Clement John Zablocki (November 18, 1912 – December 3, 1983) was an American politician who served nearly 35 years in the United States House of Representatives, representing Wisconsin's 4th congressional district from 1949 to 1983.[1]
Clement Zablocki
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Chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee | |
In office January 3, 1977 – December 3, 1983 | |
Preceded by | Thomas E. Morgan |
Succeeded by | Dante Fascell |
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Wisconsin's 4th district | |
In office January 3, 1949 – December 3, 1983 | |
Preceded by | John C. Brophy |
Succeeded by | Jerry Kleczka |
Member of the Wisconsin Senate from the 3rd district | |
In office January 1, 1943 – January 1, 1949 | |
Preceded by | Arthur L. Zimny |
Succeeded by | Casimir Kendziorski |
Personal details | |
Born | Clement John Zablocki (1912-11-18)November 18, 1912 Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S. |
Died | December 3, 1983(1983-12-03) (aged 71) Washington, D.C., U.S. |
Resting place | St. Adalbert's Cemetery, Milwaukee |
Political party | Democratic |
Spouses |
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Children | 1 |
Alma mater | Marquette University |
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A liberal Democrat, he built his reputation in foreign policy by taking strong anticommunist positions and supporting the Vietnam War. He rose to become chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee for the last six years of his career.[2]
Zablocki was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and graduated from Milwaukee's Marquette University. Zablocki was elected to the Wisconsin State Senate in 1942, at age 30, representing the 3rd senatorial district. He served one full four-year term and was re-elected in 1946.
In 1948, he challenged incumbent Republican congressman John C. Brophy, who had been narrowly elected in a three-way race in 1946. Zablocki faced no opposition in the Democratic primary, and defeated Brophy in the general election, carrying 55% of the vote.[3] He was sworn in as the representative of Wisconsin's 4th congressional district for the 81st United States Congress and was reelected 17 times, serving from January 3, 1949, until his death from a heart attack on December 3, 1983.[4] Zablocki was the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee from 1977 until his death in 1983. He served during the presidenciesofJimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan, a period that included several significant international events, including the Iran hostage crisis. Zablocki introduced the Taiwan Relations Act on February 28, 1979.
Zablocki was a co-author of the Case-Zablocki Act of 1972 which required that executive agreements by the president be reported to Congress in 60 days. He helped design an early version of the War Powers Act from 1970 to 1972, which put presidential war-making power under congressional control. He was instrumental in House passage of the final version in late 1973 over President Nixon's veto.[5]
An advocate for the interests of Vietnam War prisoners of war and missing in action, Zablocki during May 1973 hearings observed that returning prisoners uniformly had expressed their belief that there were no U.S. servicemen still alive in Vietnam.[6]
Zablocki died on December 3, 1983 and was buried at St. Adalbert's Cemetery in Milwaukee.
Clement J. Zablocki Veterans Affairs Medical Center at 5000 West National Avenue in Milwaukee is named for him,[7] as is the Zablocki Library and the Clement J. Zablocki Elementary School in Milwaukee.
