Milton Shapp
Encyclopedia
Milton Jerrold Shapp was the 40th Governor of the U.S. state
of Pennsylvania
from 1971 to 1979 and was the first Jewish governor of Pennsylvania.
to Aaron Shapiro, a Jewish businessman and staunch Republican and Eva Smelsey Shapiro, a Democrat and outspoken suffragette
. He attended Case Institute of Technology (now Case Western Reserve University
) graduating in 1933 with a degree in electrical engineering
. The effects of the Great Depression
ravaged America and Shapp was unable to find work in the engineering field. Instead he worked as a coal truck driver. In 1936, he took a job selling electronic parts and moved to Pennsylvania. It was during this time that he changed his name from Shapiro to Shapp to avoid antisemitic prejudice though he continued to openly identify as a Jew.
During World War II
, Shapp served as an officer in the U.S. Army Signal Corps in North Africa
and Europe. After World War II, he moved to Philadelphia and founded Jerrold Electronics
Corporation, a pioneer in the cable television
industry, using a $500 loan subsidized by the G.I. Bill. Jerrold became one of America’s first providers of coaxial cable TV systems in 1948. Jerrold Electronics
became a major player in the television industry and Shapp became a multi-millionaire
. Shapp sold his interest in Jerrold Electronics
in 1967 to the General Instrument
Company to concentrate on politics.
. Shapp is “credited with promoting the idea that eventually led to the creation of the Peace Corps.” After Kennedy was elected President
Shapp served as an advisor to the Peace Corps
as well as consultant to the Secretary of Commerce.
In 1966, he sought the Democratic nomination for Governor of Pennsylvania. The party in Pennsylvania was deeply divided that year and the party officially endorsed Robert P. Casey
for the office. Shapp’s large personal fortune allowed him to run an independent campaign, and he capitalized on an anti-establishment mood among Democrats and won the Democratic primary by about 50,000 votes with a slogan portraying him as "The Man Against The Machine."
During the time, Shapp was heavily involved in trying to stop the merger of the Pennsylvania Railroad
with the New York Central. He invested millions of dollars of his own money into the effort, travelling throughout Pennsylvania to convince local officials to oppose the merger. He pushed the issue into the federal courts and testified against the proposed merger in front of the Interstate Commerce Commission
.
The issue was prominent during his first run for governor in 1966. In the process, he made several enemies. Stuart T. Saunders
, president of the Pennsylvania Railroad, opposed Shapp at every turn. Friendly with the Lyndon Johnson administration, Saunders influenced Washington Democrats to sabotage the Shapp campaign. Additionally, Walter Annenberg
, owner and publisher of The Philadelphia Inquirer
and major shareholder of the Pennsylvania Railroad, used the pages of The Inquirer to cast doubt on Shapp's candidacy. The opposition from Annenberg-owned media and the Democratic political establishment helped contribute to Shapp's narrow loss that year to Republican Raymond P. Shafer
.
a year earlier prior to his appointment as Ambassador to the United Kingdom
, while Stuart Saunders had vanished from the political scene as Penn Central entered bankruptcy in 1970. This time Shapp was elected Governor of Pennsylvania over Republican Raymond J. Broderick
, the incumbent Lieutenant Governor and later a well-respected federal judge, by over 500,000 votes.
During Shapp’s time in office, he solved a financial crisis by instituting Pennsylvania's flat, no-deductions income tax. He also signed into law the bill creating the Pennsylvania Lottery
and instituted major reforms for the Pennsylvania Turnpike
. The Governor oversaw new consumer rights legislation, welfare reform, and insurance reform including the controversial decision to enact no-fault insurance
legislation in the state. In the wake of the Watergate crisis
, he established a sweeping Sunshine Law for the state, the most comprehensive of any state at the time.
He also faced a massive recovery effort after Hurricane Agnes
caused widespread flooding in the state causing the death of 48 Pennsylvanians. The flooding was so bad and so rapid that Governor Shapp and his wife, Muriel, had to be rescued from the governor’s mansion in Harrisburg
by boat as flood waters from the Susquehanna River
inundated the building. He was carried from the executive mansion to the boat on the back of a State Trooper. WHP-TV
covered this evacuation.
No longer limited to one term, Shapp was reelected governor by a large majority in 1974. He set his sights on the White House
and ran unsuccessfully for the 1976 Democratic nomination for President, but failed to win even his home state of Pennsylvania in the primary elections and dropped out after an 89-day campaign. After that defeat, he settled into a lame-duck term as governor, enacting no further significant reforms.
His administration was plagued with numerous scandals during his tenure in the governor's mansion. Although generally regarded as personally honest and never personally implicated in any of the scandals, he was heavily criticized for not doing enough to prevent corruption among his subordinates in the state executive branch.
