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| | Lausche served as Municipal Court judge from 1932 to 1937 and Common Pleas Court judge from 1937 to 1941, before winning election as mayor in 1941.<ref name=odenkirk/> | | Lausche served as Municipal Court judge from 1932 to 1937 and Common Pleas Court judge from 1937 to 1941, before winning election as mayor in 1941.<ref name=odenkirk/> |
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| − | Lausche served as mayor until 1944, when he first won election as governor, the first [[Roman Catholic]] in that position when term were for two years. He was narrowly defeated in 1946, a heavily Republican year by the Republican Thomas H. Herbert (1894-1974) but rebounded in 1948 by unseating Herbert. He served four consecutive terms from 1949 to 1957. In the 1950 gubernatorial election, he defeated state Treasurer Don H. Ebright; in 1952, he beat then Cincinnati Mayor Charles Phelps Taft II (1897-1983), the youngest son of former [[U.S. President]] [[William Howard Taft]]. In 1954, he toppled state Auditor [[James J. Rhodes]], who later became governor himself. Lausche resigned in early 1957, having won election to the United States Senate in November 1956; he unseated Republican [[George Bender]]. | + | Lausche served as mayor until 1944, when he first won election as governor, the first [[Roman Catholic]] in that position when term were for two years. He was narrowly defeated in 1946, a heavily Republican year by the Republican Thomas H. Herbert (1894-1974) but rebounded in 1948 by unseating Herbert. He served four consecutive terms from 1949 to 1957. In the 1950 gubernatorial election, he defeated state Treasurer Don H. Ebright; in 1952, he beat then Cincinnati Mayor Charles Phelps Taft II (1897-1983), the youngest son of former [[U.S. President]] [[William Howard Taft]]. In 1954, he toppled state Auditor [[Jim Rhodes|James J. Rhodes]], who later became governor himself. Lausche resigned in early 1957, having won election to the United States Senate in November 1956; he unseated Republican [[George Bender]]. |
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| | In his first term in the Senate, Lausche threatened to support Republican [[William F. Knowland]] of [[California]] as the Senate Majority Leader rather than future [[U.S. President]] [[Lyndon B. Johnson]] of [[Texas]], but he did not do so. The plain-spoken old school politician, Lausche built a coalition of ethnic voters in Cleveland. He was even considered for the Republican vice-presidential nomination by [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]] in both 1952 and 1956, but the selection went to Senator [[Richard M. Nixon]] of [[California]]. Coincidentally, Lausche lost his Senate seat the same year that Nixon was elected president. With his bipartisan and [[Independent voter|independent]] approach to politics, Lausche was easily re-elected to the Senate in 1962 at the height of the [[Cuban Missile Crisis]]. In 1968, [[organized labor]] turned against him, and he was rather handily defeated in the Democratic primary by later Governor John Joyce Gilligan (1921-2013). In the [[general election]], however, Gilligan lost to [[Moderate Republican]] state attorney general [[William B. Saxbe]] won the seat. | | In his first term in the Senate, Lausche threatened to support Republican [[William F. Knowland]] of [[California]] as the Senate Majority Leader rather than future [[U.S. President]] [[Lyndon B. Johnson]] of [[Texas]], but he did not do so. The plain-spoken old school politician, Lausche built a coalition of ethnic voters in Cleveland. He was even considered for the Republican vice-presidential nomination by [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]] in both 1952 and 1956, but the selection went to Senator [[Richard M. Nixon]] of [[California]]. Coincidentally, Lausche lost his Senate seat the same year that Nixon was elected president. With his bipartisan and [[Independent voter|independent]] approach to politics, Lausche was easily re-elected to the Senate in 1962 at the height of the [[Cuban Missile Crisis]]. In 1968, [[organized labor]] turned against him, and he was rather handily defeated in the Democratic primary by later Governor John Joyce Gilligan (1921-2013). In the [[general election]], however, Gilligan lost to [[Moderate Republican]] state attorney general [[William B. Saxbe]] won the seat. |
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| | In his later years, Lausche and his wife, the former Jane O. Sheal (1903-1981), resided in Bethesda, [[Maryland]]. Not long before his death, Lausche was admitted to the Slovenian Home for the Age, where he died of congestive heart failure. [[Pope]] [[John Paul II]] named Lausche a Knight of St. John of Malta, the highest civilian honor that can be bestowed by the church. The Lausches are interred at Calvary Cemetery in southeastern Cleveland.<ref>Odenkirk, p. 371.</ref> | | In his later years, Lausche and his wife, the former Jane O. Sheal (1903-1981), resided in Bethesda, [[Maryland]]. Not long before his death, Lausche was admitted to the Slovenian Home for the Age, where he died of congestive heart failure. [[Pope]] [[John Paul II]] named Lausche a Knight of St. John of Malta, the highest civilian honor that can be bestowed by the church. The Lausches are interred at Calvary Cemetery in southeastern Cleveland.<ref>Odenkirk, p. 371.</ref> |
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| − | The Frank J. Lausche State Office Building in Cleveland, the Ohio Expo Center in the capital city of [[Columbus, Ohio|Columbus]], and Lausche Avenue in east Cleveland are named in his honor. | + | The Frank J. Lausche State Office Building in Cleveland, the Ohio Expo Center in the capital city of [[Columbus, Ohio|Columbus]], and Lausche Avenue in east Cleveland are named in his honor. |
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| | ==References== | | ==References== |
| | {{reflist}} | | {{reflist}} |