'The Loneliest Man in Congress'
By JIM O'GRADY
IT'S hard to believe, in this era of the Republican Party ascendant, that there once dwelt in East Harlem a radical left-wing congressman named Vito Marcantonio. But Marcantonio is remembered by many surviving New Yorkers, most of them in their 80's and 90's, who passionately supported him during his seven terms in office, from 1935 to 1937 and 1939 to 1951. (He also ran for mayor in 1949.)
Some, like former Mayor Edward I. Koch, see him as a leader with a genius for serving constituents but too closely aligned with American Communism. (Radicals seldom inspire indifference.)
Next Sunday at 1 p.m., the Museum of the City of New York [1220 Fifth Avenue @ 103rd St. New York, New York 10029 212.534.1672 -- <http://www.mcny.org/prog.htm>] will celebrate Marcantonio's centennial with a gathering of historians and others who remember the congressman. Among them will be Annette Rubinstein [an editor of _Science & Society_, the author of _American Literature: Root and Flower_ and _The Great Tradition in English Literature: From Shakespeare to Shaw_, and the editor of _I Vote My Conscience: Debates, Speeches, and Writings of Vito Marcantonio_], 92, who worked closely with Marcantonio as a board member of the American Labor Party [Gerald Meyer, "Recovering Our History: The American Labor Party," <http://www.ippn.org/unsorted/sept-99-article1.htm>].
The other day, sitting in the modest apartment on West 71st Street that was the scene of Marcantonio's last birthday party in 1953 (he died the following year at 52), Ms. Rubinstein recalled her days with the maverick known as "the loneliest man in Congress." Her memories of Marc, as his inner circle called him, interwoven with those of other friends, colleagues and political sparring partners, provide a broad-stroke oral biography of a singular New York politician.
The Early Years
"His grandmother used to say to him: `Vito, either you'll be a gangster or a great man. You better be a great man.' " -- Annette Rubinstein
"He was born on 112th Street between First and Second Avenues and was living on 116th Street between Second and Third Avenues when he died. He lived and died within four blocks. I think that's part of why the people of East Harlem loved him." -- Gerald Meyer, professor of history at Hostos Community College in the Bronx and author of "Vito Marcantonio: Radical Politician, 1902-1954"
"Fiorello La Guardia spoke at Marc's graduation from high school. Marc was the salutatorian and spoke about the need for old-age pensions. La Guardia said, `I'm tearing up my speech and talking about the topic raised by this young man.' Later, he told Marc to call him for a job after he graduated from law school, which he did." -- Annette Rubinstein
The Campaign
"I canvassed for Marcantonio when he was first running for Congress in 1934. I was one of many. He was very, very popular. People would offer you a glass of wine or to come in and have something to eat." -- Fay Leviton, 88, a retired bookkeeper who worked on his campaign
"During the campaign, I would get up on the roof of a sound truck under a streetlight with charcoal and a large pad and do political cartoons. Republican elephants, marching workers with picket signs, and such. People would gather to see what I was up to. When the street was full, Marcantonio would speak. He was dynamic. He was a spellbinder. He hit right on the points that bothered people. It was exhilarating." -- Charles Keller, 88, former art editor of The New Masses
"Those of us who worked for him he abused. I'd come from canvassing with 25 pledges of support. He'd shake his head and he'd say, `Fay, you've got to do better than that.' I used to get mad. He never said to anybody, `That's great.' He'd say, `Not bad, but I think you can do better.' " -- Fay Leviton
Representing His District
"He was absolutely legendary for providing services. It was carried out on a colossal scale. He sat in his headquarters all day Saturday and Sunday. People would be given a number and waited. He would briefly speak to them and refer them to someone on his staff or one of his many volunteers. It happened every single weekend. When I researched my book, people would say things like: `Vito Marcantonio saved my son's life. He got us penicillin.' " -- Gerald Meyer
"There was nothing too small for him to take care of. He helped people who couldn't pay the rent or the light bill, or a mother with a son in the Army who hadn't heard from him in a while." -- Fay Leviton
"If you work in the vineyards and do it without regard to whether people are for you or against you, the people in that community will very often say: `Well, this guy, we didn't like him to begin with. But maybe he's not so bad.' " -- Edward I. Koch
"It was clever politicking. But he also loved people." -- Annette Rubinstein
His Personality
"He had a quick temper, which he mostly controlled." -- Annette Rubinstein
"He was a common man, and that's what I liked about him. Not some high-status idol." -- Abby Diamond, 77, a commercial artist who worked in his Congressional office
"He was not a big man. He wasn't bad-looking, but he was slight. And he was very brash. A meeting room would be full and he'd come to the front, take off his jacket, loosen his tie and pound on the table." -- Fay Leviton
"He had the same attitude toward money as St. Francis of Assisi. He cared not for material possessions. My father, Frank, owned Timpson Bar and Grill on Southern Boulevard in the Bronx. Marcantonio was my mother's cousin. He'd say, `Frankie, you got a few dollars?' And my father would give it to him. He owed my father a sizable sum. My father waived it." -- Mark Anthony Varrichia, 68, a lawyer who was Marcantonio's godson
His Politics
"He was the only one who voted in 1950 against the Korean War, and he was right." -- Mark Anthony Varrichia
"That was the Communist line. He was dead wrong." -- Edward I. Koch
"He wasn't a member of the Communist Party, but he was very closely allied." -- Gerald Meyer
"The parliamentarian of Congress said Marc was the only man who knew more about procedure than him. He had all kinds of ways of delaying a bill that was being rushed through. Sometimes he'd do it with humor. There was a bill prohibiting immigration of foreign musicians. Marc got up and said: `Not only shouldn't we have foreign musicians, we shouldn't have foreign music.' That killed it." -- Annette Rubinstein
His Death
"He was often in poor health. He had diabetes and couldn't drive because he might black out. We heard about his death on the radio while driving to the city from upstate. It was devastating. Later, we were grateful that a doctor at Bellevue Hospital did an immediate autopsy. It was a heart attack. Otherwise, we would have suspected poison." -- Annette Rubinstein
"He fell dead in the street by City Hall Park, across from the Woolworth Building. I think he was killed by everything he was going through. He was vilified and driven out of public life. The American Labor Party had fallen apart. Everything he'd built was being wrecked." -- Gerald Meyer
"Marc's only flaw that mattered to me was that he didn't really envision what would come after him. He had a lot of devoted volunteers, but he didn't build an organization that would live after him." -- Annette Rubinstein
"He made himself accessible to people regardless of race, creed or color: black, Hispanic, Italian, Jewish. He's essentially the good Godfather, the antithesis of Vito Corleone. His story shows how `The Godfather' is actually the bizarro world of the real Italian-American experience." -- Roberto Ragone, policy analyst for the New York City Council and president of Fieri International, an Italian-American cultural group
"What would I say to him now? `Listen, you made a lot of mistakes, but you did a lot of good things, too. I forgive you.'" -- Edward I. Koch
<http://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/01/nyregion/01VITO.html> -- Yoshie
* Calendar of Events in Columbus: <http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/calendar.html> * Anti-War Activist Resources: <http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/activist.html> * Student International Forum: <http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/> * Committee for Justice in Palestine: <http://www.osu.edu/students/CJP/>