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Democratic Primary, September 1942 | |||||
Democratic | Clement J. Zablocki | 3,015 | 55.89% | ||
Democratic | Maruszewski | 2,608 | 39.49% | ||
Plurality | 407 | 16.40% | |||
Total votes | 5,623 | 100.0% | |||
General Election, November 3, 1942 | |||||
Democratic | Clement J. Zablocki | 10,253 | 48.81% | +11.38% | |
Progressive | Alfred J. Melms | 6,299 | 29.99% | −5.75% | |
Republican | Harry E. Chelminiak | 3,810 | 18.14% | −8.70% | |
Socialist | Edward Schultheis | 644 | 3.07% | ||
Plurality | 3,954 | 18.82% | +17.13% | ||
Total votes | 21,006 | 100.0% | -7.41% | ||
Democratic hold |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Democratic Primary, August 13, 1946 | |||||
Democratic | Clement J. Zablocki | 4,271 | 67.63% | +14.01% | |
Democratic | Martin B. Franzkowiak | 2,044 | 32.37% | ||
Plurality | 2,227 | 35.27% | +28.03% | ||
Total votes | 6,315 | 100.0% | +12.31% | ||
General Election, November 5, 1946 | |||||
Democratic | Clement J. Zablocki (incumbent) | 17,414 | 66.81% | +18.00% | |
Republican | Joseph F. Lindner | 7,736 | 29.68% | +11.54% | |
Socialist | Edward Schultheis | 916 | 3.51% | +0.45% | |
Plurality | 9,678 | 37.13% | +18.31% | ||
Total votes | 26,066 | 100.0% | +24.09% | ||
Democratic hold |
Year | Election | Date | Elected | Defeated | Total | Plurality | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1948[3] | General | November 2 | Clement J. Zablocki | Democratic | 89,391 | 55.89% | John C. Brophy (inc.) | Rep. | 63,161 | 39.49% | 159,929 | 26,230 |
Edmund V. Bobrowicz | Prog. | 5,051 | 3.16% | |||||||||
Clement Stachowiak | Soc. | 2,326 | 1.45% | |||||||||
1950[10] | Primary | September 19 | Clement J. Zablocki (inc.) | Democratic | 27,717 | 72.16% | Thaddeus Wasielewski | Dem. | 10,692 | 27.84% | 38,409 | 17,025 |
General | November 2 | Clement J. Zablocki (inc.) | Democratic | 83,564 | 60.88% | John C. Brophy | Rep. | 53,702 | 39.12% | 137,266 | 29,862 | |
1952[11] | Primary | September 9 | Clement J. Zablocki (inc.) | Democratic | 43,710 | 77.84% | Edwin L. Nowak | Dem. | 12,445 | 22.16% | 56,155 | 31,265 |
General | November 4 | Clement J. Zablocki (inc.) | Democratic | 131,098 | 64.27% | John C. Schafer | Rep. | 72,869 | 35.73% | 203,967 | 58,229 | |
1954[12] | General | November 2 | Clement J. Zablocki (inc.) | Democratic | 100,120 | 71.09% | John C. Schafer | Rep. | 40,723 | 28.91% | 140,843 | 59,397 |
1956[13] | General | November 6 | Clement J. Zablocki (inc.) | Democratic | 128,213 | 65.66% | William J. Burke | Rep. | 67,063 | 34.34% | 195,276 | 61,150 |
1958[14] | Primary | September 9 | Clement J. Zablocki (inc.) | Democratic | 36,857 | 85.38% | Roman R. Blenski | Dem. | 6,311 | 14.62% | 43,168 | 30,546 |
General | November 4 | Clement J. Zablocki (inc.) | Democratic | 112,226 | 74.13% | James J. Arnold | Rep. | 39,167 | 25.87% | 151,393 | 73,059 | |
1960[15] | Primary | September 13 | Clement J. Zablocki (inc.) | Democratic | 47,718 | 88.00% | Roman R. Blenski | Dem. | 6,505 | 12.00% | 54,223 | 41,213 |
General | November 8 | Clement J. Zablocki (inc.) | Democratic | 155,789 | 71.71% | Samuel P. Murray | Rep. | 61,468 | 28.29% | 217,257 | 94,321 | |
1962[16] | Primary | September 11 | Clement J. Zablocki (inc.) | Democratic | 41,408 | 87.91% | Roman R. Blenski | Dem. | 5,694 | 12.09% | 47,102 | 35,714 |
General | November 6 | Clement J. Zablocki (inc.) | Democratic | 117,029 | 72.51% | David F. Tillotson | Rep. | 44,368 | 27.49% | 161,397 | 72,661 | |
