid for reelection in 1942, as did gubernatorial nominee John J Bennett Jr.

Charles Poletti died in Florida at age 99, and was buried in Elizabethtown.

Aldo Charles Poletti was born in Barre, Vermont to Dino Poletti and Carolina Poletti.

Dino Charles Poletti worked as a stonecutter in a Barre granite quarry.

Charles Poletti intended to manage a bakery after graduating from Spaulding High School in 1920, but was encouraged by his principal to attend college.

Charles Poletti 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.

In 1928, Charles Poletti graduated from Harvard Law School with a LL.

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.

In 1933 Poletti was appointed on Felix Frankfurter's recommendation to be counsel to Governor Herbert H Lehman.

Lehman relied heavily on Charles 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.

In 1938, Charles Poletti was elected lieutenant governor of New York on the Democratic ticket with Lehman.

In 1939 Charles Poletti was elected to the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People's board of directors.

When party leaders coalesced around Bennett, Charles Poletti withdrew and accepted renomination for lieutenant governor.

The ticket of Bennett and Poletti were defeated in the general election by Thomas E Dewey and Thomas W Wallace.

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, Charles Poletti succeeded to the governorship.

Charles Poletti served 29 days, the shortest term of any New York governor.

In July 1943 Charles Poletti was assigned to serve as a US 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.

Some sources say that while Charles 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.

In 1955 Charles 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.

Charles Poletti died at age 99 in his San Marco Island, Florida home.

Charles Poletti was survived by his second wife, Elizabeth, and his children, Charles Poletti, Carla Tidmarsh, and Joanna Todisco.

Charles Poletti was interred at Calkins Cemetery in Elizabethtown, New York.

Charles Poletti received the Legion of Merit for his service in Italy.

In 1945 Charles Poletti received the Order of Saint Gregory the Great from Pope Pius XII.

Charles Poletti was named an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1948.

Charles Poletti received the Grand Officer of the Order of Saint Agatha of San Marino.