Lester L. Wolff
Wolff in 1975
Wolff in 1975
Member of the
U.S. House of Representatives
from New York
In office
January 3, 1965 – January 3, 1981
Preceded bySteven B. Derounian
Succeeded byJohn LeBoutillier
Constituency3rd district (1965–1973)
6th district (1973–1981)
Personal details
Born
Lester Lionel Wolff

(1919-01-04)January 4, 1919
New York City, U.S.
DiedMay 11, 2021(2021-05-11) (aged 102)
Syosset, New York, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
Spouse
Blanche Silvers
​
​
(m. 1940; died 1997)​
Children2
EducationNew York University Stern School of Business
ProfessionConsultant
Military service
Allegiance United States
Branch/service United States Air Force
Rank Colonel
UnitCivil Air Patrol
Battles/warsWorld War II

Lester Lionel Wolff (January 4, 1919 – May 11, 2021) was an American politician who served as a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives from Long Island, New York. He also served as president of the International Trade and Development Agency.

In 2014, Wolff accepted the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest civilian award in the United States, on behalf of World War II members of the Civil Air Patrol.[1]

An expert in Asian affairs, Wolff was the chair of the Touro College Pacific Community Institute, the author of numerous books on foreign policy, and the host of the weekly PBS show Ask Congress.

Early life and education

Lester Lionel Wolff was born in Manhattan on January 4, 1919, to Jewish parents[2] Hannah (Bartman) and Samuel Wolff, a marketer who worked at Ruppert Breweries.[3][4] Wolff graduated from George Washington High School in 1935 and New York University in 1939.[3][4]

Early career

Wolff lectured at New York University from 1939 until 1941,[3] and later became a department chair at the City College of New York. Wolff was part of the Civil Air Patrol during World War II. He was a squadron commander[3] and a subchaser.[5]

Wolff worked for the Long Island Press[6] and The Bronx Home News.[7] Wolff then founded his own firm, specializing in the food industry, and was executive director of the New York Conference of Retail Grocers.[7] He became the producer and host of Between the Lines, a local television program, and the producer of a celebrity variety show starring Wendy Barrie.[4]

Wolff remained active in philanthropy as a member of the United Jewish Appeal and B'nai B'rith.[8]

U.S. House of Representatives

In 1957, Wolff was selected by the U.S. House of Representatives as chairman of the Advisory Committee to the Subcommittee on Consumer Study. Early in his life, he was a liberal Republican, but switched parties, disillusioned with the increasingly conservative direction of the Republican Party under Barry Goldwater.[6]

Wolff (left) with Speaker Carl Albert and the president of WPIX in 1974

He was elected to Congress in 1964 and served from January 3, 1965, until January 3, 1981.[3] He initially represented the 3rd district but later through redistricting the 6th district. Wolff served as Chairman of the Asian and Pacific Affairs Committee, and the Select Committee on Narcotics Abuse and Control. He commanded the Congressional Squadron of the Civil Air Patrol, rising to the rank of colonel.[3]

In Congress, Wolff voted for the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the creation of Medicare and Medicaid. He was an active participant in the civil rights movement who attended the funeral of Martin Luther King Jr. Wolff opposed creation of the Long Island Sound link.[6] He was an opponent of the Vietnam War.[9] He was an advocate of stricter gun laws.[10][11]

Wolff was known as one of the most 'travel-happy' representatives of Congress while in office, frequently going abroad on congressional 'fact-finding' tours.[12] Wolff was part of a 1978 congressional delegation to China, where he met with Deng Xiaoping. Wolff was also the author of the Taiwan Relations Act which was signed into law on April 10, 1979.[6] Wolff later leveraged his experience in Asian affairs to work as a paid lobbyist for Myanmar’s repressive military government.[12]

Wolff introduced amendments to the White House-sponsored Foreign Assistance Act of 1969 which tried to restore the initiative for direct peace talks between Israel and the Arab states.[13] He also played a role in the Camp David Accords.[14]

Wolff was defeated for reelection in an upset by 27-year-old Republican John LeBoutillier in 1980.[4][5]

