Life
Flynn was the youngest son of Henry T. Flynn and Sarah Mallon Flynn. He graduated from Fordham Law School in 1912, and was admitted to the bar in June 1913. Flynn practiced law in partnership with Bill McKeown and later with Monroe Goldwater. He became involved in poltiics and became a prominent local member of the Democratic Party. He served as Assemblyman of Bronx county (1918–1921), Sheriff of Bronx County (1922–1925) Chamberlain of the City of New York (1926–1928), Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Bronx County Democratic Committee (1922–1953), Secretary of State for New York (1929–1939), Democratic National Committeeman from New York (1930–1953), and Chairman of the Democratic National Committee (1940–1943). He was also the United States Commissioner General on the New York World's Fair Commission, from 1939-1940.
He was a close associate of Franklin D. Roosevelt for many years, but repeatedly refused offers for jobs in the Roosevelt Administration. He did accompany Roosevelt to the Yalta Conference remaining in Europe afterwords to carry out various missions for the president, until his trip was cut short by news of Roosevelt's death.
On June 15, 1927, he married Helen Margaret Jones. In 1947, Flynn wrote the book You're the Boss about his experiences in politics. He had helped Roosevelt through all of his elections. Flynn was one of the driving forces behind Harry S Truman's 1948 election victory.
Flynn died in 1953 while on a visit to Ireland. His papers were given by his family to the Franklin D. Roosevelt Library, to be available for the public.
The phrase "in like Flynn" has sometimes been claimed to be a reference to Flynn, though its folk etymology more frequently associates it with actor Errol Flynn. Etymologist Eric Partridge presents evidence that candidates Flynn backed were almost automatically "in," citing usage during Flynn's life that refers to him.
Read more about this topic: Edward J. Flynn
Famous quotes containing the word life:
“Our democracy, our culture, our whole way of life is a spectacular triumph of the blah. Why not have a political convention without politics to nominate a leader who’s out in front of nobody?... Maybe our national mindlessness is the very thing that keeps us from turning into one of those smelly European countries full of pseudo-reds and crypto-fascists and greens who dress like forest elves.”
—P.J. (Patrick Jake)
“There’s something tragic in the fate of almost every person—it’s just that the tragic is often concealed from a person by the banal surface of life.... A woman will complain of indigestion and not even know that what she means is that her whole life has been shattered.”
—Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev (1818–1883)