Michael Francis Phelan

{{Short description|American politician}} {{Use mdy dates|date=October 2011}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Michael Francis Phelan | image = Michael Francis Phelan.png | state = Massachusetts | district = 7th | term_start = March 4, 1913 | term_end = March 3, 1921 | preceded = Ernest W. Roberts | succeeded = Robert S. Maloney | office2 = Member of the <br>Massachusetts House of Representatives<br> 12th Essex District<ref name="Bridgman1905p145"/> | term_start2 = 1905<ref name="Bridgman1905p145"/> | term_end2 = 1906 | predecessor2 = Asa T. Newhall<ref name="Bridgman1904p145">{{Citation |last = Bridgman|first=Arthur Milnor| title = A Souvenir of Massachusetts legislators, Volume XIII |page =145 | publisher=A. M. Bridgman | location = Stoughton, MA | year = 1904}}</ref> | successor2 = | majority2 = | birth_date = October 22, 1875<ref name="Bridgman1905p145">{{Citation |last = Bridgman|first=Arthur Milnor| title = A Souvenir of Massachusetts legislators, Volume XIV |page =145 | publisher=A. M. Bridgman | location = Stoughton, MA | year = 1905}}</ref> | birth_place = | death_date = October 12, 1941 (aged 65) | death_place = Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. | party = Democrat | spouse = | relations = | children = | alma_mater = Harvard,<br>Harvard Law School | occupation = | profession = | signature = | website = | footnotes = }}

'''Michael Francis Phelan''' (October 22, 1875 – October 12, 1941) was a U.S. representative from Massachusetts.

Born in Lynn, Massachusetts, Phelan attended the public schools. He graduated from Lynn Classical High School, from Harvard College in 1897, and from Harvard Law School in 1900. He was admitted to the bar in 1900 and commenced practice in Lynn.

==Massachusetts House of Representatives== ===1903 State Representative election===

In 1903 Phelan ran for the office of Massachusetts State Representative, Phelan received 1,307 votes.<ref name="Bridgman1904p145"/> Asa T. Newhall received 1,371 votes coming in second behind Republican candidate John W. Blaney who received 1,434 votes.<ref name="Bridgman1904p145"/> The district sent two representatives to the Massachusetts House, so although Newhall came in second in the vote total he was elected.<ref name="Bridgman1904p145"/>

===1904 State Representative election===

In 1904 Phelan was elected as a Democrat to serve in the Massachusetts House of Representatives of 1905.<ref name="Bridgman1905p145"/>

==United States House of Representatives== ===Election to Congress=== Phelan was elected as a Democrat to the Sixty-third and to the three succeeding Congresses (March 4, 1913 – March 3, 1921).

===Congressional Service=== Phelan served as chairman of the Committee on Banking and Currency (Sixty-fifth Congress). Phelan was an Irish nationalist, who tried to use his position as a congressman to bring attention to Irish nationalism.<ref>Treaty of Peace with Germany: Hearings Before the Committee on Foreign Relations, United States Senate, Sixty-sixth Congress, First Session, Part 17 - United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Foreign Relations U.S. Government Printing Office, 1919 pg. 739</ref> He was opposed to American entry into World War I on the grounds that he did not want the United States to be on the same side as the United Kingdom in a war. Phelan was "deeply antisemitic," harboring a lifelong bigotry against Jewish people. He lamented the 1916 United States presidential election on the grounds that "both candidates were England-lovers and Jew sympathizers." He believed that both Charles Evans Hughes and Woodrow Wilson were "profanely flawed" because both men were "pro-British" with regard to foreign policy, and because both men were outspokenly opposed to antisemitism.<ref name="ReferenceA">Michael Francis Phelan: Profile of an Antisemite</ref> Woodrow Wilson opposed Phelan when Phelan expressed support for limiting Jewish immigration to the United States.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://forward.com/opinion/450092/woodrow-wilson-was-a-hero-to-jews-what-should-we-do-with-his-racism/|title = Opinion | Woodrow Wilson was a hero to Jews. What should we do with his racism?| date=July 2, 2020 }}</ref> Phelan described this as "unforgiveable."<ref name="ReferenceA"/>

Phelan was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1920 to the Sixty-seventh Congress. Practiced law in Lynn and Boston, Massachusetts, and Washington, D.C.. He served as member of the Merrimac Valley Sewage Commission in 1937. He was appointed a member of the Massachusetts Labor Relations Board in 1937 and served until his death.

==Personal life== Phelan was close friends with Massachusetts Governor and Senator David Ignatius Walsh. Near the end of his life representative Phelan was a frequent reader of the periodical ''Social Justice'', published by antisemitic priest Charles Coughlin.<ref>Father Coughlin: The Tumultuous Life of the Priest of the Little Flower by Sheldon Marcus, 1973</ref>

==Death and burial== Phelan died in Boston, Massachusetts, October 12, 1941. Phelan was interred in St. Mary's Cemetery, Lynn, Massachusetts.

==References== {{CongBio|P000291}} {{Bioguide}}

==Notes== <references/> {{s-start}} {{s-par|us-hs}} {{US House succession box | state=Massachusetts | district=7 | before=Ernest W. Roberts | after= Robert S. Maloney | years=March 4, 1913 – March 3, 1921 }} {{s-end}} {{US House Financial Services chairs}} {{USRepMA}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Phelan, Michael Francis}} Category:1875 births Category:1941 deaths Category:Harvard College alumni Category:Harvard Law School alumni Category:Democratic Party members of the Massachusetts House of Representatives Category:Democratic Party United States representatives from Massachusetts Category:Catholics from Massachusetts Category:20th-century members of the Massachusetts General Court Category:20th-century United States representatives