Michael J. Kirwan

Michael Joseph Kirwan (December 2, 1886 – July 27, 1970) was an American World War I veteran and Democratic politician from Ohio who served 17 terms as a representative to the United States Congress for the 19th electoral district of Ohio from 1937 until his death in 1970 in Bethesda, Maryland.

At the peak of his long congressional career, Kirwan was hailed as one of the most influential Democratic members of Congress, particularly on matters related to conservation.

Early years Mike Kirwan was born in Wilkes-Barre, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, a manufacturing town in northeastern Pennsylvania. In 1907, he relocated to Youngstown, Ohio, a center of steel production located just west of the Pennsylvania border.

World War I During the First World War Kirwan served overseas as a sergeant in the Three Hundred and Forty-eighth Machine Gun Company with the Sixty-fourth Artillery, United States Army. Records indicate he served between 1917 and 1919. Despite his later occupancy of important committee positions, however, Kirwan was unsuccessful in his efforts to achieve his most cherished goal as a lawmaker. The housing project comprised 618 units capable of sheltering 2,500 people. Erected under government financing, the project received 90 percent of its funding ($2,862,000) on a 60-year loan basis. Upon its completion, Kirwan lauded the housing project as a welcome alternative to what had been a dilapidated residential district, and further declared that it would serve as a model for the nation. In 1954, Kirwan was widely credited among Democratic Congressional leaders as the architect of the party's success in the November congressional elections. Despite his advancing years, he announced on December 3, 1957 (his 71st birthday) that he would seek a 12th term in Congress. The following year, Kirwan was among scores of Mahoning Valley Democratic candidates who secured sweeping victories; and in 1959, he was elected to his seventh term as chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

Final years Among the highlights of Kirwan's later career was an event held in his honor in 1959 at Youngstown's Idora Park Ballroom. The keynote speaker at that event was U.S. Senator John F. Kennedy, who would run successfully as the Democratic presidential nominee the following year. In 1969, he was injured in a fall at the University Club in Washington, D.C., and was confined to Bethesda Naval Hospital.

Death and burial Kirwan experienced failing health for the next several months and died in Bethesda in 1970. His funeral was attended by more than 600 people, including a delegation of 50 members of Congress.

Kirwan was often an outspoken critic of the expansion of the Gettysburg National Military Park by way of U.S. Interior Department spending. He was once quoted as saying, "We have enough land at Gettysburg. There is no use taking any more."

Kirwan's papers are archived at Youngstown State University's Maag Library Archives and Special Collections.

The Michael J. Kirwan Reservoir impounds the west branch of the Mahoning River in Portage County, Ohio.

Election results Year Democratic Republican Other 1968 Michael J. Kirwan: 101,813 Donald J. Lewis: 44,363 1966 Michael J. Kirwan: 86,975 Donald J. Lewis: 34,037 1964 Michael J. Kirwan: 111,682 Albert James: 34,654 1962 Michael J. Kirwan: 75,967 William Vincent Williams: 46,200 1960 Michael J. Kirwan: 102,874 Paul E. Stevens: 46,537 1958 Michael J. Kirwan: 93,660 Loren E. Van Brocklin: 31,192 1956 Michael J. Kirwan: 92,924 Ralph E. Turner: 42,293 1954 Michael J. Kirwan: 81,304 David S. Edwards: 33,352 1952 Michael J. Kirwan: 91,074 Allen Russell: 46,202 1950 Michael J. Kirwan: 119,245 Henry P. Kosling: 67,661 1948 Michael J. Kirwan: 134,408 William Bacon: 63,079 1946 Michael J. Kirwan: 88,872 Norman W. Adams: 59,607 1944 Michael J. Kirwan: 120,191 Herschel Hunt: 69,403 1942 Michael J. Kirwan: 60,248 James T. Begg: 46,567 1940 Michael J. Kirwan: 122,075 Charles H. Anderson: 75,016 1938 Michael J. Kirwan: 76,268 William P. Barnum: 69,214