Durkin, Martin P. (Martin Patrick), 1894-1955

Martin Patrick Durkin was born in March 18, 1894, in Chicago, Illinois. At age seventeen he became a steamfitter's apprentice. He served in the U.S. Army during World War I. He later became president of the United Association of Plumbers and Pipe Fitters union. From 1933 to 1941, he was Director of Labor for the State of Illinois. He was appointed by President Dwight Eisenhower as Secretary of Labor and served from January 21, 1953 to September 10, 1953. He was conspicuous on Ike's "Nine Millionaires and a Plumber" Cabinet and was a Democrat among Republicans. He unsuccessfully pushed for revisions to the Taft-Hartley Act. He died in Washington, D.C. on November 13, 1955.