John O. Pastore
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John Orlando Pastore (1907-2000) was a Rhode Island Democratic Party politician who was a United States Senator from Rhode Island (1950 until 1976) and the Governor of Rhode Island (1945 until 1950), and was the first Italian American to hold either position.
Born in Providence on March 17, 1907, he graduated from law school at Northeastern University in 1931 and practiced law in Providence. He was a member to the State House of Representatives from 1935 to 1937, was assistant attorney general of Rhode Island from 1937 to 1938 and again from 1940 to 1944, and was eventually elected Lieutenant Governor of Rhode Island in 1944. In 1946 he was elected Governor of Rhode Island, and re-elected in 1948.
In 1950 he was elected to the United States Senate as a Democrat in a special election to replace J. Howard McGrath, who had resigned. He was re-elected in 1952, 1958, 1964 and 1970. In 1976 he retired, living in Cranston until his death due to kidney failure on July 15, 2000.
Pastore served as the chairman of United States Senate Subcommittee on Communications. He is remembered for taking part in a 1969 hearing involving Fred Rogers regarding the funding of PBS and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. President Richard Nixon had wanted to cut the proposed funding to from $20 million to $10 million, and Rogers appeared before the committee to argue for the full $20 million. In about five minutes of testimony, Rogers spoke of the need for social and emotional education that public television provided. Pastore was not previously familiar with Rogers' work, and was sometimes described as gruff and impatient. However, he told Rogers that the testimony had given him goose bumps, and declared, "Looks like you just earned the $20 million."[1] The following congressional appropriation, for 1971, increased PBS funding from $9 million to $22 million.
| Preceded by: Edward L. Leahy |
United States Senator (Class 1) from Rhode Island 1950–1977 |
Succeeded by: John H. Chafee |
| Governors of Rhode Island |  |
|---|---|
| Cooke • Greene • Collins • A. Fenner • H. Smith • Wilbur • J. Fenner • Jones • Knight • Gibbs • J. Fenner • Arnold • Francis • Sprague III • King • J. Fenner • Jackson • Diman • Harris • Anthony • Allen • Dimond • Hoppin • Dyer • Turner • Sprague IV • Cozzens • J. Smith • Burnside • Padelford • Howard • H. Lippitt • Van Zandt • Littlefield • Bourn • Wetmore • Davis • Taft • Ladd • Davis • Ladd • Brown • C. Lippitt • Dyer III • Gregory • Kimball • Garvin • Utter • Higgins • Pothier • Beeckman • San Souci • Flynn • Pothier • Case • Green • Quinn • Vanderbilt • McGrath • Pastore • McKiernan • Roberts • Del Sesto • Notte • Chafee • Licht • Noel • Garrahy • DiPrete • Sundlun • Almond • Carcieri |
