{{Short description|American politician}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Michael Aloysius Feighan | image = Michael A. Feighan 91st Congress 1969.jpg | state1 = [[Ohio]] | district1 = [[Ohio's 20th congressional district|20th]] | term_start1 = January 3, 1943 | term_end1 = January 3, 1971 | predecessor1 = [[Martin L. Sweeney]] | successor1 = [[James V. Stanton]] | office2 = Member of the [[Ohio House of Representatives]] | term2 = 1937-1940 | birth_date = {{birth date|1905|2|16}} | birth_place = [[Lakewood, Ohio]], U.S. | death_date = {{death date and age|1992|3|19|1905|2|16}} | death_place = [[Washington, D.C.]], U.S. | party = [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] | spouse = Florence Feighan | relations = [[Ed Feighan]] (nephew) | alma_mater = [[John Carroll University]]; [[Princeton University]]; [[Harvard Law School]] | children = Michael Feighan Jr. William Feighan Fleur Feighan }} '''Michael Aloysius Feighan''' (February 16, 1905 – March 19, 1992) was an American [[politician]] from [[Lakewood, Ohio]], near [[Cleveland, Ohio|Cleveland]]. He served as a member of the [[Ohio House of Representatives]], and as a [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party]] U.S. Representative from 1943 to 1971, serving [[Ohio's 20th congressional district]].

Originally, he was recruited by national Democrats who wanted to replace Congressman [[Martin L. Sweeney]] (D-OH), who had for eleven years held the seat representing the west side of Cleveland. They considered Sweeney to be too isolationist; for example, he had argued against enacting [[Lend-Lease]] to the [[United Kingdom]].

After Feighan had served almost three decades in the House of Representatives, some local Democratic officials, led by [[Cleveland City Council]] President [[James V. Stanton]], had grown tired of his leadership. Sensing that they could not beat Feighan in one election, they set up a [[stalking horse]] running a [[Michael A. Sweeney]], a local lawyer with a good political name. Sweeney lost, but his vote total showed that Feighan could be vulnerable in a rematch. Four years later, in 1970, Stanton himself ran and defeated Feighan in the Democratic primary, concluding Feighan's political career.

During the legislation of the [[Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965]] Feighan insisted that "family unification" should take priority in immigration policy over "employability", on the premise that such a weighting would maintain the existing ethnic profile of the country. That change instead resulted in [[chain migration]] dominating the subsequent patterns of immigration to the United States and consequently a more ethnically diverse population.<ref>{{cite AV media | people = [[Tom Gjelten]], Laura Knoy | date = 2016-01-21 | series = ''The Exchange'' | title = NPR's Tom Gjelten on America's Immigration Story | medium = Radio broadcast | url = http://nhpr.org/post/nprs-tom-gjelten-americas-immigration-story | access-date = 2016-06-07 | publisher = [[New Hampshire Public Radio]] }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.tomgjelten.com/feighan-lbj/ | title = Michael Feighan and LBJ | last = Gjelten | first = Tom | authorlink = Tom Gjelten | date = 2015-08-12 | access-date = 2016-06-07 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160506171239/http://www.tomgjelten.com/feighan-lbj/ | archive-date=2016-05-06}}</ref>

