The Political Graveyard: Politicians in Trouble or Disgrace: Government for Sale

PoliticalGraveyard.com

Politicians in Trouble or Disgrace

Politicians in Trouble or Disgrace: Government for Sale
Selling public services, decisions, licenses, or assets

See the trouble and disgrace main page, as well as the FAQ and the Political Graveyard privacy policy, for important explanations and disclaimers.

in chronological order

Joseph Cassidy (c.1866-1920) — also known as "Curley Joe"; "The King of Queens" — of Long Island City (now part of Queens), Queens County, N.Y.; Far Rockaway, Queens, Queens County, N.Y. Born about 1866. Democrat. Borough president of Queens, New York, 1902-05; defeated, 1905, 1909; delegate to Democratic National Convention from New York, 1904; leader of Queens County Democratic Party, 1910-11; indicted in 1912 for selling a nomination for for Supreme Court Justice to William Willett; convicted in 1914, and sentenced to one year to eighteen months in prison; released in 1916. Suffered a stroke of apoplexy, and died soon after, in Far Rockaway, Queens, Queens County, N.Y., November 21, 1920 (age about 54 years). Burial location unknown.

John Henry Hoeppel (1881-1976) — also known as John H. Hoeppel — of Arcadia, Los Angeles County, Calif. Born near Tell City, Perry County, Ind., February 10, 1881. Democrat. Served in the U.S. Army during the Spanish-American War; served in the U.S. Army during World War I; U.S. Representative from California 12th District, 1933-37; defeated (Prohibition), 1946. Catholic. Member, Elks; Moose; American Legion; United Spanish War Veterans; Veterans of Foreign Wars. Convicted in 1936 of conspiring to sell an appointment to West Point; sentenced to prison. Died at Huntington Care Center, Arcadia, Los Angeles County, Calif., September 21, 1976 (age 95 years, 224 days). Interment at Resurrection Cemetery, San Gabriel, Calif.

		Relatives: Married, November 11, 1907, to Annie Seitz.
		See also congressional biography — Govtrack.us page

James Vito Auditore (1889-1973) — also known as James V. Auditore; "The Millionaire Stevedore" — of Brooklyn, Kings County, N.Y.; Great Neck, Nassau County, Long Island, N.Y.; Valley Stream, Nassau County, Long Island, N.Y. Born in Brooklyn, Kings County, N.Y., July 15, 1889. Democrat. Alternate delegate to Democratic National Convention from New York, 1920; owner of two stevedoring companies; indicted in 1947, with two other men, and charged with conspiracy to collect illegal fees on New York City piers, by getting control of the city-owned facilities and reselling access to shippers at three times the city rates; convicted on sixteen counts; sentenced to four and a half to ten years in prison. Italian ancestry. Died July 3, 1973 (age 83 years, 353 days). Burial location unknown.

Leonard Ray Blanton (1930-1996) — also known as Ray Blanton — of Adamsville, McNairy County, Tenn. Born in Hardin County, Tenn., April 10, 1930. Democrat. Member of Tennessee state house of representatives, 1964-66; U.S. Representative from Tennessee 7th District, 1967-73; defeated in primary, 1988; candidate for U.S. Senator from Tennessee, 1972; Governor of Tennessee, 1975-79. Methodist. Member, Lions; Moose; Shriners; Freemasons. Ousted as Governor amid charges of selling pardons; later convicted of conspiracy to sell liquor licenses and served 23 months in prison. Died, of kidney disease, at Jackson-Madison County Hospital, Jackson, Madison County, Tenn., November 22, 1996 (age 66 years, 226 days). Interment at Shiloh Church Cemetery, Shiloh, Tenn.

William James McCuen (c.1943-2000) — also known as Bill McCuen — of Hot Springs, Garland County, Ark.; Heber Springs, Cleburne County, Ark. Born in Fort Smith, Sebastian County, Ark., about 1943. Democrat. School teacher; Arkansas land commissioner, 1981-85; secretary of state of Arkansas, 1985-94; defeated in primary, 1994; candidate for U.S. Representative from Arkansas 4th District, 1992. After leaving office as Secretary of State, he admitted accepting kickbacks from two supporters he gave jobs, and not paying taxes on the money. He also admitted to conspiring with a political consultant to split $53,560 embezzled from the state in a sham transaction. He was indicted on corruption charges in 1995. On January 5, 1996, he pleaded guilty to felony counts of tax evasion and accepting a kickback; he pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor count of trading in public office. Sentenced to 17 years in prison, and fined. Released on parole (due to illness) in February 1999. Died of colon cancer and a stroke, in Heber Springs, Cleburne County, Ark., September 9, 2000 (age about 57 years). Interment somewhere in Van Buren, Ark.

"Enjoy the hospitable entertainment of a political graveyard."
Henry L. Clinton, Apollo Hall, New York City, February 3, 1872

The Political Graveyard is a web site about U.S. political history and cemeteries. Founded in 1996, it is the Internet's most comprehensive free source for American political biography, listing 234,420 politicians, living and dead.

	The coverage of the site includes (1) the President, Vice President, members of Congress, elected state and territorial officeholders in all fifty states, the District of Columbia, and U.S. territories; and the chief elected official, typically the mayor, of qualifying municipalities; (2) candidates at election, including primaries, for any of the above; (3) all federal judges and all state appellate judges; (4) certain federal officials, including the federal cabinet, diplomatic chiefs of mission, consuls, U.S. district attorneys, collectors of customs and internal revenue, and members of major federal commissions; and (5) state and national political party officials, including delegates, alternate delegates, and other participants in national party nominating conventions.
	The listings are incomplete; development of the database is a continually ongoing project.
	Information on this page — and on all other pages of this site — is believed to be accurate, but is not guaranteed. Users are advised to check with other sources before relying on any information here.
	The official URL for this page is: http://politicalgraveyard.com/trouble/govt-for-sale.html.
	Links to this or any other Political Graveyard page are welcome, but specific page addresses may sometimes change as the site develops.
	If you are searching for a specific named individual, try the alphabetical index of politicians.
	More information: FAQ; privacy policy; cemetery links.
	If you find any error or omission in The Political Graveyard, or if you have information to share, please see the biographical checklist and submission guidelines.
Site information: The Political Graveyard is created and maintained by Lawrence Kestenbaum, who is solely responsible for its structure and content. — The mailing address is The Political Graveyard, P.O. Box 2563, Ann Arbor MI 48106. — This site is hosted by HDL. — The Political Graveyard opened on July 1, 1996; the last full revision was done on May 12, 2012.
Copyright notice: Facts are not subject to copyright; see Feist v. Rural Telephone. Original material, programming, selection and arrangement are © 1996-2011 Lawrence Kestenbaum. This work is also licensed for free non-commercial re-use, with attribution, under a Creative Commons License.