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W. Arthur Cunningham

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Major
W. Arthur Cunningham
New York City Comptroller
In office
January 1, 1934 – May 5, 1934
Preceded byGeorge McAneny
Succeeded byJoseph D. McGoldrick
Personal details
Born1894
New York City
DiedMay 5, 1934; 39 years old
Asharoken, Long Island, New York
Cause of deathHeart attack
Resting placeCalvary Cemetery
Political partyindependent Democrat
Residence(s)Forest Hills, Queens, New York City
Alma materFordham Law School
Occupationlawyer, Major in the US Army, businessman, and New York City Comptroller
Known forreceived the Croix de Guerre; died at age 39 while in office as NYC Comptroller

W. Arthur Cunningham (1894-May 5, 1934) was an American lawyer, a Major in the US Army who received the Croix de Guerre, a businessman, and the New York City Comptroller.[1]

Biography

Cunningham was born in Manhattan in New York City to Irish parents.[2][3] He grew up in Brooklyn, and attended St. James's Academy, graduating in 1910.[4][3] He received an L.L.B. degree from Fordham Law School in 1915, and was admitted to the bar the following year.[1][3] He held off on starting his legal career to serve in World War I.[3]

Cunningham served in World War I as a Major of the 69th and later 165th Infantry Brigade of the United States Army in the American Expeditionary Forces, and was a war hero.[5][3] [6][7] It was part of the 42nd, or Rainbow Division.[8] He fought the Germans in Lunéville, France, and in the Meuse–Argonne offensive.[9] He received the Croix de Guerre with Palm for conspicuous bravery and the Purple Heart decoration for military merit.[9][10][11][12]

He was later an officer of the Textile Banking Corporation, first as counsel and later as vice president, until 1933.[3][13] He and his wife, the former Agnes Evelyn Quinn whom he married in 1927, and their two sons were residents of Forest Hills, Queens.[14][15]

Cunningham, an independent Democrat, successfully ran for the position of New York City Comptroller in 1933 on Mayor LaGuardia's Fusion ticket.[3][16][17][18][19] In his campaign he pledged to keep the 5-cent ($1.18 in current dollar terms) fare if feasible.[20] A soldier, businessman, and lawyer he had no previous experience in politics.[8][1] After being sworn into office, Cunningham found the city deeply in debt.[21][22] Cunningham also found that the city had been far behind in collecting property taxes from landowners.[23] Cunningham said that the city must collect the delinquent property taxes, and that the property tax rate would likely need to be increased in order for the city to stay afloat.[24][25] Cunningham disclosed the financial troubles in order to better inform the public.[26]

Cunningham died of a heart attack at 39 years of age four months after taking office while riding a horse in Asharoken, Long Island with Raymond C. Ingersoll, son of Brooklyn Borough President Raymond V. Ingersoll, on May 5, 1934.[1][14] He was 39 years old.[14] Mayor LaGuardia ordered that flags be at half mast for ten days as a tribute to Cunningham.[14]

His body was buried in Calvary Cemetery near Long Island City.[7] Queens Borough President George U. Harvey, a friend, thought that Cunningham's death was caused in part by his worries about the city's problems.[27]

References

  1. ^ a b c d "The Financial Situation". Commercial and Financial Chronicle. St. Louis Fed. May 12, 1934.
  2. ^ The Irish Law Times and Solicitors' Journal, Voume 68, June 2, 1934.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g "Candidate - W. Arthur Cunningham". Our Campaigns.
  4. ^ "Page 3". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. January 15, 1939.
  5. ^ "Page 3". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. May 6, 1934.
  6. ^ "17 More War Crosses Awarded Americans; Six Officers of the Luneville Sector Among Those Decorated for Bravery". The New York Times. March 20, 1918. p. 2.
  7. ^ a b "Military Funeral for Cunningham; Controller's Body to Be Borne to St. Patrick's Cathedral by 165th Regiment Tomorrow. GOVERNOR SENDS TRIBUTE Mayor and other Officials Pay Homage at the Home of City's Fiscal Officer". The New York Times. May 7, 1934. p. 17.
  8. ^ a b Bulletin, Volume 25, General Contractors Association of New York, 1934, page 95.
  9. ^ a b The New York National Guardsman, June 1934, page 6.
  10. ^ Yearbook, Association of the Bar of the City of New York, 1934.
  11. ^ Thomas Kessner (1991). Fiorello H. La Guardia and the Making of Modern New York, Penguin Books, page 245.
  12. ^ The New York National Guardsman, March 1934.
  13. ^ Charles Garrett (1961). The La Guardia Years; Machine and Reform Politics in New York City, Rutgers University Press, page 103.
  14. ^ a b c d "Cunningham Dies; Fusion's Control In City Menaced; City Controller Was 39". The New York Times. May 6, 1934. p. 1.
  15. ^ "Controller Cunningham Killed by Heart Stroke". Daily News. May 6, 1934. p. 135.
  16. ^ Arthur Mann (1969). La Guardia Comes to Power, 1933, University of Chicago Press, p. 92.
  17. ^ "Rival City Tickets for Fall Campaign". The New York Times. August 17, 1933. p. 3.
  18. ^ "Nominations Are Filed; Fusion Group and Seven Minor Parties List Candidates". The New York Times. October 5, 1933. p. 8.
  19. ^ Hagerty, James A. (November 8, 1933). "M'Kee Runs Second; Loses Even Bronx Smashing Blow To Farley". The New York Times. p. 1.
  20. ^ "CUNNINGHAM IS BACK, READY FOR NEW POST; Controller-Elect Returns With Wife After Rest in Europe -- To Confer With McAneny". The New York Times. December 8, 1933.
  21. ^ "City Cannot Pay $15,600,000 Debts, Cunningham Says". The New York Times. February 5, 1934. p. 1.
  22. ^ "City Forced to Pay $167,222,000 in Year: Huge Obligations Outside of $30,820,000 Budget Deficit Shown by Cunningham". The New York Times. February 8, 1934. p. 1.
  23. ^ "$28,750,000 Found Owing to the City on Assessments: Cunningham Declares That Levies Were 'Pigeonholed' Under Tammany Rule". The New York Times. January 15, 1934. p. 1.
  24. ^ "2.70 City Tax Rate, Rise of 37 Points, Feared by Mayor". The New York Times. February 9, 1934. p. 1.
  25. ^ "City Budget Deficit is Put at $30,131,331: More Definite Figure Given to Aldermen for Use in Fixing Tax Rate Formally". The New York Times. February 24, 1934. p. 14.
  26. ^ "Lack of Funds Halts $70,000,000 City Jobs: Cunningham Lists Contracts Delayed Because $4,407,157 Installments Are Unpaid". The New York Times. February 7, 1934. p. 14.
  27. ^ "City Pays Tribute to Cunningham". The New York Times. May 8, 1934. p. 23.


Category:1894 births Category:1934 births Category:20th-century American politicians Category:American people of Irish descent Category:Fordham University School of Law alumni Category:American people of Irish descent Category:Burials at Calvary Cemetery (Queens) Category:New York (state) Independents Category:New York (state) Democrats Category:New York City Comptrollers Category:People from Manhattan Category:People from Brooklyn Category:People from Forest Hills, Queens Category:Recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1914–1918 (France) Category:United States Army officers Category:United States Army personnel of World War I


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