==Electoral history==

{| class="wikitable" style="margin:0.5em ; font-size:95%" |+ {{ushr|Ohio|20|}}: Results 1942&ndash;1968<ref name="clerkresults">{{cite web|url=http://clerk.house.gov/member_info/electionInfo/index.html |title=Election Statistics |accessdate=2008-08-24 |publisher=Office of the Clerk of the House of Representatives |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080730201058/http://clerk.house.gov/member_info/electionInfo/index.html |archivedate=2008-07-30 }}</ref> !|Year ! !|Democrat !|Votes !|Pct ! !|Republican !|Votes !|Pct ! !|3rd Party !|Party !|Votes !|Pct ! |- |[[U.S. House election, 1942|1942]] | |{{Party shading/Democratic}} |{{nowrap|'''Michael A. Feighan'''}} |{{Party shading/Democratic}} align="right" |34,462 |{{Party shading/Democratic}} align="right" |61.81% | |{{Party shading/Republican}} |{{nowrap|[[Harry T. Marshall]]}} |{{Party shading/Republican}} align="right" |14,001 |{{Party shading/Republican}} align="right" |25.11% | |{{Party shading/Independent}} |{{nowrap|[[Marie R. Sweeney]]}} |{{Party shading/Independent}} |[[Independent (politician)|Independent]] |{{Party shading/Independent}} align="right" |7,289 |{{Party shading/Independent}} align="right" |13.07% | |- |[[U.S. House election, 1944|1944]] | |{{Party shading/Democratic}} |{{nowrap|'''Michael A. Feighan'''}} |{{Party shading/Democratic}} align="right" |75,218 |{{Party shading/Democratic}} align="right" |75.85% | |{{Party shading/Republican}} |{{nowrap|[[A. R. McNamara]]}} |{{Party shading/Republican}} align="right" |23,945 |{{Party shading/Republican}} align="right" |24.15% | | | | | | |- |[[U.S. House election, 1946|1946]] | |{{Party shading/Democratic}} |{{nowrap|'''Michael A. Feighan'''}} |{{Party shading/Democratic}} align="right" |49,670 |{{Party shading/Democratic}} align="right" |66.99% | |{{Party shading/Republican}} |{{nowrap|[[Walter E. Obert]]}} |{{Party shading/Republican}} align="right" |24,476 |{{Party shading/Republican}} align="right" |33.01% | | | | | | |- |[[U.S. House election, 1948|1948]] | |{{Party shading/Democratic}} |{{nowrap|'''Michael A. Feighan'''}} |{{Party shading/Democratic}} align="right" |64,241 |{{Party shading/Democratic}} align="right" |100% | |{{Party shading/Republican}} |{{nowrap|''no candidate''}} |{{Party shading/Republican}} align="right" | |{{Party shading/Republican}} align="right" | | | | | | | |- |[[U.S. House election, 1950|1950]] | |{{Party shading/Democratic}} |{{nowrap|'''Michael A. Feighan'''}} |{{Party shading/Democratic}} align="right" |60,565 |{{Party shading/Democratic}} align="right" |74.21% | |{{Party shading/Republican}} |{{nowrap|[[Paul W. Cassidy]]}} |{{Party shading/Republican}} align="right" |21,044 |{{Party shading/Republican}} align="right" |25.79% | | | | | | |- |[[U.S. House election, 1952|1952]] | |{{Party shading/Democratic}} |{{nowrap|'''Michael A. Feighan'''}} |{{Party shading/Democratic}} align="right" |109,211 |{{Party shading/Democratic}} align="right" |65.21% | |{{Party shading/Republican}} |{{nowrap|[[John H. Ferguson]]}} |{{Party shading/Republican}} align="right" |58,271 |{{Party shading/Republican}} align="right" |34.79% | | | | | | |- |[[U.S. House election, 1954|1954]] | |{{Party shading/Democratic}} |{{nowrap|'''Michael A. Feighan'''}} |{{Party shading/Democratic}} align="right" |81,304 |{{Party shading/Democratic}} align="right" |67.66% | |{{Party shading/Republican}} |{{nowrap|[[John H. Ferguson]]}} |{{Party shading/Republican}} align="right" |38,865 |{{Party shading/Republican}} align="right" |32.34% | | | | | | |- |[[U.S. House election, 1956|1956]] | |{{Party shading/Democratic}} |{{nowrap|'''Michael A. Feighan'''}} |{{Party shading/Democratic}} align="right" |105,562 |{{Party shading/Democratic}} align="right" |65.25% | |{{Party