Nathan David Perlman (August 2, 1887 – June 29, 1952) was an American lawyer and politician from New York who served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1920 to 1927.
Nathan D. Perlman | |
|---|---|
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| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New York's 14th district | |
| In office November 2, 1920 – March 3, 1927 | |
| Preceded by | Fiorello La Guardia |
| Succeeded by | William I. Sirovich |
| Member of the New York State Assembly from the New York County, 6th district | |
| In office January 1, 1915 – December 31, 1917 | |
| Preceded by | William Sulzer |
| Succeeded by | Elmer Rosenberg |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Nathan David Perlman August 2, 1887 Prusice, Poland |
| Died | June 29, 1952 (aged 64) New York City |
| Political party | Republican |
| Alma mater | College of the City of New York New York University Law School |
Life
editBorn in Prusice, Poland,[1][2] Perlman immigrated to the United States in 1891 with his mother where they settled in New York City. After attending the city's public schools he pursued higher education by attending College of the City of New York; and New York University Law School. Perlman graduated from law school in 1907, was admitted to the bar in 1909, and practiced law in New York City.
State assembly
editPerlman was a Special Deputy New York Attorney General from 1912 to 1914; and a member of the New York State Assembly (New York Co., 6th D.) in 1915, 1916 and 1917.
Congress
editHe was elected as a Republican to the 66th United States Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Fiorello H. La Guardia. Perlman was re-elected to the 67th, 68th and 69th United States Congresses, holding office from November 2, 1920, to March 3, 1927.
Later career
editAfterwards Perlman resumed the practice of law. He was a delegate to the New York State Convention to enact the Twenty-first Amendment, and then became a New York City Magistrate serving from May 1, 1935, to September 1, 1936.
Perlman wanted to disrupt rallies in New York organized by the German American Bund, but could not find any legal means or justification to do so. Setting the law aside, Perlman then conspired with the organized crime figure Meyer Lansky to violently attack the rallies using Jewish mobsters. These attacks went on for months.[3][4]
At the New York state election, 1936, he ran on the Republican ticket for New York Attorney General but was defeated by the incumbent John J. Bennett Jr. He was then appointed as a justice of the Court of Special Sessions of the City of New York on November 26, 1936, and was re-appointed on July 1, 1945. Perlman was subsequently appointed to the New York Court of Appeals, the state's highest court.[5]
Perlman was a senior official of the American Jewish Congress and, in 1945, consulted with and provided assistance to U.S. Supreme Court Justice Robert H. Jackson, President Truman's appointee to serve as chief U.S. prosecutor of Nazi war criminals.
Death and burial
editPerlman died at Beth Israel Hospital in New York City, and was buried at Mount Hebron Cemetery in Queens.[1]
Electoral history
edit| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Nathan D. Perlman | 18,042 | 45.2% | |
| Socialist | Algernon Lee | 8,515 | 21.3% | |
| None | Blank, scattering, defective and void | 3,370 | 8.4% | |
| Total votes | 39,927 | 100% | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Nathan D. Perlman (incumbent) | 8,782 | 37.4% | |
| Democratic | David H. Knott | 8,173 | 34.8% | |
| Socialist | Jacob Panken | 6,459 | 27.5% | |
| Prohibition | Kenneth S. Guthrie | 94 | 0.4% | |
| Total votes | 23,508 | 100% | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Nathan D. Perlman (incumbent) | 12,046 | 43.5% | |
| Democratic | William Irving Sirovich | 11,920 | 43.0% | |
| Socialist | William Karlin | 3,165 | 11.4% | |
| Workers | Ludwig Lore | 216 | 0.8% | |
| Total votes | 27,707 | 100% | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | William Irving Sirovich | 11,809 | 47.4% | |
| Republican | Nathan D. Perlman (incumbent) | 10,688 | 42.9% | |
| Socialist | S.E. Beardsley | 1,277 | 5.1% | |
| None | Blank, void, and scattering | 1,060 | 4.3% | |
| Workers | Alexander Trachtenberg | 112 | 0.4% | |
| Total votes | 24,930 | 100% | ||
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b "Nathan Perlman, Jurist, 64, Is Dead - Associate Justice of *Court of Special Sessions Had Been U.S. Representative 4 Terms". New York Times. June 30, 1952. p. 19. Retrieved 17 April 2016.
- ^ Encyclopædia Britannica, Britannica book of the year, 1953, page 530
- ^ "Jewish Gangsters in America".
- ^ Benson, Michael (2022). Gangsters vs Nazis: How Jewish Mobsters Battled Nazis in Wartime America. New York: Citadel Press. pp. 45–51. ISBN 9780806541792.
- ^ Hixson, Richard F. (1996). Pornography and the Justices: The Supreme Court and the Intractable Obscenity Problem, p. 19. Carbondale and Edwardsville: Southern Illinois University Press.
- ^ "Statistics of the Congressional and Presidential Election of November 2, 1920". Retrieved June 28, 2020.
- ^ "Statistics of the Congressional and Presidential Election of November 7, 1922". Retrieved June 29, 2020.
- ^ "Statistics of the Congressional and Presidential Election of November 4, 1924". Retrieved June 29, 2020.
- ^ "Statistics of the Congressional and Presidential Election of November 2, 1926". Retrieved June 29, 2020.
Sources
edit- United States Congress. "Nathan D. Perlman (id: P000239)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.