{{short description|American politician}} {{Lead too short|date=July 2020}} {{Use mdy dates|date=February 2022}} {{Infobox officeholder | image = Bob Shamansky 97th Congress 1981.jpg | state = Ohio | district = 12th | term_start = January 3, 1981 | term_end = January 3, 1983 | preceded = Samuel L. Devine | succeeded = John Kasich | party = Democratic | birth_name = Robert Norton Shamansky | birth_date = {{birth date|1927|4|18}} | death_date = {{death date and age|2011|8|11|1927|4|18}} | birth_place = Columbus, Ohio, U.S. | death_place = Columbus, Ohio, U.S. | resting_place = New Agudas Achim Cemetery<br/>Columbus, Ohio, U.S. | alma_mater = Ohio State University<br>Harvard Law School | allegiance = United States | branch = United States Army | service_years = 1950–1952 | unit = Counterintelligence Corps }} '''Robert Norton Shamansky''' (April 18, 1927 – August 11, 2011) was an American Democratic politician and attorney from the state of Ohio. He served in the U.S. House of Representatives for a single term from 1981 until 1983. In 2018, the ''Jewish Telegraphic Agency'' wrote that "Shamansky's life was marked by hardship, Jewish pride and tilting at windmills".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.jta.org/2018/08/08/politics/remembering-bob-shamansky-last-democrat-win-ohios-12th-district|title=Remembering Bob Shamansky, the last Democrat to win Ohio's 12th District|date=August 8, 2018|website=Jewish Telegraphic Agency|language=en-US|last = Kampeas|first = Ron|access-date=October 18, 2019}}</ref>
==Early life== Shamansky was born in 1927 in Columbus, the son of Sarah (Greenberg) and Harry Solomon Shamansky.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3iJ3AAAAMAAJ&q=%22SHAMANSKY,+ROBERT+NORTON+(1927-):%22|title=The Congressional Minyan: The Jews of Capitol Hill|isbn=9780881256598|last1=Stone|first1=Kurt F.|year=2000}}</ref> He attended Bexley High School. He was a 1947 graduate of Ohio State University and a 1950 graduate of Harvard Law School. He was subsequently admitted to the bar in 1950. He was also a Special Agent in the United States Army's Counter Intelligence Corps from 1950 until 1952. He joined the Army as a private and was initially stationed in Georgia, followed by duty at Fort George G. Meade, Maryland.
==Political career== In 1966, Shamansky ran for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. However, he lost to Republican incumbent Samuel L. Devine.
=== Congress === Fourteen years later, in 1980, Shamansky challenged Devine again. This time, he was successful in unseating the long-time incumbent Devine, becoming the first Democrat to represent the district since 1939. He was also the first Democrat to represent a significant portion of the state capital, Columbus, since 1967.
As a member of the 97th Congress, Shamansky served on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and as a member of the Science and Technology Committee.
=== Defeat === In 1982, after reapportionment, Shamansky's district absorbed a large chunk of the more Republican-leaning 17th District. He was defeated in his bid for re-election by future Governor John Kasich.
In 2006, Shamansky ran for his old congressional seat. However, the 12th had been significantly redrawn since he'd last served in Congress, and he lost to Kasich's successor, Pat Tiberi, by 14 points.
==Death== On August 11, 2011, Shamansky died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound at his home in Columbus at the age of 84. He had been treated for depression at a psychiatric hospital shortly before his death.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.columbusmonthly.com/article/20140206/NEWS/302069294 |title=The mysterious death of Bob Shamansky |work=Columbus Monthly |date=October 1, 2011 |accessdate=February 11, 2020 }}</ref>
==See also== {{Portal|Biography}} *List of Jewish members of the United States Congress
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== {{CongBio|S000282}} *{{find a Grave|74976424}} *{{C-SPAN|94578}} *[https://web.archive.org/web/20061025212107/http://www.shamanskyforcongress.com/cms/ 2006 official campaign website (archived)]
{{s-start}} {{s-par|us-hs}} {{US House succession box | state=Ohio | district=12 | before=Samuel L. Devine | years=1981–1983 | after=John Kasich }} {{s-end}}
{{OhioRepresentatives12}} {{USCongRep-start|congresses= 97th United States Congresses |state=Ohio}} {{USCongRep/OH/97}} {{USCongRep-end}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shamansky, Bob}} Category:1927 births Category:2011 deaths Category:2011 suicides Category:20th-century American lawyers Category:American politicians who died by suicide Category:Bexley High School alumni Category:Candidates in the 2006 United States elections Category:Democratic Party United States representatives from Ohio Category:Harvard Law School alumni Category:Jewish United States representatives Category:John Kasich Category:Lawyers from Columbus, Ohio Category:Ohio lawyers Category:Ohio State University alumni Category:People from Bexley, Ohio Category:Politicians from Columbus, Ohio Category:Suicides by firearm in Ohio Category:United States Army soldiers Category:20th-century United States representatives