{{short description|American politician}} {{For|other people with similar names|Michael Kirwan (disambiguation){{!}}Michael Kirwan}} {{Infobox officeholder | birth_name=Michael Joseph Kirwan | name=Michael J. Kirwan | image=File:CAC CC 001 18 30 0000 2915.jpg | caption= | state=[[Ohio]] | district=[[Ohio's 19th congressional district|19th]] | party=[[United States Democratic Party|Democratic]] | term_start=January 3, 1937 | term_end=July 27, 1970 | preceded=[[John G. Cooper]] | succeeded=[[Charles J. Carney]] | birth_date={{birth date|1886|12|02}} | birth_place=[[Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania]], U.S. | death_date={{death date and age|1970|07|27|1886|12|02}} | death_place=[[Bethesda, Maryland]], U.S. | spouse=Alice Kane | children=3 | occupation= | resting_place= Calvary Cemetery<br>[[Youngstown, Ohio]], U.S. | alma_mater= }} {{commons category}} '''Michael Joseph Kirwan''' (December 2, 1886 – July 27, 1970) was an American [[World War I]] veteran and [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] politician from [[Ohio]] who served 17 terms as a [[United States House of Representatives|representative]] to the [[United States Congress]] for the [[Ohio's 19th congressional district|19th electoral district]] of Ohio from 1937 until his death in 1970 in [[Bethesda, Maryland]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2012-07-27 |title=Rep. Michael Kirwan of Ohio dies, July 27, 1936 |url=https://www.politico.com/story/2012/07/rep-michael-kirwan-of-ohio-dies-079054 |access-date=2026-05-30 |website=POLITICO |language=en}}</ref>
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 in the United States|conservation]].<ref>Aley (1975), p. 446.</ref>
== Early years == Mike Kirwan was born in [[Wilkes-Barre]], [[Luzerne County, Pennsylvania]], a manufacturing town in northeastern [[Pennsylvania]].<ref name="congress">{{cite web | url = http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=K000244 | title = Congressional Biography | publisher = Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress | accessdate = 2007-03-07}}</ref> 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.<ref name="congress"/>
=== Marriage === Kirwan was married to Alice Kane. They had three children, John, Michael and Mary Alice.
== Political career == Upon his return to Youngstown, Kirwan established himself as an outspoken proponent of a plan to construct a [[Lake Erie]] to [[Ohio River]] canal – a proposal for which he would lobby tirelessly as Congressman from the 19th Congressional District of Ohio.<ref name="aley218">Aley (1975), p. 218.</ref> Despite his later occupancy of important committee positions, however, Kirwan was unsuccessful in his efforts to achieve his most cherished goal as a lawmaker.<ref name="aley218"/> Kirwan served on the Youngstown City Council from 1932 to 1936.<ref name="congress"/> [[File:Michael J. Kirwan 1937-1-7.jpg|thumb|Kirwan in 1937]]
=== Tenure in Congress === In 1936, he ran for a seat in the [[United States House of Representatives | U.S. House of Representatives]], winning the first of 17 consecutive terms.
Throughout the 1930s and early 1940s, Kirwan was successful in garnering substantial federal support for a variety of public works projects including dams, [[reservoir (water)|reservoir]]s, public swimming pools, and public park facilities. In 1940, he also helped to secure government funding for the nation's first major [[housing project]], Westlakes Housing Village (later known as Westlakes Terrace), which was situated west of downtown Youngstown.<ref name="aley372">Aley (1975), p. 372.</ref> 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.<ref name="aley372"/>
In later years, Westlakes Terrace, like other low-income housing projects, yielded mixed results. The provision of cheap housing proved to be inadequate compensation for the loss of thousands of urban jobs, the decline of [[public transportation]], the advent of [[suburbanization]], and a host of other trends that adversely affected urban dwellers. Westlakes Terrace was recently converted to other purposes.
