Theodore Roosevelt McKeldin (November 20, 1900 – August 10, 1974) was an American politician. A member of the Republican Party, McKeldin served as mayor of Baltimore twice, from 1943 to 1947 and again from 1963 to 1967, and as Governor of Maryland from 1951 to 1959.[1][2][3]
McKeldin would ultimately be elected mayor of Baltimore in 1943 on his second attempt. During his first term, he oversaw the construction of Friendship Airport, now Baltimore-Washington International Airport, in Anne Arundel County. McKeldin ran for governor again in 1946, challenging William Preston Lane Jr., but was defeated again by a wider margin than in 1942.
McKeldin ran for governor a third time in 1950, defeating Lane in a rematch. As governor, McKeldin endeavored to improve the state highway system by establishing the Baltimore Beltway (now Interstate 695), the Capital Beltway (Interstate 495), and the John Hanson Highway portion of U.S. Route 50. He was a staunch supporter of interstate cooperation, saying once: "I rode by train over several state borders. I carried no passports. No one asked me to identify myself. No one had the right to. This is America." He was also an advocate for civil rights for African Americans, and received the Sidney Hollander Award for his pro-civil rights efforts.[5] He was also a supporter of Israel.
In 1963, McKeldin returned to public service after being narrowly elected to a second non-consecutive term as mayor of Baltimore. In his second term, his administration focused on the urban renewal of the city's Inner Harbor. In 1964, he decided to support Democratic candidate Lyndon B. Johnson over Republican Barry M. Goldwater in the presidential election, due to Goldwater's opposition to the Civil Rights Act of 1964.[6] In 1966, the city council voted to condemn and demolish 700 homes in the Rosemont neighborhood to build the Interstate 170 "highway to nowhere" that McKeldin had conceived with urban planner Robert Moses in 1941.[7][8] McKeldin's second term as mayor ended in 1967, and he did not seek re-election.
McKeldin remains the last Republican mayor of Baltimore to date; indeed, he is the last Republican mayoral candidate to win even one-third of the vote in the city. He was the first Republican governor of Maryland to be re-elected, and the only one until Larry Hogan was re-elected in 2018.
Personal life
McKeldin married Honolulu Claire Manzer on October 17, 1924. They had two children.[9]
McKeldin died on August 10, 1974, and is buried in Green Mount Cemetery in Baltimore.
^Baltimore GOP Mayor Says Goldwater Made Tacit Deal for Extremist Help; The Harvard Crimson, November 9, 1965
^Elfenbein, Jessica, Hollowak, Thomas L., Nix, Elizabeth. Baltimore '68 : Riots and Rebirth in an American City. p. 62.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
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