Frank E. Rodgers

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Francis E. Rodgers (November 15, 1909 - February 9, 2000) was an American Democratic Party politician who was the longest-serving Mayor in U.S. history, first elected in 1946 as Mayor of Harrison, a town in Hudson County, New Jersey, located across the Passaic River from Newark, the state's largest city. He served in the position for 48 years from 1947 to 1995, having been elected to 24 consecutive two-year terms in office.[1] On May 30, 1987, Rodgers earned a place in the Guinness Book of World Records when he surpassed by a single day Mayor Erastus Corning of Albany, New York, who died in office in 1983 after having served 40 years, 4 months and 28 days in office. The town marked the occasion by letting students out early from the town's public schools and by closing municipal offices in the mayor's honor.[2]

[edit] Career

Rodgers ran for the Harrison Town Council for the first time in 1935, and served there for ten years, including a term when he was re-elected to office while serving 27 months in the United States Army during World War II in the Counter-Intelligence Corps.[1]

Rodgers defeated an incumbent in his first bid for the mayoralty, defeating a candidate backed by Jersey City Mayor Frank Hague's Hudson County Democratic Party machine. Over his years in office, Rodgers has served as Town Clerk, as County Clerk, as a member of the Board of Chosen Freeholders and as the Board's clerk. He served one term in the New Jersey Senate, from 1978 to 1982, defeating incumbent Anthony Imperiale. Rodgers has served on numerous state authorities and commissions, including being appointed secretary of the New Jersey Racing Commission by Governor Richard J. Hughes in 1963, to the New Jersey Highway Authority in 1976 by Governor Brendan Byrne, and to the New Jersey Turnpike Authority by Republican Governor Thomas Kean in 1984.[3]

Rodgers won his final election campaign in November 1992 by a narrow 111 votes out of 3,600 votes cast, in this heavily-Democratic community, having been unable to campaign due to a chronic knee injury.[4] Rodgers cited the injury and his desire to allow a younger generation to serve in office as his justification for declining to run for a 25th term in office. He maintained his position as chairman of the Harrison Democratic Committee after leaving office in 1995.[1]

Rodgers was inducted into the Mayors' Hall of Fame in 1995 by the New Jersey State League of Municipalities, having been the prime proponent for the creation of the hall during his tenure with the organization.[5]

Rodgers died on February 9, 2000 and is buried at the Holy Cross Cemetery in North Arlington, New Jersey.[6]

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c Nieves, Evelyn. "OUR TOWNS; 24 Terms Are Enough, Harrison Mayor Decides", The New York Times, March 29, 1994. Accessed January 21, 2008.
  2. ^ via Associated Press. "The Longest-Serving Mayor", The New York Times, May 30, 1987. Accessed January 21, 2008.
  3. ^ Sullivan, Joseph F. "NORTH JERSEY MAYOR CLOSING IN ON TENURE RECORD", The New York Times, November 19, 1986. Accessed January 21, 2008.
  4. ^ DePalma, Anthony. "ABOUT NEW JERSEY", The New York Times, November 22, 1992. Accessed January 21, 2008.
  5. ^ Mayors' Hall of Fame, New Jersey State League of Municipalities. Accessed January 21, 2008.
  6. ^ Frank E. Rodgers at Find A Grave