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“HONORING J. MACK SWIGERT AS A GREAT LIVING CINCINNATIAN” mentioning the U.S. Dept of Labor was published in the Extensions of Remarks section on pages E59 on Jan. 25, 2005.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
HONORING J. MACK SWIGERT AS A GREAT LIVING CINCINNATIAN
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HON. ROB PORTMAN
of ohio
in the house of representatives
Tuesday, January 25, 2005
Mr. PORTMAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor J. Mack Swigert, a friend and constituent, who will be formally honored as a Great Living Cincinnatian on February 24, 2005 by the Greater Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce. The recipients of this prestigious annual award, presented since 1967, are selected on the basis of professional achievement; leadership; vision; and community service. Past honorees include Neil Armstrong; Dr. Albert B. Sabin; and Charles Scripps.
Mr. Swigert is well known for his work on the historic National Labor-Management Relations Act of 1947, better known as the Taft-
Hartley Act, which is still the critical center of America's labor law. At the time, Mr. Swigert was a young associate attorney representing employers at the Cincinnati firm of Taft, Stettinius and Hollister. He was asked by U.S. Senator Robert Taft to draft some suggested amendments to the Wagner Act, the 1935 law protecting the bargaining rights of unions. While he believed that the Wagner Act had generally good features, Mr. Swigert felt some key changes were needed. Eventually these important amendments were passed over President Truman's veto. Although Mr. Swigert credits Senator Taft's political acumen with getting the changes passed, the law's endurance today is truly Mr. Swigert's legacy.
Ironically, Mr. Swigert never intended to become a lawyer. Born in Illinois and raised in Iowa, he graduated from Harvard. He met his late wife, Alice, in 1930 while visiting his parents in Tennessee, and she encouraged him to attend law school. Following a brief stint with a Chicago law firm, in 1936 he was asked by Charles Taft to work in the labor department at Taft, Stettinius and Hollister, one of Greater Cincinnati's largest and most distinguished law firms. He was named partner in 1948, and in 1979 was named managing partner and chairman of the Executive Committee. He still retains the title ``Of Counsel'' with the firm.
In Cincinnati, Mr. Swigert has held leadership posts with the Queen City Club; Cincinnati Country Club; Queen City Optimists Club; Cincinnati Tennis Club; Recess Club; and Harvard Law Club. In 2004, the Cincinnati Bar Foundation presented him with its Lifetime Achievement in Law award. Mr. Swigert has two living children, David and Sally, and five grandchildren.
All of us in Greater Cincinnati congratulate Mr. Swigert on being named a Great Living Cincinnatian.
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