Marion Zioncheck
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| Marion Anthony Zioncheck | |
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| In office March 4, 1933 – August 7, 1936 |
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| Preceded by | Ralph Horr |
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| Succeeded by | Warren G. Magnuson |
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| Born | December 5, 1901 Kęty, Poland (then Austro-Hungarian Empire) |
| Died | August 7, 1936 Seattle, Washington, United States |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse | Rubye Louise Nix |
Marion Anthony Zioncheck (5 December 1901 – 7 August 1936), an American politician, served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1933 until his death in 1936. He represented Washington's 1st congressional district as a Democrat.
Zioncheck was born in Kęty, Poland, and arrived in Seattle, Washington with his parents four years later. He attended the University of Washington where in 1927 he became president of the student government ( ASUW ). He also earned a law degree from the University of Washington while making a name for himself as a left-wing leader in the Democratic Party and the Washington Commonwealth Federation, which supported his election to Congress in the 1932 election.
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[edit] Congress
As a U.S. Representative, Zioncheck was known mostly for drunken escapades which included dancing in fountains and driving on the White House lawn. Beset by the press and by critics of Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal policies, which he ardently championed, Zioncheck became depressed and hinted that he might not seek reelection in 1936.
Zioncheck's friend and ally, King County Prosecutor Warren G. Magnuson, took him at his word and filed to run for Zioncheck's seat on August 1.
[edit] Death
On August 7, Zioncheck completed his will and a farewell note declaring "My only hope in life was to improve the condition of an unfair economic system that held no promise to those that all the wealth of even a decent chance to survive let alone live." He then leapt from the window of his office on the 5th floor of the Arctic Club Building at 3rd Avenue and Cherry Street in downtown Seattle. His body struck the pavement directly in front of a car occupied by his wife, Rubye Louise Nix.
Zioncheck is buried in Evergreen-Washelli Cemetery in Seattle.
[edit] References in Popular Culture
Zioncheck is the subject of an unpublished book-length poem by Grant Cogswell, entitled 'Ode to Congressman Marion Zioncheck'. Cogswell's obsession (a failed Seattle politician himself) with Zioncheck's career is detailed in Phillip Campbell's 2005 book Zioncheck for President: A True Story of Idealism and Madness in American Politics (Nation Books) ISBN 1560257504. The option to make the book into a feature film was purchased in 2007 by the producer/director Stephen Gyllenhaal.
[edit] External links
| Preceded by Ralph Horr |
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Washington's 1st congressional district March 3, 1933-August 7, 1936 |
Succeeded by Warren G. Magnuson |
