1. William O'Dwyer was an Irish-American politician who served as the 100th Mayor of New York City, holding that office from 1946 to 1950.
16 Facts About William O'Dwyer
1. 2.
In 1907, William O'Dwyer began to study for the priesthood at the Pontifical University of Salamanca, a Jesuit seminary in Spain, where he became fluent in Spanish.
3.
William O'Dwyer later decided not to join the clergy, and emigrated to the United States in 1910.
4.
William O'Dwyer sailed to New York as a steerage passenger on board the liner Philadelphia and was inspected at Ellis Island on June 27,1910.
5.
William O'Dwyer first worked as a laborer, then as a New York City police officer, while studying law at night at Fordham University Law School.
6.
William O'Dwyer received his degree in 1923 and then built up a successful practice before serving as a Kings County Court judge.
7.
William O'Dwyer won election as the Kings County District Attorney in November 1939 and his prosecution of the organized crime syndicate known as Murder, Inc made him a national celebrity.
8.
In 1945, O'Dwyer received the support of Tammany Hall leader Edward V Loughlin, won the Democratic nomination, and then easily won the mayoral election.
9.
Shortly after his re-election to the mayoralty in 1949, William O'Dwyer was confronted with a police corruption scandal uncovered by the Kings County District Attorney, Miles McDonald.
10.
William O'Dwyer returned to New York City in 1951 to answer questions concerning his association with organized crime figures and the accusations followed him for the rest of his life.
11.
William O'Dwyer resigned as ambassador on December 6,1952, but remained in Mexico until 1960.
12.
William O'Dwyer helped organize the first Israel Day Parade, along with New York's Jewish community.
13.
William O'Dwyer died in New York City on November 24,1964, in Beth Israel Hospital, aged 74, from heart failure.
14.
In 1916, William O'Dwyer married Catherine Lenihan, whom he met while he was working as a bartender at the Vanderbilt Hotel and she was employed as one of the Vanderbilt's telephone switchboard operators.
15.
William O'Dwyer's funeral was originally planned for St Joseph's Church in the Yorkville neighborhood of Manhattan, where she and her husband were members.
16.
On December 20,1949, William O'Dwyer married Elizabeth Sloan Simpson at St Joseph's Catholic Church in Stuart, Florida.