Post-congressional career

Wolff receiving the Congressional Gold Medal in 2014

Wolff was the president of the International Trade and Development Agency. He was the director of the Pacific Community Institute at Touro College, and published numerous books on foreign policy. He hosted a weekly PBS show, Ask Congress, continuously since the mid-1980s. Due to his expertise in Asian culture and relations, Wolff was a well sought-after consultant. He was a director of the Griffon Corporation from 1987 to 2007. In 2014, he accepted the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest civilian award in the United States, on behalf of volunteers of the Civil Air Patrol who had served during World War II.[1]

With the death of James D. Martin on October 30, 2017, Wolff became the oldest living former member of Congress. He turned 100 in January 2019. He was active on Twitter and continued to write until his death. He was a vocal opponent of Donald Trump's presidency.[6][15]

In February 2019, Wolff donated his congressional papers to Adelphi University in Garden City, New York. In February 2020, the Oyster Bay National Wildlife Refuge was renamed the Congressman Lester Wolff Oyster Bay National Wildlife Refuge.[16]

Personal life and death

Wolff married Blanche Silvers in 1940; she died in 1997. Lester was an observant Jew and prayed daily.[6]

Wolff died at a hospital in Syosset, New York, on May 11, 2021, at age 102. He was the last living former U.S. representative born in the 1910s.[5]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "CAP's Lester Wolff Celebrates 100th Birthday". CAP's Lester Wolff Celebrates 100th Birthday.
  2. ↑ ArbitalJacoby, Sheri (February 5, 2018). "Former Congressman Still Active At 99". Great Neck Record. Retrieved May 13, 2021.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "WOLFF, Lester Lionel". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved May 12, 2021.
  4. 1 2 3 4 McFadden, Robert D. (May 12, 2021). "Lester L. Wolff, Influential Former Congressman, Dies at 102". The New York Times. Retrieved May 12, 2021.
  5. 1 2 3 Smith, Harrison (May 12, 2021). "Lester L. Wolff, Democrat who influenced U.S.-Taiwan policy, dies at 102". The Washington Post. Retrieved May 12, 2021.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Barkan, Ross (May 30, 2017). "Long Island's 98-Year-Old Former Congressman Eats Dumplings, Hates Trump, Makes Tweets". The Village Voice. Retrieved May 12, 2021.
  7. 1 2 "Derounian Predicts a Bigger Plurality Than Last Time". The New York Times. October 9, 1964. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved May 12, 2021.
  8. ↑ Cohen, Haley (February 6, 2018). "99-Year-Old Jewish Former Congressman Tweets Every Day". The Forward. Retrieved May 12, 2021.
  9. ↑ West, Teri (January 9, 2019). "At 100, former Congressman Lester Wolff is 'too busy to die'". Great Neck News. Retrieved March 19, 2021.
  10. ↑ Wolff, Lester L., Speech to the House of Representatives, U.S. Congressional Record (House), May 27, 1968
  11. ↑ UPI, The Salinas Californian, Salinas, CA: 27 May 1968: Rep. Lester L. Wolff, D-N. Y., said today he would introduce legislation shortly to restrict both the manufacture and sale of switchblade knives and similar weapons.
  12. 1 2 Smith, Harrison, Lester L. Wolff, Democrat who influenced U.S.-Taiwan policy, dies at 102 Washington, D.C.: The Washington Post, 12 May 2021, retrieved 20 March 2022
  13. ↑ Lane, Laura (May 12, 2021). "Former U.S. Representative Lester Wolff dies at 102". Nassau Herald. Retrieved May 12, 2021.
  14. ↑ Stone, Kurt F. (December 29, 2010). The Jews of Capitol Hill: A Compendium of Jewish Congressional Members. Scarecrow Press. p. 232. ISBN 978-0-8108-7738-2.
  15. ↑ Schneider, Craig (January 5, 2019). "Former LI congressman Lester Wolff celebrates 100th birthday". Newsday. Retrieved March 19, 2021.
  16. ↑ Pelaez, Robert (February 4, 2020). "Oyster Bay wildlife refuge named after former Congressman Lester Wolff". Great Neck News. Retrieved March 19, 2021.

Bibliography

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