\"Washington Congressman\" Mike McCormack Signed FDC Dated 1953 For Sale

Up for sale "Washington Congressman" Mike McCormack Hand Signed First Day Cover Dated 1953. 

ES-1738

Claude Gilbert "Mike" McCormack (born

December 14, 1921) is a retired American politician, who served as U.S.

Representative from the State of Washington's Fourth

Congressional District from 1971 to 1981. He is a Democrat. 

McCormack was born on December 14, 1921 at Basil, Ohio (now part of Baltimore, Ohio); his parents were of Scots-Irish and

English descent. As a young man he attended schools in Toledo, Ohio, graduating from Waite High School.

He began college at the University of Toledo in

1939, worked for two years, and then entered military service in 1943. He

attended OCS and

was commissioned as second lieutenant, parachute infantry, United States Army,

with occupation duty in Germany until 1946, at which time he was discharged as

first lieutenant. From 1946 to 1949, he attended Washington State College and

received Bachelor and Master of Science degrees in Physical Chemistry. He

worked briefly at the University of Puget Sound,

and then spent twenty years as a research chemist with the atomic energy

facilities of the Atomic

Energy Commission at Hanford, during which time he resided in Richland, Washington. In

1956, at age 35, McCormack was first elected to a public office as member of

the Washington State House of

Representatives, and was re-elected in 1958. During this period he

sponsored successful legislation to allow automobiles by default to make

right-turns at red lights, a novel idea at the time, in order to conserve

energy by reducing time spent idling. In 1960, at age 39, McCormack was elected

to the State Senate, and was re-elected in 1964 and 1968. While serving in the

State Senate, McCormack was a member of several important committees, including

the Interim Budget Committee and the Joint Committee on Higher Education. He

was often associated with public higher education in press coverage. He was a

principal author of the legislation that combined and extended the junior

colleges of the state into the Community College System during 1967 and 1968. In

1970, at age 49, McCormack was elected to the United States House of

Representatives. His election was an upset victory over five-term May.