Background
Almer Stillwell "Mike" Monroney was born on March 2, 1902, in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. He was the son of Almer Ellis Stillwell Monroney and Mary Wood.
congressman politician senator
Almer Stillwell "Mike" Monroney was born on March 2, 1902, in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. He was the son of Almer Ellis Stillwell Monroney and Mary Wood.
Monroney attended public schools there and was graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Oklahoma with a B. A. degree in 1924.
Monroney spent five years as a reporter and political writer for the Oklahoma News. In 1929, Monroney became president of his father's furniture store, the oldest in Oklahoma. He successfully administered it until 1938, when he was elected as a Democrat to the United States House of Representatives, the first of six consecutive terms. A member of the House Banking and Currency Committee, Monroney gained distinction while serving as vice-chairman of the Joint Committee on the Organization of Congress. With Senator Robert M. La Follette, Jr. , he wrote the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946, which reduced the number of Senate committees from thirty-three to fifteen and House committees from forty-five to nineteen. It also improved the quality of the committee professional staffs, promoting a growth in technical expertise. In 1950, Monroney was elected to the United States Senate; he was reelected in 1956 and in 1962. As a senator, he served on the Appropriations, Commerce, Banking and Currency, and Post Office and Civil Service committees. On each of these he chaired important subcommittees. He also chaired the Special Committee on the Organization of Congress and cochaired the Joint Committee on the Organization of Congress during the Eighty-Ninth and Ninetieth Congresses (1965 - 1969).
In the 1950's, he was a staunch opponent of Senator Joseph McCarthy, and in 1960, he led the unsuccessful drive for Adlai Stevenson's third nomination as the Democratic presidential candidate. After the Democratic National Convention, he sponsored legislation calling for free time on television for the "great debate" by presidential candidates John F. Kennedy and Richard M. Nixon. While he had a broad international and national outlook, Monroney viewed issues through the prism of their possible effect on Oklahoma's economic growth. And it was economic strength, not military might, that he believed would ultimately determine the "battle between collective state communism and free enterprise democracy. " Monroney was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1968. He maintained his Washington residence, served as an aviation consultant, was a member of several boards of directors, and held membership in a wide range of organizations.
Monroney died in Rockville, Maryland. His body was cremated, and some of the ashes were deposited in a niche in the Washington Cathedral; the rest were scattered on the grounds of the Mike Monroney Aeronautical Center in Oklahoma City.
In 1945, Monroney received the first Collier's Award for Distinguished Congressional Service for his efforts on legislative reorganization, international cooperation, and domestic stabilization. His reputation was that of a "moderate liberal" who supported most New Deal and Fair Deal measures. He wrote the Federal Aviation Act of 1958; the Federal Aid to Airports acts of 1958, 1959, 1961; and the Permanent Certification of Feeder Airline acts of 1957 and 1961. He sponsored measures to modernize and increase civil and military air-cargo equipment and capacity. He also wrote legislation defining rules for supplemental carriers, the small-business segment of aviation, in 1960 and 1961. For these and other endeavors on behalf of the industry, Monroney became known as "Mr. Aviation, " and in 1961 he was awarded the Wright Brothers Memorial Trophy for public service in aviation. Further significant pieces of legislation written by Monroney alone or with others include the Automobile Labeling Act of 1958; the Monroney-Clark Federal Aid to Education amendment, providing matching funds to states in the National Defense Act of 1961; the Small Producers Lead and Zinc Stabilization Bill of 1961; and Senate Resolution 264 (1958), proposing an International Development Association as an affiliate of the World Bank. In addition to being noted for his efforts to assist small business, Monroney was recognized as one of the leading advocates of upstream flood control. The Upper Washita Flood Control District in Oklahoma was the first such district in the nation. It gained Monroney the distinction of being the "Big Daddy of Little Dams. " Moreover, he was a leading supporter in the Senate of the oil industry and of natural-gas producers seeking assistance in development and exemption from federal regulation. In Oklahoma oil or gas was found in seventy of seventy-seven counties, and by 1960, 47 percent of the total land area was either in production or under lease. Monroney was a leader in the fight to turn back assaults on the 27. 5 percent depletion allowance permitted oil and gas producers for income-tax purposes. In Oklahoma, he was also known as a strong friend of the rural electric cooperatives and helped build the telephone cooperatives, which by 1960 reached 78 percent of the state's farms. As a United States senator, Monroney was widely recognized for his work in behalf of international assistance, aviation, rural development, and protection of the oil and natural-gas producers.
Described by Time as "friendly as an Airedale pup, " Monroney was six feet tall and lean with "straight attractive features. "
Monroney married Mary Ellen Mellon on July 3, 1932; their son, Michael, stumped for his father during his senatorial campaigns.
June 1872 - 29 July 1928
December 1875 - 1 May 1946
30 September 1916 - 15 January 1923
22 May 1910 - 19 November 1988
10 September 1897 - 5 February 1904
5 October 1905 - 6 May 1994
