Brendan Byrne

Brendan Thomas Byrne (April 1, 1924 – January 4, 2018) was an American attorney and Democratic Party politician who served as the 47th Governor of New Jersey from 1974 to 1982.

Byrne began his career as a private attorney in Newark and East Orange. In 1959, Governor Robert B. Meyner appointed Byrne to serve as Essex County Prosecutor; he served in that role until 1968. In the late 1960s, an FBI wiretap recorded local mobsters calling Byrne "the man who couldn't be bought" in reference to his high ethical standards. The publication of the comment propelled Byrne to popularity in an era when corruption was a major concern in state and national politics. Byrne ran for governor of New Jersey. He won the Democratic primary with support from the powerful Hudson County political machine and carried the general election. His landslide victory, until then the largest in the state's history, was seen as a reaction against a bribery scandal in state government and the Watergate scandal.

During his first term, Byrne signed the state's first income tax, which broke a campaign promise and was initially highly unpopular across party lines. In 1977, he faced several prominent challengers for the party nomination but won the Democratic primary with a small plurality of the vote. Despite expectations he would lose the general election to Raymond Bateman, Byrne came from behind to win a second term.

During his time as governor, Byrne oversaw the opening of the first gambling casinos in Atlantic City and established the New Jersey Department of the Public Advocate. He also preserved a large majority of woodlands and wildlife areas in the state by restricting development. He was the fourth child among five of Irish American Catholic parents Francis A. Byrne (1886–1974), a local public safety commissioner, and Genevieve Brennan Byrne (1888–1969). Due to World War II, he spent only two years on campus, finishing his undergraduate thesis while enrolled at Harvard Law School.

Career

Private attorney

Byrne then worked as a private attorney, first for the Newark-based law firm of John W. McGeehan, Jr., and later for the East Orange firm of Teltser and Greenberg.

New Jersey state government

In October 1955, Byrne was appointed an assistant counsel to Governor Robert B. Meyner. The following year, Governor Meyner appointed him as the Essex County prosecutor.

First term

On January 15, 1974, Byrne was sworn in as the 47th governor of New Jersey. Although Byrne claimed during the 1973 campaign that a personal income tax would not be necessary for "the foreseeable future", he eventually "muscled through" the unpopular income tax, New Jersey's first, in 1976; it earned him the nickname "One-Term Byrne".

Byrne and Bateman debated nine times and Byrne used the governorship to his advantage, signing bills and appearing with cabinet members all over the state, benefiting from a visit by President Carter and turning what was his biggest weakness, the income tax, into a strength.

Until 2021, Byrne was the last Democrat to win re-election as Governor in New Jersey.

Second term

During his second term, Byrne focused on policies such as: the passage of the Pinelands Protection Act, expansion of major highways, including the Atlantic City Expressway and Interstate 287, upgrades to sewage systems, further development of the Meadowlands Sports Complex, and casino-hotel development in Atlantic City.

Cabinet and administration

Law practice and columnist

thumb|right|Byrne accepting honors for a career in public service from The Citizens Campaign in 2011

After leaving office in 1982, Governor Byrne became a senior partner at Carella, Byrne, Bain, Gilfillan, Cecchi, Stewart & Olstein in Roseland, New Jersey (now Carella, Byrne, Cecchi, Brody and Agnello, P.C.). Additionally, Byrne and his successor as governor, Thomas Kean, co-wrote a weekly column in The Star-Ledger, containing their "dialogue" on state and national public affairs and politics. with whom he had seven children.

Jean and Brendan Byrne divorced in 1993 after 40 years of marriage. She died in 2015 of babesiosis, aged 88.

Byrne married Ruth Zinn, who was also divorced, in 1994.

2010 assault

On February 16, 2010, while vacationing in London with his wife, Byrne was punched in the face by a mentally ill man near Waterloo tube station.

Death

thumb|Byrne's grave in the Princeton Cemetery with orange flowers during Princeton Reunions in May 2022

Byrne died on January 4, 2018, in Livingston, New Jersey, of a lung infection at the age of 93.

His funeral was held on January 8 at the Paper Mill Playhouse in Millburn, New Jersey. Archbishop Joseph W. Tobin, then-Governor Chris Christie and Governor-elect Phil Murphy, former governors Thomas Kean, Donald DiFrancesco, Jim McGreevey, Richard Codey and Jon Corzine and U. S. Representative Bill Pascrell were in attendance. Byrne's remains were cremated and his ashes were interred in Princeton Cemetery.

Legacy

From 1981 to 1996, the Meadowlands Arena in East Rutherford was named Brendan Byrne Arena. It hosted the New Jersey Devils, New Jersey Nets, and Seton Hall Pirates men's basketball. The arena was then renamed Continental Airlines Arena, followed by IZOD Center.

The Brendan T. Byrne State Forest, formerly Lebanon State Forest, in New Lisbon is named for him.

In 2011, Byrne was inducted into the New Jersey Hall of Fame along with Queen Latifah, John Travolta, and ten others.

In 2014, Byrne's former chief counsel Donald Linky published a biography of Byrne, New Jersey Governor Brendan Byrne: The Man Who Couldn't Be Bought.

References

External links

New Jersey Governor Brendan Thomas Byrne, National Governors Association
Rutgers Program on the Governor, the Brendan Byrne Archive
Gone But Not Forgotten: Remembering Governor Brendan Byrne episode from One on One with Steve Adubato