Governor Shapp opposed capital punishment
and vetoed an attempt to restore it in Pennsylvania in 1974. The legislature, however, overrode the veto and reinstated the death penalty.
corporation established the Milton Jerrold Shapp Memorial Scholarship Fund, an engineering scholarship in Shapp's honor. Motorola was the successor corporation to
General Instrument
, the company that had acquired Shapp’s firm in 1967.
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...
of Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
from 1971 to 1979 and was the first Jewish governor of Pennsylvania.
Early life
Shapp was born Milton Jerrold Shapiro in Cleveland, OhioCleveland, Ohio
Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately west of the Pennsylvania border...
to Aaron Shapiro, a Jewish businessman and staunch Republican and Eva Smelsey Shapiro, a Democrat and outspoken suffragette
Suffragette
"Suffragette" is a term coined by the Daily Mail newspaper as a derogatory label for members of the late 19th and early 20th century movement for women's suffrage in the United Kingdom, in particular members of the Women's Social and Political Union...
. He attended Case Institute of Technology (now Case Western Reserve University
Case Western Reserve University
Case Western Reserve University is a private research university located in Cleveland, Ohio, USA...
) graduating in 1933 with a degree in electrical engineering
Electrical engineering
Electrical engineering is a field of engineering that generally deals with the study and application of electricity, electronics and electromagnetism. The field first became an identifiable occupation in the late nineteenth century after commercialization of the electric telegraph and electrical...
. The effects of the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
ravaged America and Shapp was unable to find work in the engineering field. Instead he worked as a coal truck driver. In 1936, he took a job selling electronic parts and moved to Pennsylvania. It was during this time that he changed his name from Shapiro to Shapp to avoid antisemitic prejudice though he continued to openly identify as a Jew.
During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, Shapp served as an officer in the U.S. Army Signal Corps in North Africa
North African campaign
During the Second World War, the North African Campaign took place in North Africa from 10 June 1940 to 13 May 1943. It included campaigns fought in the Libyan and Egyptian deserts and in Morocco and Algeria and Tunisia .The campaign was fought between the Allies and Axis powers, many of whom had...
and Europe. After World War II, he moved to Philadelphia and founded Jerrold Electronics
Jerrold Electronics
Jerrold Electronics was a provider of cable television equipment, including subscriber converter boxes, distribution network equipment , and headend equipment in the United States.-History:...
Corporation, a pioneer in the cable television
Cable television
Cable television is a system of providing television programs to consumers via radio frequency signals transmitted to televisions through coaxial cables or digital light pulses through fixed optical fibers located on the subscriber's property, much like the over-the-air method used in traditional...
industry, using a $500 loan subsidized by the G.I. Bill. Jerrold became one of America’s first providers of coaxial cable TV systems in 1948. Jerrold Electronics
Jerrold Electronics
Jerrold Electronics was a provider of cable television equipment, including subscriber converter boxes, distribution network equipment , and headend equipment in the United States.-History:...
became a major player in the television industry and Shapp became a multi-millionaire
Millionaire
A millionaire is an individual whose net worth or wealth is equal to or exceeds one million units of currency. It can also be a person who owns one million units of currency in a bank account or savings account...
. Shapp sold his interest in Jerrold Electronics
Jerrold Electronics
Jerrold Electronics was a provider of cable television equipment, including subscriber converter boxes, distribution network equipment , and headend equipment in the United States.-History:...
in 1967 to the General Instrument
General Instrument
General Instrument was an electronics manufacturer based in Horsham, PA specializing in semiconductors and cable television equipment. The company was active until 1997, when it split into which was later acquired by Vishay Intertechnology in 2001, CommScope and NextLevel Systems General...
Company to concentrate on politics.
Enters politics
Shapp first entered the political scene in 1960 by campaigning for John F. KennedyJohn F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
. Shapp is “credited with promoting the idea that eventually led to the creation of the Peace Corps.” After Kennedy was elected President
President
A president is a leader of an organization, company, trade union, university, or country.Etymologically, a president is one who presides, who sits in leadership...
Shapp served as an advisor to the Peace Corps
Peace Corps
The Peace Corps is an American volunteer program run by the United States Government, as well as a government agency of the same name. The mission of the Peace Corps includes three goals: providing technical assistance, helping people outside the United States to understand US culture, and helping...
as well as consultant to the Secretary of Commerce.
In 1966, he sought the Democratic nomination for Governor of Pennsylvania. The party in Pennsylvania was deeply divided that year and the party officially endorsed Robert P. Casey
Robert P. Casey
Robert Patrick "Bob" Casey, Sr. was an American politician from Pennsylvania. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the 42nd Governor of Pennsylvania from 1987 to 1995...
for the office. Shapp’s large personal fortune allowed him to run an independent campaign, and he capitalized on an anti-establishment mood among Democrats and won the Democratic primary by about 50,000 votes with a slogan portraying him as "The Man Against The Machine."
