Md. Gov. Marvin Mandel passed away on Aug. 30, 2015
Thursday, September 3, 2015 – September 6, 2015 Kevin E.
Dayhoff
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Tributes, Tributes
I was out of town when Md. Gov. Marvin Mandel, 1969-1979,
passed away on Sunday August 30, 2015. His passing made me quite sad. He is
arguably one of the most influential Maryland elected officials of the 20th
Century. And he was one of the first statewide Maryland politicians that I got
to meet and interact with and he made quite a good first impression – that was
a lasting impression.
An article in the Baltimore
Sun on August 31, 2015, “Former
Gov. Marvin Mandel dies,” by Michael Dresser and Colin Campbell, explained,
“Former Gov. Marvin Mandel, who won acclaim during two tumultuous terms in the
State House as one of Maryland's most effective chief executives only to be
forced from power on corruption charges in 1977, died Sunday afternoon, his
family said. He was 95.”
It is under-reported was that “in 1988 the U.S. 4th Circuit
Court of Appeals upheld a lower court ruling that threw out the mail fraud and
racketeering convictions of Mr. Mandel and his five co-defendants in the case…”
according to the August 31, 2015 article in the Baltimore Sun.
Also, for the most part under-reported, Gov. Mandel was also
a pioneering civil rights leader who advocated opening opportunities for
qualified women and African-American leaders.
He also pioneered the University of Md. Medical Center shock
trauma system and worked hard on health care issues...
Above please find one of the last pictures of me and Gov.
Mandel taken November 1, 2011, at the annual Maryland Municipal League fall
conference at the Hyatt resort in Cambridge, Md.
Although I no longer remember the particulars, I first met
the governor in the early to mid-1970s. He was very approachable, accessible
and it was nice to talk with him. He was engaging almost to the point of mesmerizing.
Although I was a student of political science and government
of the time, I oddly met him by happenstance on a trip to Annapolis looking for
information about my cousin, Del. Wilbur Magin, 1959-1966, and my distant great
Uncle, Gov. Warfield, 1904-1908.
Although we did talk about Gov. Warfield and Del Magin; much
of our conversation was about a bridge construction matter. Go figure…
I was working steel and concrete pans on bridges at the
time. For example I worked on the Francis Scott Key Bridge that spanned the
outer Baltimore harbor in, I believe 1974?
I no longer remember if it was on the Francis Scott Key
Bridge or not; but we had an issue that involved structural steel girders being
delivered to bridge sites with the suds already welded on to the beams. This
made it difficult – if not dangerous, to walk around and negotiate while
working the bridge structural beams several stories off the ground.
He listened and cared and subsequently, under his watch, the
problem was solved.
I subsequently met him several times while I was in office
as a Westminster elected official, 1999-2005. He was always warm, eager to talk
about my distant relatives who had served as Maryland elected officials and he
loved to talk about the history of Maryland government.
Years later, in 2011, he still remembered the conversation and
that I was related to Gov. Warfield and Del. Magin. I found this absolutely
extraordinary. You simply cannot make something like that up.
The Baltimore Sun article best explained Gov. Mandel’s
ascension to the Md. Statehouse in 1969, “Mr. Mandel was selected
overwhelmingly for the governorship by the legislature in 1969 to succeed Spiro
T. Agnew, who had resigned to become Richard M. Nixon's vice president. At the
time the state had no lieutenant governor, and as the speaker of the House of
Delegates, Mandel had the inside line to succeed Agnew. Mr. Mandel served in
the House for 16 years before his peers selected him to be governor…”
Many will agree with the Baltimore Sun August 31, 2015
article, “Beginning as an accidental governor chosen by the legislature,
Mandel, a Baltimore native, quickly established himself as a formidable
statewide politician. Twice he was elected governor by thumping margins, and he
used those mandates to bring about a sweeping modernization of state government…”
Of his many accomplishments, Gov. Mandel is considered the
architect of modern government in Maryland. Under his watch, state government
was re-structured and modernized and made into what it is today as a cabinet
form of government.
According to the August 31, 2015 Baltimore Sun article, “Mr.
Mandel served in the House for 16 years before his peers selected him to be governor.
During the 1969 and 1970 legislative sessions, the General Assembly adopted 93
of the 95 measures sponsored by the Mandel administration.
“The governor's legislative program included eight
constitutional amendments —including reform of the state's court system — and
legislation reorganizing the executive department's 248 agencies and
departments into 11 departments headed by Cabinet-level secretaries. Maryland
thus became one of the few states at that time to adopt the Cabinet system…”
Writing for Maryland Reporter.com, Len Lazarick and Cynthia
Prairie wrote on Monday, August 31, 2015:
Former Gov. Marvin Mandel died Sunday, ending a remarkable
life that made him one of the most influential Maryland governors of the past
century and one of the most colorful, with personal drama providing flourishes to
his large public accomplishments.
