Patrick V. McNamara

Patrick Vincent McNamara (October 4, 1894 – April 30, 1966) was an American politician. A Democrat, he served as a United States senator from Michigan from 1955 until his death from a stroke in Bethesda, Maryland in 1966.

Early life and career Patrick McNamara was born in North Weymouth, Massachusetts, to Patrick Vincent and Mary Jane (née Thynne) McNamara, who were Irish immigrants. The oldest of eight children, he received his early education at public schools in his native town. He attended the local high school for two and a half years before transferring to the Fore River Apprentice School in Quincy, where he learned the trade of pipe fitting. In 1916, he began working as pipe fitter and foreman at the Fore River Shipyard. He then joined the Stanley-Carter Company, where he served as superintendent of construction, customer contact man, head of labor relations, and vice-president. For the first year of its tenure, he sat on the McClellan Committee (1957–60), which probed organized crime within trade unions. He resigned from the committee and was replaced by Frank Church.

McNamara was reelected over Alvin Morell Bentley in 1960, serving from January 3, 1955, until his death in Bethesda, Maryland. In the 87th Congress, he became the first chairman of the Senate Special Committee on Aging. He also chaired the Senate Public Works Committee in the 88th and 89th Congresses. The 1959 committee hearings which Pat McNamara called on the subject of the health of the elderly began a public debate which led to the creation of Medicare.

McNamara died of a stroke at Bethesda Naval Hospital on April 30, 1966, aged 71, and was interred in Mount Olivet Cemetery in Detroit.

McNamara was a member of Americans for Democratic Action. The Patrick V. McNamara Federal Building in Detroit was named for him.

Legacy McNamara donated his archival papers to the Walter P. Reuther Library, where they are open to the public for research. The bulk of materials relate to his time in the Senate and his work on the Public Works Committee (chairman, 1963–66), Labor and Public Welfare Committee, Select Committee on Improper Activities in the Labor or Management Field, Select Subcommittee on Poverty, and the Special Committee on Aging. Subjects covered include problems of the aged, civil rights, atomic energy, education, taxes, public works, federal highway acts, and labor. Correspondents include all major political figures of the period and many labor leaders.