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American politician

Michael Joseph Kirwan (December 2, 1886 – July 27, 1970) was an American Democratic politician from Ohio who served as a Representative to the United States Congress for the 19th electoral district of Ohio from 1937 until his death in 1970 in Bethesda, Maryland, which resulted from complications related to a fall. At the peak of his long congressional career, Kirwan was hailed as one of the most influential Democratic members of Congress, particularly on matters related to conservation.

Mike Kirwan was born in Wilkes Barre, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, a manufacturing town in northeastern Pennsylvania. In 1907, he relocated to Youngstown, Ohio, a center of steel production located just west of the Pennsylvania border. During the First World War Kirwan served overseas as a sergeant in the Three Hundred and Forty eighth Machine Gun Company with the Sixty fourth Artillery, United States Army. Records indicate he served between 1917 and 1919. Despite his later occupancy of important committee positions, however, Kirwan was unsuccessful in his efforts to achieve his most cherished goal as a lawmaker. The housing project comprised 618 units capable of sheltering 2,500 people. Erected under government financing, the project received 90 percent of its funding ($2,862,000) on a 60 year loan basis. Upon its completion, Kirwan lauded the housing project as a welcome alternative to what had been a dilapidated residential district, and further declared that it would serve as a model for the nation. In 1954, Kirwan was widely credited among Democratic Congressional leaders as the architect of the party's success in the November congressional elections. Despite his advancing years, he announced on December 3, 1957 (his 71st birthday) that he would seek a 12th term in Congress. The following year, Kirwan was among scores of Mahoning Valley Democratic candidates who secured sweeping victories; and in 1959, he was elected to his seventh term as chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

Among the highlights of Kirwan's later career was an event held in his honor at Youngstown's Idora Park Ballroom. The keynote speaker at that event was U. S. Senator John F. Kennedy, who would run successfully as the Democratic presidential candidate the following year. The following year, he was injured in a fall at the University Club at Washington, D. C., and was confined to Bethesda Naval Hospital. Kirwan experienced failing health for the next several months and died in Bethesda in 1970. His funeral was attended by more than 600 people, including a delegation of 50 members of Congress. Kirwan was often an outspoken critic of the expansion of the Gettysburg National Military Park by way of U. S. Interior Department spending. He was once quoted as saying, "We have enough land at Gettysburg. There is no use taking any more." Kirwan's papers are archived at Youngstown State University's Maag Library Archives and Special Collections. The Michael J. Kirwan Reservoir impounds the west branch of the Mahoning River in Portage County, Ohio.

Year Democratic Republican Other 1968 Michael J. Kirwan: 101,813 Donald J. Lewis: 44,363   1966 Michael J. Kirwan: 86,975 Donald J. Lewis: 34,037   1964 Michael J. Kirwan: 111,682 Albert James: 34,654   1962 Michael J. Kirwan: 75,967 William Vincent Williams: 46,200   1960 Michael J. Kirwan: 102,874 Paul E. Stevens: 46,537   1958 Michael J. Kirwan: 93,660 Loren E. Van Brocklin: 31,192   1956 Michael J. Kirwan: 92,924 Ralph E. Turner: 42,293   1954 Michael J. Kirwan: 81,304 David S. Edwards: 33,352   1952 Michael J. Kirwan: 91,074 Allen Russell: 46,202   1950 Michael J. Kirwan: 119,245 Henry P. Kosling: 67,661   1948 Michael J. Kirwan: 134,408 William Bacon: 63,079   1946 Michael J. Kirwan: 88,872 Norman W. Adams: 59,607   1944 Michael J. Kirwan: 120,191 Herschel Hunt: 69,403   1942 Michael J. Kirwan: 60,248 James T. Begg: 46,567   1940 Michael J. Kirwan: 122,075 Charles H. Anderson: 75,016   1938 Michael J. Kirwan: 76,268 William P. Barnum: 69,214