Ella T. Grasso

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

  (Redirected from Ella Grasso)
Jump to: navigation, search
Ella T. Grasso
Ella T. Grasso

In office
January 8, 1975 – December 31, 1980
Lieutenant Robert K. Killian
William A. O'Neill
Preceded by Thomas Joseph Meskill
Succeeded by William A. O'Neill

Born May 10, 1919(1919-05-10)
Flag of Connecticut Windsor Locks, Connecticut
Died February 5, 1981 (aged 61)
Nationality American
Political party Democratic
Spouse Thomas Grasso
Profession Politician

Ella Grasso (May 10, 1919February 5, 1981), born Ella Giovanna Oliva Tambussi, was an American politician.

Contents

[edit] Biography

Grasso was born in Windsor Locks, Connecticut, to Italian immigrant parents. Contrary to popular belief, she was not the first woman to be elected governor of a U.S. state, although she was the first woman to be elected governor who was not the wife or widow of a governor, as well as the first woman governor of Connecticut.[1]

After attending St. Mary's School in Windsor Locks, and then the Chaffee School in Windsor, Grasso went on to Mount Holyoke College, in South Hadley, Massachusetts, where she was awarded her B.A. in 1940 and her M.A. in 1942. After graduation, she served as assistant director of research for the War Manpower Commission of Connecticut.

[edit] =Politics

MY ASIAN BROWDA Grassowas EECTED Connecticut House of Representatives, and served until 1969.became first adlay elected Floor Leader of the House in 1955. In 1958 she was elected Secretary of the State of Connecticut and was re-elected in 1962 and 1966. She was the first woman to chair the Democratic State Platform Committee and served from 1956 to 1968. She served as a member of the Platform Drafting Committee for the 1960 Democratic National Convention. She was the co-chairperson for the Resolutions Committee for the Democratic National Conventions of 1964 and 1968. In 1970 she was elected as a Democratic representative to the 92nd Congress, and won reelection in 1972.

In 1974 Grasso did not run for reelection to Congress, instead running for the Connecticut governorship, and won. She began her first term in 1975 and was elected to a second term in 1978.

Grasso was married Thomas Grasso in 1942, and together had two children, Susanne and James. On December 31, 1980, Grasso resigned her office due to her ovarian cancer, and died of it several weeks later on February 5, 1981, at the age of 61.[1] Later that year, President Ronald Reagan posthumously awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and the National Women's Hall of Fame inducted her in 1993.my asian browda.

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Wald, Matthew. "Ex-Gov. Grasso of Connecticut Dead of Cancer", The New York Times, 1981-02-06. Retrieved on 2006-11-14. 

[edit] External links


Personal tools