MARVIN MANDEL DIES: Michael
Dresser and Colin Campbell are reporting that former Gov.
Marvin Mandel, who won
acclaim during two tumultuous terms in the State House as
one of Maryland's most effective chief executives only to be forced from power
on corruption charges in 1977, died Sunday afternoon, his family said.
If you live long
enough in politics, all may not be forgiven, but most is forgotten, and if
you're lucky, only the good stuff is remembered, MarylandReporter.com wrote in
May. That's certainly true of Mandel, who turned 95 in April and was feted at a birthday
celebration that was an old-timers reunion for a man who left office 36 years
ago. It's nice to be able to hear
your eulogies before you pass away.
Mandel had heart
ailments and died in St. Mary's County, a son said. Bart Barnes of the Post
writes that in January 1969, Mandel, then speaker of
the Maryland House of Delegates, was elected governor by the state legislature to serve the remaining two years of the
governorship of Spiro T. Agnew, who resigned to become Richard Nixon's vice
president.
Mandel died after
spending two days with family while celebrating his son's 50th birthday,
according to a statement from his family. The Annapolis Capital is reporting
that Gov. Larry Hogan on Sunday night
ordered flags to fly at half-staff in honor of Mandel.
Bryan Sears of the
Daily Record quotes a statement from Mandel's son Paul Dorsey:
"Governor Mandel was a great governor but more importantly a great father
and grandfather. He spent his final
weekend with family in St. Mary's County eating crabs and enjoying the beautiful scenery that St. Mary's has
to offer. He lived life to the fullest."
Md. Comptroller Peter Franchot said August 31, 2015,
““Marvin Mandel is a monumental figure in the history of our great state, and
more importantly, he was fundamentally a good man and public servant. As a
Marylander and as Comptroller, I will forever be grateful for his determination
as governor to modernize and streamline state government operations which
earned national renown and were vital to Maryland's longstanding reputation for
sound fiscal stewardship.
“On a personal note, I will always treasure his gestures of
friendship, whether it was spending an afternoon in my office discussing World
War II with my father, offering sage advice, or sharing one of his patented
stories from days gone by. It is with deep affection and admiration that Anne
and I extend our love and prayers to his family during this sad time.”
On August 31, 2015, U.S. Senator Barbara A. Mikulski (D-Md.)
said, “I extend my heartfelt condolences to Governor Mandel’s family on the
death of this respected and forward-looking leader for Maryland.
“Governor Mandel was a brilliant administrator who was
rightly proud of his extraordinary legacy of modernizing and reorganizing
Maryland state government. He will also be remembered for his many other
innovative initiatives, including reducing the burden of school construction
costs on counties, and helping to build subway systems in both Baltimore and
the metro areas around D.C.
“Governor Mandel lived a full and accomplished life, and I
join with many across Maryland in mourning his passing.”
On September 4, 2015, Maryland Reporter.com reported,
“MANDEL'S LIFE HONORED AT FUNERAL: To those who followed him into the Maryland
governor's mansion, Marvin Mandel was a wise and generous advisor, regardless
of their party affiliation. To the past and present officeholders who gathered
for his funeral in Baltimore County on Thursday, he was a master
vote-counter and coalition-builder, writes Jean Marbella for the Sun. And to
his family? Mandel was a garment-cutter's son and first in his family to go
to college, and a father and grandfather so devoted to his Maryland Terps
that he once bit through the stem of his pipe during a particularly stressful
game.
Josh Hicks of the Post reports that amid many
eulogies on Thursday praising former Maryland governor
Marvin Mandel as a political giant, his eldest son reminded mourners
that his father was also an adored and dedicated family man. "There was life before Annapolis," Gary Mandel said
to the crowd gathered at Sol Levinson & Bros. Funeral Home in Pikesville.
"I want everyone to know that he was more than just a politician."
The AP's Brian Witte, in a piece in the Daily Record, writes
that former U.S. Rep. Kweisi Mfume, who
also once headed the NAACP, described Mandel as "a stalwart in the storm. ... Small in stature,
but big in belief, he played as hard as anyone until the clock on the
scoreboard ran out."
In an op-ed for the Sun, retired federal Judge Alexander
Williams writes extensively about Mandel's civil rights record. As governor, he is lauded with appointing a number of
"firsts" including Joseph Sommerville as the first black sheriff for
St. Mary's County and Benjamin King as the first black member to the State
Board of Certified Public Accountants.
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