Powerful testimony to Kirwan's growing influence in the [[United States Congress|U.S. Congress]] came in 1948, when he was unanimously elected chairman of the [[Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee]] (DCCC), the first time a Northern Democrat had been named to that important post.<ref>Aley (1975), p. 413.</ref> In 1954, Kirwan was widely credited among Democratic Congressional leaders as the architect of the party's success in the November congressional elections.<ref>Aley (1975), p. 437.</ref> Despite his advancing years, he announced on December 3, 1957 (his 71st birthday) that he would seek a 12th term in Congress.<ref>Aley (1975), p. 445.</ref> 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.<ref name="aley449">Aley (1975), p. 449.</ref>
=== Final years === Among the highlights of Kirwan's later career was an event held in his honor in 1959 at Youngstown's [[Idora Park (Youngstown)|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.<ref name="aley449"/> In 1968, after winning his 17th term as a congressman, Kirwan announced that he would retire from public office at the close of the term in 1970.<ref>Aley (1975), p. 488.</ref> In 1969, he was injured in a fall at the University Club in [[Washington, D.C.]], and was confined to [[Walter Reed National Military Medical Center |Bethesda Naval Hospital]].<ref>Aley (1975), p. 497.</ref>
== Death and burial == Kirwan experienced failing health for the next several months and died in Bethesda in 1970.<ref name="aley506">Aley (1975), p. 506.</ref> His funeral was attended by more than 600 people, including a delegation of 50 members of Congress.<ref name="aley506"/> He is buried at Calvary Cemetery, in Youngstown, Ohio.<ref name="congress"/>
== Legacy == While aspects of Kirwan's legacy have proved durable, the constituency he served was adversely affected by [[deindustrialization]], which swept through much of northeastern Ohio starting in the late 1970s.
The primary [[Michael J. Kirwan Educational Television Center|educational television station]] in [[American Samoa]] bears Kirwan's name.<ref>{{cite web|title=Weekly Highlight 11/13/2009 Michael J. Kirwan Educational Television Center, Tutuila Island, Western, American Samoa |url=http://www.nps.gov/history/nr/feature/weekly_features/09_11_13_Kirwan_TV_Center.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101218142305/http://www.nps.gov/history/nr/feature/weekly_features/09_11_13_Kirwan_TV_Center.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=December 18, 2010}}</ref>
Kirwan was often an outspoken critic of the expansion of the Gettysburg National Military Park by way of [[United States Department of the Interior|U.S. Interior Department]] spending. He was once quoted as saying, "We have enough land at Gettysburg. There is no use taking any more."<ref>"Gettysburg Times" March 17, 1959</ref>
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]].<ref>{{cite web |url={{Gnis3|1061227}} |title=GNIS entry for Michael J. Kirwan Reservoir (Feature ID #1061227)| author= Geographic Names Information System |authorlink=Geographic Names Information System |accessdate=2016-04-11}}</ref>
==Election results== {| table border="1" cellpadding="2" ! 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 || |}
==See also== * [[List of members of the United States Congress who died in office (1950–1999)]] * [[Ohio's 19th congressional district]]
==References== {{reflist}}
==Further reading== * Aley, Howard C. (1975). ''A Heritage to Share: The Bicentennial History of Youngstown and the Mahoning Valley.'' Youngstown, OH: The Bicentennial Commission of Youngstown and Mahoning County.
== External links == * {{CongBio|K000244}} * [https://www.archives.gov/legislative/research/special-collections/oral-history/fenno/kirwan.html Kirwan Interview Notes] * [https://web.archive.org/web/20060218115309/http://www.lrp.usace.army.mil/rec/lakes/michaelj.htm Michael J. Kirwan Dam and Reservoir]
{{s-start}} {{s-par|us-hs}} {{US House succession box| state=Ohio| district=19| before=[[John G. Cooper]]| years= 1937–1970| after=[[Charles J. Carney]] }} {{s-end}}
{{OhioRepresentatives19}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kirwan, Michael J.}} [[Category:1886 births]] [[Category:1970 deaths]] [[Category:Ohio city council members]] [[Category:Politicians from Youngstown, Ohio]] [[Category:Politicians from Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania]] [[Category:United States Army soldiers]] [[Category:United States Army personnel of World War I]] [[Category:Military personnel from Pennsylvania]] [[Category:Military personnel from Ohio]] [[Category:Accidental deaths from falls in the United States]] [[Category:Accidental deaths in Maryland]] [[Category:Democratic Party United States representatives from Ohio]] [[Category:20th-century United States representatives]] [[Category:Chairs of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee]]