Marvin Mandel

Marvin Mandel
Marvin Mandel in January 2008
56th Governor of Maryland
In office January 7, 1969[1] – January 17, 1979
Lieutenant	Blair Lee, III (1971–1979)
Preceded by	Spiro T. Agnew
Succeeded by	Blair Lee, III
Governor of Maryland
In office January 15, 1979 – January 17, 1979
Preceded by	Blair Lee III
Succeeded by	Harry Hughes
Personal details
Born	April 19, 1920 (1920-04-19) (age 91) Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Spouse(s)	Barbara Oberfeld (m. 1941–1974) «start: (1941)–end+1: (1975)»"Marriage: Barbara Oberfeld to Marvin Mandel" Location: (linkback://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marvin_Mandel) Jeanne Dorsey (m. 1974–2001) «start: (1974)–end+1: (2002)»"Marriage: Jeanne Dorsey to Marvin Mandel" Location: (linkback://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marvin_Mandel) died
Children	Gary and Ellen (from Barbara)
Religion	Jewish

Marvin Mandel (born April 19, 1920), a member of the United States Democratic Party, was the 56th Governor of Maryland in the United States from January 7, 1969, to January 17, 1979.^[1] He was Maryland's first, and, to date, only Jewish governor.

Early life

Mandel was born in Baltimore, Maryland, and attended the Baltimore City Public Schools, including Baltimore City College. Mandel received a bachelors degree from the University of Maryland, College Park in 1939^[2] before receiving his law degree from the University of Maryland School of Law.

Political career

Mandel was elected to the Maryland House of Delegates in 1952, representing Baltimore City (District 5). Mandel was chosen as speaker of the house in 1963 and served in that position until 1969, at which point he was elected Governor by the Maryland General Assembly following the resignation of Spiro Agnew. (Agnew had resigned as governor to serve as Vice President of the United States under then-President Richard Nixon.) Mandel was elected in 1970 and again in 1974.

Governor

Mandel's administration was notable for many reasons. While governor, the executive branch of the Maryland government was reorganized into twelve departments. The mass-transit system of Maryland fostered under him, enacting plans for the establishment of subways for Baltimore City and the Washington, DC suburbs. Additionally, a large public school construction initiative was undertaken while he was governor.

During the Mandel Administration he raised taxes several times and instituted a piggyback tax that his tax policies have led to bad results to this day and including a mass decrease in population of Baltimore, Maryland and Cumberland, Maryland later on with jobs being shut down. Critics of Mandel have even suggested all those tax hikes have led to making Maryland a low wage job economy by taxing manufacturing just about out of existence and also led Allegany County, Maryland, Garrett County, Maryland and Baltimore, Maryland to shut down schools and merge them by allowing towns to lose population in the rural areas and increasing population in either other parts of the state or leaving the state altogether. One of his tax increases involved the gas tax that led Maryland to be one of the highest priced for gasoline south of the Mason-Dixon line.

The negative highlight of Mandel's governorship was his conviction for mail fraud and racketeering. As a result, on June 4, 1977, Governor Mandel notified Lieutenant Governor Blair Lee III that Lee would serve as acting governor until further notice. (Lee continued to serve as acting governor until January 15, 1979, when Mandel rescinded his letter appointing Lee as Acting Governor two days before the expiration of his second full elective term.) Mandel served nineteen months in the low-security federal prison camp at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, before having his sentence commuted by President Ronald Reagan. Based on the reasoning of an opinion of the U.S. Supreme Court, a U.S. District Judge, with the persistent advocacy of his trial counsel, Arnold M. Weiner, overturned Mandel's conviction in 1987. A year later, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit affirmed.^[3]

In a modern version of damnatio memoriae, Mandel’s official portrait was not hung in the Maryland State House Governor’s Reception Room until 1993.^[4]

Personal life

Mandel married the former Barbara Oberfeld on June 8, 1941, and had two children, Gary and Ellen. In 1974, while governor, Mandel divorced Barbara and married the former Jeanne Blackistone Dorsey, who later died October 6, 2001.

Mandel lived briefly in Arnold, Maryland, and currently lives and practices law in Annapolis.

Present service

Mandel has been the chairman of the Governor's Commission on the Structure and Efficiency of State Government since 2003. He has also been a member of the Board of Regents for the University System of Maryland since 2003.

References

1. ^ ^{a b} "Maryland Governor Marvin Mandel". National Governors Association. http://www.nga.org/portal/site/nga/menuitem.29fab9fb4add37305ddcbeeb501010a0/?vgnextoid=7878224971c81010VgnVCM1000001a01010aRCRD&vgnextchannel=e449a0ca9e3f1010VgnVCM1000001a01010aRCRD. Retrieved August 10, 2008. 
2. ^ University of Maryland A to Z: MAC to Millennium: Alumni of Note
3. ^ Leibe, Paul (September 29, 2007). "30 years ago, turmoil surrounded Gov. Mandel". http://www.somdnews.com/stories/092807/entemor152531_32081.shtml. 
4. ^ Timberg, Robert (October 14, 1993). "Mandel portrait hung in State House". The Baltimore Sun. http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/politics/bal-portrait101493,0,134817.story. Retrieved June 20, 2009. 

External links

• Maryland Manual official state gubernatorial biography
• Law Firm: Mandel, Liff & Walsh, LLP
• First Lady Jeanne Blackistone Dorsey Mandel
• Jeanne Mandel gravesite
• Mandel bio from archive
• Jeanne Blackistone Dorsey Mandel from archives

Political offices
Preceded by A. Gordon Boone	Speaker of the Maryland House of Delegates 1964 – 1969	Succeeded by Thomas Hunter Lowe
Preceded by Spiro Agnew	Governor of Maryland(1) January 7, 1969 – January 17, 1979	Succeeded by Harry R. Hughes
Notes and references
1. Lieutenant Governor Blair Lee III executed the powers and duties of Governor from 1977–1979.

Persondata
Name	Mandel, Marvin
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	April 19, 1920
Place of birth	Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.
Date of death
Place of death