Background
McManus, Edward Joseph was born on February 9, 1920 in Keokuk, Iowa, United States. Son of Edward W. and Kathleen (O'Connor) McManus.
judge lawyer officer politician
McManus, Edward Joseph was born on February 9, 1920 in Keokuk, Iowa, United States. Son of Edward W. and Kathleen (O'Connor) McManus.
Student, St. Ambrose College, 1938. Bachelor, University Iowa, 1940. Juris Doctor, University Iowa, 1942.
Born in Keokuk, Iowa, McManus received a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Iowa in 1940 and a Juris Doctor from the University of Iowa College of Law in 1942. He was a United States. Naval Reserve Lieutenant from 1942 to 1946. He was in private practice in Keokuk from 1946 to 1962, serving as Keokuk City Attorney for the first nine of those years.
He was elected to the Iowa Senate as a Democrat in 1954, serving from 1955 to 1959.
In 1958 he was elected as the Lieutenant Governor of Iowa, a position he held from 1959 to 1961 serving under Governor Herschel C. Loveless. He was the Democratic nominee for Governor of Iowa in 1960, losing to Norman A. Erbe in November 1960.
He was a president of the Coca-Cola Bottling Company in Keokuk from 1955 to 1962 and a president of 1001 Corporation in Keokuk from 1960 to 1962. McManus was nominated by President John F. Kennedy on June 23, 1962 to a seat on the United States District Court for the Northern District of Iowa vacated when Judge Henry North. Graven assumed senior status.
He was confirmed by the United States Senate on July 13, 1962, and received his commission on July 16, 1962.
He had not lived in the Northern District until this appointment, and thus needed to relocate from Keokuk (in Iowa"s far southeastern county) to Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He served as chief judge of the Northern District of Iowa from 1962 to 1985. He assumed senior status on February 9, 1985.
Number federal district court judge in Iowa history has served for a longer period on the bench than McManus.
Del Democratic National Convention, 1956, 60. Served as lieutenant Air Corps United States Naval Reserve, 1942-1946.
Married Sally A. Hassett, June 30, 1948 (deceased). Children: David P., Edward W., John N., Thomas J., Dennis Q. Married Esther Y. Kanealy, September 15, 1987.