1964[17] | Primary | September 8 | Clement J. Zablocki (inc.) | Democratic | 48,887 | 89.28% | Roman R. Blenski | Dem. | 5,870 | 10.72% | 54,757 | 43,017 |
General | November 3 | Clement J. Zablocki (inc.) | Democratic | 125,683 | 74.17% | Edward E. Estkowski | Rep. | 43,773 | 25.83% | 169,456 | 81,910 | |
1966[18] | Primary | September 13 | Clement J. Zablocki (inc.) | Democratic | 37,588 | 90.10% | Roman R. Blenski | Dem. | 4,129 | 9.90% | 41,717 | 33,459 |
General | November 8 | Clement J. Zablocki (inc.) | Democratic | 77,690 | 74.31% | James E. Laessig | Rep. | 26,863 | 25.69% | 104,553 | 50,827 | |
1968[19] | Primary | September 10 | Clement J. Zablocki (inc.) | Democratic | 32,121 | 86.04% | Roman R. Blenski | Dem. | 5,212 | 13.96% | 37,333 | 26,909 |
General | November 5 | Clement J. Zablocki (inc.) | Democratic | 118,203 | 72.62% | Walter McCullough | Rep. | 44,558 | 27.38% | 162,761 | 73,645 | |
1970[20] | Primary | September 8 | Clement J. Zablocki (inc.) | Democratic | 32,201 | 85.35% | Donald P. Lass | Dem. | 5,529 | 14.65% | 37,730 | 26,672 |
General | November 3 | Clement J. Zablocki (inc.) | Democratic | 102,464 | 80.35% | Phillip D. Mrozinski | Rep. | 23,081 | 18.10% | 127,530 | 79,383 | |
John A. Zierhut | Amer. | 1,985 | 1.56% | |||||||||
1972[21] | Primary | September 12 | Clement J. Zablocki (inc.) | Democratic | 32,087 | 75.78% | Therese M. Heimann | Dem. | 4,337 | 10.24% | 42,340 | 27,750 |
Grant D. Waldo | Dem. | 3,890 | 9.19% | |||||||||
Roman R. Blenski | Dem. | 2,026 | 4.79% | |||||||||
General | November 7 | Clement J. Zablocki (inc.) | Democratic | 149,078 | 75.66% | Phillip D. Mrozinski | Rep. | 45,008 | 22.84% | 197,032 | 104,070 | |
Eugene Annell | Amer. | 2,946 | 1.50% | |||||||||
1974[22] | General | November 5 | Clement J. Zablocki (inc.) | Democratic | 84,768 | 72.46% | Lewis D. Collison | Rep. | 27,818 | 23.78% | 116,990 | 56,950 |
Herbert O. Jahnke | Amer. | 4,404 | 3.76% | |||||||||
1976[23] | Primary | September 14 | Clement J. Zablocki (inc.) | Democratic | 29,540 | 83.50% | Roman R. Blenski | Dem. | 5,838 | 16.50% | 35,378 | 23,702 |
General | November 2 | Clement J. Zablocki (inc.) | Democratic | 172,166 | 100.0% | Unopposed | 172,166 | N/A | ||||
1978[24] | General | November 7 | Clement J. Zablocki (inc.) | Democratic | 101,575 | 66.09% | Elroy C. Honadel | Rep. | 52,125 | 33.91% | 153,700 | 49,450 |
1980[25] | Primary | September 9 | Clement J. Zablocki (inc.) | Democratic | 29,411 | 89.40% | Roman R. Blenski | Dem. | 3,489 | 10.60% | 32,900 | 25,922 |
General | November 4 | Clement J. Zablocki (inc.) | Democratic | 146,437 | 70.02% | Elroy C. Honadel | Rep. | 61,027 | 29.18% | 209,134 | 85,410 | |
Lynn Rashkind | Ind. | 1,670 | 0.80% | |||||||||
1982[26] | Primary | September 14 | Clement J. Zablocki (inc.) | Democratic | 56,047 | 60.82% | Lynn Adelman | Dem. | 36,102 | 39.18% | 92,149 | 19,945 |
General | November 2 | Clement J. Zablocki (inc.) | Democratic | 129,557 | 94.58% | Nicholas P. Youngers | Lib. | 4,064 | 2.97% | 136,988 | 125,493 | |
John F. Baumgartner | Ind. | 2,421 | 1.77% | |||||||||
John Gudenschwager | Cons. | 946 | 0.69% |
Wisconsin Senate | ||
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Preceded by | Member of the Wisconsin Senate from the 3rd district January 1, 1943 – January 1, 1949 |
Succeeded by |
U.S. House of Representatives | ||
Preceded by | Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Wisconsin's 4th congressional district January 3, 1949 – December 3, 1983 |
Succeeded by |
Preceded by
Thomas E. Morgan |
Chairman of House Foreign Affairs Committee January 3, 1977 – December 3, 1983 |
Succeeded by
Dante Fascell |