Lyr Req: Marcantonio for Mayor (1949)

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Marcantonio for mayor (1949) NEEDED
From: chico
Date: 21 Mar 06 - 02:24 PM

Tune: John Brown's Body (Battle Hymn of the Republic)

Subject: Lyr Add: MARCANTONIO FOR MAYOR (1949)
From: chico
Date: 21 Mar 06 - 02:23 PM

Fine I'll do it myself


There's a man in New York City who is known throughout the land
In the fight for jobs and wages he has taken up the stand
He has led the fight for labor, Marcantonio's the man
Put Marc in city hall

Marcantonio for Mayor
Marcantonio for Mayor
Marcantonio for Mayor
Put Marc in city hall
        

[Vito Anthony Marcantonio,1902–54, American politician, b. New York City. He became a political protégé of Fiorello H. LaGuardia and later managed his political campaigns. Marcantonio served (1930–31) as assistant U.S. district attorney, and in 1934 he ran successfully for Congress on the Republican and Fusion tickets [When NY Democrats were mostly controlled by Tammany Hall Machine, Republicans included left-wing reformers]. He was defeated for reelection in 1936. In 1938 he was read out of the Republican party. Nonetheless he won the nomination of that party and of the American Labor party and was reelected to Congress. Thereafter he was repeatedly reelected, several times receiving the Democratic nomination as well as those of the other two parties. In 1948, after a New York state law was passed prohibiting a candidate from entering the primary of a party without its consent, Marcantonio ran only on the ballot of the American Labor party—of which he was (1947–53) state chairman and through which he gave staunch support to the Progressive party's presidential candidate, Henry A. Wallace in 1948. Marcantonio backed much of the New Deal legislation in Congress but aligned himself with President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's foreign policy only after June, 1941, when Germany invaded the USSR. A supporter of close relations between the United States and the USSR, Marcantonio was frequently criticized for allegedly changing his position in accordance with the Communist party line. While in congress, he ran for mayor as a labor candidate in 1949 but lost.

New York's main parties finally decided to co-operate against this most dangerous opponent. A single candidate was run against Marcantonio, who was nominated by the Democratic, Republican, and Liberal Parties. With all their votes combined into one candidate, Marcantonio was defeated in 1950.

Marcantonio continued his law profession until his death in New York City on August 9, 1954, when upon emerging from the subway, he fell dead on Broadway at City Hall Park.

The day of his funeral the police halted traffic on First Avenue at East 115th Street to allow the assembling of a funeral procession of more than one hundred vehicles headed by fifteen coaches filled with flowers. Over twenty thousand persons passed Marcantonio's coffin. Many famous people attended the funeral, including W.E.B. Du Bois, former Minnesota governor Elmer Benson, and Communist leaders Ben Gold and John Abt. To this day, he is remembered as perhaps the most radical person ever to hold a seat in the House of Representatives.]

Subject: Lyr Req: Marcantonio for mayor (1949) NEEDED
From: chico
Date: 20 Mar 06 - 09:55 PM

Looking for lyrics to the "marcantonio for mayor" song, it is the "Songs for political action" cd set. http://www.peteseeger.net/songs_for_political_action.htm