26 Facts About Sam Stratton

Samuel Studdiford Stratton was a Democratic political figure in Upstate New York.

Sam Stratton worked for two years on the staff of a Massachusetts Congressman, and then served in the United States Navy during World War II.

Sam Stratton was recalled to active military duty for the Korean War, and served in Washington, DC.

In 1958, Sam Stratton ran successfully for Congress; he was reelected fourteen times, and served from 1959 to 1989.

Sam Stratton abandoned his last reelection campaign in 1988 because of health issues, and retired to his home in Maryland.

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Sam Stratton died in Maryland in 1990, and was buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

Sam Stratton was born in Yonkers, New York, the son of the Reverend Paul Sam Stratton and Ethel Irene Russell.

Sam Stratton's family moved to Schenectady, New York while he was an infant.

Sam Stratton attended school in Schenectady, Rochester, and at Blair Academy in New Jersey.

Sam Stratton received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Rochester in 1937, was a captain of the swim team, and joined Phi Beta Kappa and Psi Upsilon.

Sam Stratton received a Master of Arts degree in Philosophy from Haverford College in 1938, and a Master of Arts in Philosophy from Harvard University in 1940.

Twice awarded the Bronze Star with Valor device, Sam Stratton's service was notable for his interrogation of Tomoyuki Yamashita, who was later executed for his part in the Manila massacre.

Sam Stratton attained the rank of commander in 1955, and retired as a captain in 1976.

Sam Stratton began serving as a member of Schenectady's Municipal Housing Authority in 1950, and remained with the Authority until 1955, including holding the position of chairman in 1951.

From 1957 to 1958, Sam Stratton was a financial services representative with the First Albany Corporation.

Sam Stratton rose through seniority to become the third-ranking Democrat on the Armed Services Committee; though he lost a race for chairman of the committee to Les Aspin in 1985, he chaired subcommittees including the one on Procurement and Military Nuclear Systems, and was recognized as an expert on defense issues.

Sam Stratton consistently succeeded at winning reelection by appealing to conservative voters and supporting defense spending in his district, which included General Electric manufacturing plants and the Watervliet Arsenal.

Sam Stratton quickly became popular with the voters in this mostly rural district, and went on to win another four terms by well over 60 percent of the vote.

Sam Stratton easily defeated Republican incumbent Daniel Button, and was reelected seven more times without serious difficulty until retiring in 1989 at the age of 72.

In 1962, Stratton was a candidate for Governor of New York; Robert M Morgenthau won the Democratic nomination, but lost the general election to incumbent Nelson A Rockefeller.

Sam Stratton was a proponent of the Equal Rights Amendment, and introduced successful legislation, as a rider to the 1975 defense appropriations bill, which mandated the admission of women to the service academies.

In 1976, Sam Stratton led an unsuccessful effort to cite journalist Daniel Schorr for Contempt of Congress after Schorr refused to identify his source for a copy of the Pike Committee report on the clandestine activities of the Central Intelligence Agency.

In 1988, Sam Stratton announced his bid for reelection, and circulated nominating petitions to appear as a candidate for renomination in the Democratic primary.

Sam Stratton said he was retiring because of health concerns, but the obvious implication raised by his political opponents was that he had intended to retire all along, and wanted to make it easier for McNulty to succeed him.

Sam Stratton had a stroke in October 1989, after which he resided in a Potomac, Maryland nursing home.

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Sam Stratton died in Gaithersburg, Maryland on September 13,1990, and was buried at Arlington National Cemetery, Section 7A, Grave 58.