shading/Republican}} |{{nowrap|[[John H. Ferguson]]}} |{{Party shading/Republican}} align="right" |56,209 |{{Party shading/Republican}} align="right" |34.75% | | | | | | |- |[[U.S. House election, 1958|1958]] | |{{Party shading/Democratic}} |{{nowrap|'''Michael A. Feighan'''}} |{{Party shading/Democratic}} align="right" |113,200 |{{Party shading/Democratic}} align="right" |79.43% | |{{Party shading/Republican}} |{{nowrap|[[Malvern E. Schultz]]}} |{{Party shading/Republican}} align="right" |29,308 |{{Party shading/Republican}} align="right" |20.57% | | | | | | |- |[[U.S. House election, 1960|1960]] | |{{Party shading/Democratic}} |{{nowrap|'''Michael A. Feighan'''}} |{{Party shading/Democratic}} align="right" |113,302 |{{Party shading/Democratic}} align="right" |67.79% | |{{Party shading/Republican}} |{{nowrap|[[Leonard G. Richter]]}} |{{Party shading/Republican}} align="right" |53,845 |{{Party shading/Republican}} align="right" |32.21% | | | | | | |- |[[U.S. House election, 1962|1962]] | |{{Party shading/Democratic}} |{{nowrap|'''Michael A. Feighan'''}} |{{Party shading/Democratic}} align="right" |91,544 |{{Party shading/Democratic}} align="right" |71.04% | |{{Party shading/Republican}} |{{nowrap|[[Leonard G. Richter]]}} |{{Party shading/Republican}} align="right" |37,325 |{{Party shading/Republican}} align="right" |28.96% | | | | | | |- |[[U.S. House election, 1964|1964]] | |{{Party shading/Democratic}} |{{nowrap|'''Michael A. Feighan'''}} |{{Party shading/Democratic}} align="right" |115,675 |{{Party shading/Democratic}} align="right" |74.43% | |{{Party shading/Republican}} |{{nowrap|[[Joseph A. Cipollone]]}} |{{Party shading/Republican}} align="right" |39,747 |{{Party shading/Republican}} align="right" |25.57% | | | | | | |- |[[U.S. House election, 1966|1966]] | |{{Party shading/Democratic}} |{{nowrap|'''Michael A. Feighan'''}} |{{Party shading/Democratic}} align="right" |63,629 |{{Party shading/Democratic}} align="right" |76.05% | |{{Party shading/Republican}} |{{nowrap|[[Clarence E. McLeod]]}} |{{Party shading/Republican}} align="right" |20,034 |{{Party shading/Republican}} align="right" |23.95% | | | | | | |- |[[U.S. House election, 1968|1968]] | |{{Party shading/Democratic}} |{{nowrap|'''Michael A. Feighan'''}} |{{Party shading/Democratic}} align="right" |72,918 |{{Party shading/Democratic}} align="right" |72.38% | |{{Party shading/Republican}} |{{nowrap|[[J. William Petro]]}} |{{Party shading/Republican}} align="right" |27,827 |{{Party shading/Republican}} align="right" |27.62% | | | | | | |}

==See also== {{commons category}}

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== {{CongBio|F000060}} *[http://arks.princeton.edu/ark:/88435/bz60cw286 Michael Feighan Papers at the Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript Library, Princeton University] * [http://politicalgraveyard.com/families/11223.html The Political Graveyard profile] {{s-start}} {{s-par|us-hs}} {{US House succession box | state = Ohio | district = 20 | before = [[Martin L. Sweeney]] | years = 1943 &ndash; 1971 | after = [[James V. Stanton]] }} {{s-end}} {{OhioRepresentatives19}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Feighan, Michael A.}} [[Category:1905 births]] [[Category:1992 deaths]] [[Category:Democratic Party members of the Ohio House of Representatives]] [[Category:Princeton University alumni]] [[Category:Harvard Law School alumni]] [[Category:Politicians from Cleveland]] [[Category:Politicians from Lakewood, Ohio]] [[Category:Democratic Party United States representatives from Ohio]] [[Category:20th-century United States representatives]] [[Category:20th-century members of the Ohio General Assembly]] [[Category:Chairs of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee]]