Mandel, Marvin, 1920-2015

<p>Marvin Mandel (April 19, 1920 – August 30, 2015) was an American politician and lawyer who served as the 56th Governor of Maryland from January 7, 1969, to January 17, 1979, including a one-and-a-half-year period when Lt. Governor Blair Lee III served as the state's acting Governor in Mandel's place from June 1977 to January 15, 1979. He was a member of the Democratic Party, as well as Maryland's first, and to date, only Jewish governor.</p>

<p>Before he became the state's Governor, Mandel had been Speaker of the Maryland House of Delegates from 1964 to 1969 and a delegate since 1952.</p>

<p>Mandel was elected as Governor of Maryland on January 7, 1969, by the joint vote of both houses of the Maryland General Assembly due to the approaching vacancy created by the election of Spiro T. Agnew, the incumbent governor, as Vice President of the United States, as there was no lieutenant governor at the time to succeed to the governorship, as in most other states. Such an office was created by amendment in 1970.</p>

MARVIN MANDEL was born in Baltimore, Maryland, on April 19, 1920. He attended public schools, graduated from the Baltimore City College in 1937, and received a law degree from the University of Maryland in 1942. That same year he enlisted in the Army and served as an instructor at Aberdeen Proving Ground and at Texarkana, Texas, until he was honorably discharged in 1944. He went on to practice law in Baltimore. In 1952 Mandel was appointed to the Maryland House of Delegates to fill a vacancy, and won reelection to four more terms. He became speaker in 1963 and served until 1969. When Governor Agnew resigned on January 7, 1969, after his election as vice-president of the United States, Mandel was elected by the General Assembly to fill the balance of Governor Agnew’s term, which expired in January 1971. Governor Mandel was subsequently elected by the voters to a full four-year term on November 3, 1970, and he was reelected in 1974. During his tenure, state government was reorganized into 12 executive departments. An agency was created to manage public transportation and to develop subway systems for Baltimore and the Maryland suburbs of Washington, D.C. The courts were reorganized, a system of public defenders was implemented, and a public school construction program began. Governor Mandel chaired the Democratic Governors’ Conference (1971-72); Middle Atlantic States Governors’ Conference (1971); Council of State Governments (1973); and the National Governors’ Conference (1972-1973). He also served on the Executive Committee of the National Conference of State Legislative Leaders. In 1973, a federal grand jury began investigating political corruption in Maryland. Agnew resigned a few months later, pleading no contest to tax evasion. Mandel was accused of accepting cash and expensive gifts from friends and using his influence as governor to increase the value of their business holdings. In June 1977, while preparing for trial, Governor Mandel stepped aside and made Lieutenant Governor Blair Lee III acting governor. Lee continued in this capacity until January 15, 1979, when Mandel returned to complete the final days of his term. He fought the charges until 1977, when he was convicted of mail fraud and racketeering. He was sentenced to four years in prison, but President Ronald Reagan commuted the sentence to 19 months. In 1989, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a lower court decision overturning his conviction.

<p><b>MARVIN MANDEL (1920-2015)</b><br>
Governor (Democrat), 1969-79<br>
Governor of Maryland, January 7, 1969 to January 17, 1979.</p>

<p>Chair, Governor's Executive Council, 1969-79. Chair, Board of Public Works, 1969-79. Chair, Comprehensive Health Planning Agency, 1969. Member, Hall of Records Commission, 1969-70; State House Trust, 1969; Maryland Highway Safety Coordinating Committee, 1969-79; Appalachian Regional Commission, 1969-79; Maryland Education Council, 1969-79; Southern Regional Education Board, 1969-79; Northeast Regional Transportation Committee, 1969-. Chair, Maryland Council on the Environment, 1970-79. President, Council of State Governments, 1973.</p>