Dean P. Taylor

Dean P. Taylor was born in Troy, New York, on January 1, 1902, a son of John P. Taylor and Jessie (Simmons) Taylor.[1] He attended the Troy public schools and Colgate University.[2] In 1926, Taylor received his LL.B. degree from Albany Law School.[3]

Taylor was admitted to the bar in 1926, and was employed as a law clerk for federal judge Frank Cooper.[3] Taylor served as Assistant United States Attorney for the Northern District of New York from 1927 to 1930.[3] He then commenced practice in Troy with his father, former Rensselaer County District Attorney John P. Taylor, and brother, Donald S. Taylor who served as a justice of the New York Supreme Court and a justice of the New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division.[3]

From 1938 to 1952, Taylor was chairman of the Rensselaer County Republican Committee.[3][4] He was a delegate to the 1940 Republican National Convention.[5] Taylor was also chairman of the New York State Republican Committee from 1953 to 1954.[6] From 1954 to 1959, he was a member of the Republican National Committee.[6]

Taylor was involved in business and banking, including serving as a director of the Niagara Mohawk Power Corporation, chairman of the board of Capital Cities Television and chairman of the board of the Union National Bank of Troy.[7] He was also involved in education and civic causes; he was a trustee of borh Hudson Valley Community College and Russell Sage College, and a trustee or director of Vanderheyden Hall, Troy Boys Club, Fort Ticonderoga Museum, and Troy's Leonard Hospital.[7]

Taylor also belonged to the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity, Sons of the American Revolution, and was an honorary member of the Fleet Reserve Association.[2] In 1959, he was a member of the Hudson-Champlain Celebration Commission, which planned activities to commemorate the 350th anniversary of Henry Hudson's and Samuel de Champlain's explorations of what became New York state.[2]

Taylor was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1942 as a Republican.[8] He was reelected eight times and served in the Seventy-eighth and the eight succeeding Congresses, January 3, 1943 to January 3, 1961.[8]

In Congress, Taylor served on several committees, including Judiciary and Public Lands.[9][10] He was also on the subcommittee of the Public Lands Committee that evaluated Hawaii for statehood.[11] Commencing in 1946, Taylor travelled to Hawaii, conducted hearings, and briefed President Harry S. Truman and Secretary of the Interior Harold L. Ickes on his findings.[11][12] The Hawaii Admission Act was passed in 1959, and Hawaii joined the Union as the 50th state.[13] Taylor also opposed racial discrimination and voted in favor of the Civil Rights Acts of 1957 and 1960.[14][15]

As a prominent Republican leader, Taylor was a confidant of Thomas E. Dewey, Dwight D. Eisenhower, and Richard M. Nixon.[6] During Dewey's governorship and Eisenhower's presidency, both often turned to Taylor for recommendations on executive appointments, as well as assistance with candidate recruiting and campaign organizing.[6]

Taylor was not a candidate for reelection in 1960.[8] On September 30, 1960 Vice President Richard M. Nixon, then campaigning for the presidency, attended Taylor's retirement celebration at Troy's Hendrick Hudson Hotel.[16] Other prominent attendees included Senator Kenneth B. Keating and Lieutenant Governor Malcolm Wilson.[16]

Taylor died in Albany, New York on October 16, 1977.[7] He was interred at Oakwood Cemetery in Troy.[7]

The Veterans of Foreign Wars twice awarded Taylor their Certificate of Merit for Service to Veterans.[2] Taylor's papers are held by the Rensselaer County Historical Society (RCHS) in Troy.[17] The RCHS also hosts the Dean P. Taylor Research Library and Archives, which opened in 1993.[18]

In 1928, Taylor married Mary S. Hayford (1901–1992).[19][20] They were the parents of a son, Peter Taylor (1931–2007).[21]