John Dempsey Records

Born: January 3, 1915, Cahir, County Tipperary, Ireland.

College: None.

Political Party: Democrat.

Offices: Mayor of Putnam, Conn., 1947-1961; Lt. Governor of Connecticut, 1959-1961; Governor of Connecticut, 1961-1971.

Died: July 16, 1989, Killingly, Connecticut.

When John Dempsey became Connecticut's governor in 1961 he was the first person to hold this position since the early colonial period who had been born in Europe. Dempsey also began a 30-year period in which the former Puritan colony had only Catholic governors in office. Dempsey was born in Ireland and came to the United States with his family when he was a boy. His father worked in a Putnam textile mill and later Dempsey also worked for a local mill before opening an automobile agency in the community. He married Mary Frey in 1940 and they had four children.

Dempsey held his first local office in Putnam in 1936. In 1947 he was elected mayor and held this position until he became governor in 1961. During these years he also served in the State Legislature (1949-1955), as Governor Ribicoff's executive secretary (1955-1959); and as lieutenant governor (1959-1961). When Ribicoff resigned to become a member of President Kennedy's cabinet, Dempsey was elevated to the position of governor.

On entering the governor's office Dempsey immediately faced a budget deficit that required him to seek an increase in taxes. He was able to have the General Assembly approve funding for more new roads, to expand state institutions, to assist schools, and to provide grants for urban renewal. When the 1962 elections came John Bailey, chairman of the Democratic Party, did not see Dempsey as a strong candidate for reelection, but he always believed that it was best to go with an incumbent for the office. Dempsey won this election with such a large margin that he was in a much more influential position as he began his new term. He also won reelection in 1966. During these years Connecticut was reapportioned into six Congressional Districts, and the State Legislature was reapportioned into 36 districts. When Republican Barry Goldwater was soundly defeated for President in 1964, Connecticut's Republican legislators saw this as a rejection by the public of conservative government. In 1965 and 1967 both parties competed with each other to see which one could develop and fund more state programs. The economy made it possible to do this with little or no new taxation. The courts were improved, new highways were built, the General Fund was created, interest free loans were made available to college students, and the Commission of Higher Education, Department of community Affairs, and the Department of Corrections were all created. Also during these years Connecticut created a new constitution replacing the out-dated one of 1818.

The economy of both Connecticut and the nation began to slow down in 1969 just when many new agencies and programs were being funded. This made it necessary for Dempsey to seek higher taxes, but the General Assembly refused to cooperate with him. A special session was needed to deal with the government's budget problems and it was necessary to increase the sales, cigarette, liquor and corporate taxes. At the same time, with the concurrence of some Democrats, the Assembly created its Legislative Management Committee. This dealt a blow to the influence over legislation that party chairmen such as John Bailey enjoyed.

Dempsey became upset that his own party lacked unity in the General Assembly and that the economy prevented a level of funding that he had enjoyed in the past. He honored a promise that he had made to his family and announced in early 1970 his plan to retire from office in 1971. He had been governor longer than anyone in Connecticut since 1827. One political writer referred to the Dempsey government of the 1960's as a -Decade of Decency. Dempsey enjoyed 18 years of retirement in Putnam and later Killingly. When he died in 1989 he was buried in the cemetery of St. Mary's Church in Putnam. The hospital at the University of Connecticut Medical Center in Farmington is named in his honor, as is the state's Regional Center in Pomfret. The house in Putnam where he grew up and the one he lived in when he became governor still stand. Both are privately owned.