Joseph C. O'Mahoney - Early Life and Career

Early Life and Career

One of eleven children, Joseph O'Mahoney was born in Chelsea, Massachusetts, to Dennis and Elizabeth (née Sheehan) O' Mahoney. His parents were both Irish immigrants; his father, who came to the United States in 1861, worked as a furrier. He received his early education at the Cambridge Latin School. He attended Columbia University in New York City from 1905 until 1907, when he began a career in journalism. He was a reporter on the Cambridge Democrat before moving west to Boulder, Colorado, where he worked for the Herald (1908–1916). He married Agnes Veronica O'Leary in 1913.

In 1916, he moved to Cheyenne, Wyoming, to become city editor of the State Leader, whose owner was Governor John B. Kendrick. Although he supported Theodore Roosevelt in the 1912 presidential election, O'Mahoney switched to the Democratic Party the same year he joined the State Leader. Governor Kendrick became a U.S. Senator in March 1917, and O'Mahoney accompanied him to Washington, D.C. as his executive secretary, a position he held for three years. While working in Washington, he studied at Georgetown University Law School and received his Bachelor of Laws degree in 1920.

O'Mahoney was admitted to the bar in 1920, and subsequently returned to Cheyenne to set up his law practice. He was particularly active in legal matters stemming from the Mineral Leasing Act and, through his work, learned of impending leases on the Teapot Naval Oil Reserve; he encouraged Senator Kendrick to seek an investigation into these leases, which subsequently unearthed the Teapot Dome scandal. O'Mahoney became active in Democratic politics, serving as vice-chairman of the Wyoming Democratic Party from 1922 to 1930. He was also a delegate to the Democratic state conventions from 1924 through 1932. Representing Wyoming, he was a member of the Conference on Uniform State Laws from 1925 to 1926. He later served as city attorney of Cheyenne from 1929 to 1931.

In 1929, O'Mahoney was elected a Democratic national committeeman, serving until 1934. He was a delegate to the 1932 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Illinois, where he was a member of the subcommittee which prepared the party's platform. After the convention, he became vice-chairman of the campaign committee. Following the election of Franklin D. Roosevelt, DNC chairman James Farley was selected as U.S. Postmaster General. As a reward for his work at the 1932 convention, O'Mahoney was appointed by Farley to be the First Assistant Postmaster General, serving from March to December 1933.