Gus Savage

Gus Savage
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Illinois's 2nd district
In office January 3, 1981 – January 3, 1993
Preceded by	Morgan F. Murphy
Succeeded by	Mel Reynolds
Personal details
Born	Augustus Alexander Savage October 30, 1925 Detroit, Michigan
Died	October 31, 2015 (aged 90) Olympia Fields, Illinois
Political party	Democratic
Spouse(s)	Eunice King (1946;81; her death)
Children	Thomas James, Emma Mae
Alma mater	Roosevelt University Chicago-Kent College of Law
Military service
Service/branch	United States Army
Years of service	1943–1946

Augustus Alexander "Gus" Savage (October 30, 1925 – October 31, 2015) was a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives from Illinois.^[1]

Life and career

Savage was born in Detroit, Michigan, and graduated from Roosevelt University in Chicago. He served in the United States Army from 1943 to 1946 and then worked as a journalist from 1954 to 1979, owning a chain of weekly community newspapers in the Chicago area.

Savage was unsuccessful in his candidacy for the House of Representatives in 1968 and 1970, losing the Democratic primary both times, but won election to the House in 1980, representing the 2nd District on Chicago's South Side for 6 terms, from January 1981 to January 1993.^[2]

Savage was criticised for racist and anti-Semitic statements against both white and Jewish people. Savage once gave a speech in which he listed the names of all of the Jewish donors living outside of the Chicago area who donated money to his opponent. This led to a backlash, to which Savage responded that only white people could be racist.

In 1989, Savage was accused of trying to force himself on a female Peace Corps worker in Zaire.^[3] He denied the allegations and blamed them on the "racist press." The House Ethics Committee decided that the events did indeed occur,^[4] but it did not take disciplinary action only because Savage wrote a letter of apology.

Savage had long been controversial even in his own district, never winning a primary election with more than 52% of the vote, and usually facing multiple challengers. For the 1992 election, his district had been extended further into Chicago's south suburbs by redistricting, and Savage faced Mel Reynolds, who had challenged him in the 1988 and 1990^[2] primaries. Savage claimed that "racist Jews" were donating to Reynolds, while Reynolds claimed that Savage was involved in a drive-by shooting that injured him. Although Savage accused Reynolds of staging the shooting,^[5] he lost the 1992 election to Reynolds by a margin of 63%-37%.

In one of his final acts as chairman of the House Subcommittee on Public Buildings and Grounds, excavation and construction at the site of the African Burial Ground in New York City was temporarily halted in 1992, pending further evaluation by the General Services Administration, after Savage was able to leverage his reputation as a national political figure to bring attention to the more controversial aspects of the project.^[6]

Savage died on October 31, 2015, one day after his 90th birthday, which he celebrated with his closest friends and family. He is survived by his son Thomas Savage, daughter, Dr. Emma Savage, and grandchildren Thomas Savage Jr., Chyella McBride, and Alexandria Savage. ^[7]

References

1. "SAVAGE, Gus". house.gov. Retrieved 1 November 2015.
2. Schmidt, William E. (March 21, 1990). "Rep. Savage Claims Victory in Illinois". The New York Times. Retrieved 5 August 2013.
3. http://www.nytimes.com/1989/07/20/us/lawmaker-is-accused-of-sexual-impropriety.html
4. Holmes, Steven A. (February 3, 1990). "Panel Is Critical Of Representative". The New York Times. Retrieved 5 August 2013.
5. Wilkerson, Isabel (March 14, 1992). "Gunshots Fired at Congressional Candidate in Bitter Chicago Race". The New York Times. Retrieved 5 August 2013.
6. Rothstein, Edward (25 February 2010). "A Burial and Its Dead Are Given Life". The New York Times. Retrieved 1 December 2012.
7. Chicago Tribune (31 October 2015). "Gus Savage, controversial former congressman, dies at 90". chicagotribune.com. Retrieved 1 November 2015.

External links

• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• The New York Times Article archives on former Representative Gus Savage (135 articles).
• Gus Savage at Congressional Bad Boys