Marion Zioncheck

Background

Zioncheck was born in Kęty, Poland, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and arrived in Seattle, Washington with his parents four years later.

Education

He attended the University of Washington where in 1927 he became president of the student government (ASUW).

Career

He represented Washington"s 1st congressional district as a Democrat. He also earned a law degree from the University of Washington while making a name for himself as a left-wing leader in the Democratic Party and the Washington Commonwealth Federation, which supported his election to in the 1932 election. As a United States. Representative, Zioncheck was known mostly for ardently championing Franklin Roosevelt"s New Deal policies.

But his tireless work on behalf of the New Deal often was overshadowed by his many personal escapades, which included dancing in fountains and driving on the White House lawn.

Beset by the press and by critics of Roosevelt"s policies, Zioncheck became depressed and hinted that he might not seek reelection to a third term in 1936. In his diary entry for April 30, 1936, Secretary of the Interior Harold Ickes recounted how Zioncheck had asked him to officiate at a wedding with his fiancee, Rubye Louise Nix.

Ickes demurred, saying that he had no authority to do southern He was aware of Zioncheck"s reputation and simply did not want to get involved.

Ultimately, Zioncheck went to Annapolis, Maryland for the wedding.

Zioncheck died after plummeting to the sidewalk from a window of his office on the fifth floor of the Arctic Building, at 3rd Avenue and Cherry Street in downtown Seattle, on August 7, 1936. A note was found; it read (ungrammatically, perhaps from being hastily written), "My only hope in life was to improve the condition of an unfair economic system that held no promise to those that all the wealth of even a decent chance to survive let alone live."

Zioncheck was mourned at his early death. Both the University of Washington and Boeing closed down for half a day in his honor.

He is buried in Evergreen-Washelli Cemetery in Seattle.

Zioncheck is the subject of an unpublished book-length poem by Grant Cogswell, entitled Ode to man Marion Zioncheck. The option to make Campbell"s book into a feature film was purchased in 2007 by producer/director Stephen Gyllenhaal.

Views

The story of Zioncheck, and Cogswell"s obsession with him, is detailed in Philosophy Campbell"s 2005 book: A True Story of Idealism and Madness in American Politics (Nation Books.

Connections

ally:

Warren G.