During the time, Shapp was heavily involved in trying to stop the merger of the Pennsylvania Railroad
Pennsylvania Railroad
The Pennsylvania Railroad was an American Class I railroad, founded in 1846. Commonly referred to as the "Pennsy", the PRR was headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania....
with the New York Central. He invested millions of dollars of his own money into the effort, travelling throughout Pennsylvania to convince local officials to oppose the merger. He pushed the issue into the federal courts and testified against the proposed merger in front of the Interstate Commerce Commission
Interstate Commerce Commission
The Interstate Commerce Commission was a regulatory body in the United States created by the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887. The agency's original purpose was to regulate railroads to ensure fair rates, to eliminate rate discrimination, and to regulate other aspects of common carriers, including...
.
The issue was prominent during his first run for governor in 1966. In the process, he made several enemies. Stuart T. Saunders
Stuart T. Saunders
Stuart Thomas Saunders was an American railroad executive.Saunders served as president of the Norfolk and Western Railway, one of the nation's most profitable, from 1958 to 1963...
, president of the Pennsylvania Railroad, opposed Shapp at every turn. Friendly with the Lyndon Johnson administration, Saunders influenced Washington Democrats to sabotage the Shapp campaign. Additionally, Walter Annenberg
Walter Annenberg
Walter Hubert Annenberg was an American publisher, philanthropist, and diplomat.-Early life:Walter Annenberg was born to a Jewish family in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on March 13, 1908. He was the son of Sarah and Moses "Moe" Annenberg, who published The Daily Racing Form and purchased The Philadelphia...
, owner and publisher of The Philadelphia Inquirer
The Philadelphia Inquirer
The Philadelphia Inquirer is a morning daily newspaper that serves the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, metropolitan area of the United States. The newspaper was founded by John R. Walker and John Norvell in June 1829 as The Pennsylvania Inquirer and is the third-oldest surviving daily newspaper in the...
and major shareholder of the Pennsylvania Railroad, used the pages of The Inquirer to cast doubt on Shapp's candidacy. The opposition from Annenberg-owned media and the Democratic political establishment helped contribute to Shapp's narrow loss that year to Republican Raymond P. Shafer
Raymond P. Shafer
Raymond Philip Shafer served as the 39th Governor of Pennsylvania from 1967 to 1971. He had previously served as Lieutenant Governor from 1963 to 1967...
.
Governor of Pennsylvania
As the 1970 state elections approached, Shafer was term-limited under existing Pennsylvania law and could not run for re-election. Furthermore, a fiscal crisis during his term caused his popularity to be at a low point hurting Republican chances of retaining the office. Shapp again sought the Democratic nomination and again defeated Robert P. Casey to win the Democratic nomination. Of his nemeses from the last election, Walter Annenberg had sold the Inquirer to Knight Newspapers, Inc.Knight Ridder
Knight Ridder was an American media company, specializing in newspaper and Internet publishing. Until it was bought by The McClatchy Company on June 27, 2006, it was the second-largest newspaper publisher in the United States, with 32 daily newspapers sold.- History :The corporate ancestors of...
a year earlier prior to his appointment as Ambassador to the United Kingdom
United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom
The office of United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom was traditionally, and still is very much so today due to the Special Relationship, the most prestigious position in the United States Foreign Service...
, while Stuart Saunders had vanished from the political scene as Penn Central entered bankruptcy in 1970. This time Shapp was elected Governor of Pennsylvania over Republican Raymond J. Broderick
Raymond J. Broderick
Raymond Joseph Broderick was a United States federal judge, and the Republican Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania from 1967 to 1971.-Biography:...
, the incumbent Lieutenant Governor and later a well-respected federal judge, by over 500,000 votes.
During Shapp’s time in office, he solved a financial crisis by instituting Pennsylvania's flat, no-deductions income tax. He also signed into law the bill creating the Pennsylvania Lottery
Pennsylvania Lottery
The Pennsylvania Lottery is operated by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The lottery was created by the Pennsylvania General Assembly on August 26, 1971; two months later, Henry Kaplan was appointed as its first executive director...
and instituted major reforms for the Pennsylvania Turnpike
Pennsylvania Turnpike
The Pennsylvania Turnpike is a toll highway system operated by the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States. The three sections of the turnpike system total . The main section extends from Ohio to New Jersey and is long...
. The Governor oversaw new consumer rights legislation, welfare reform, and insurance reform including the controversial decision to enact no-fault insurance
No-fault insurance
In its broadest sense, "no-fault insurance" is a term used to describe any type of insurance contract under which insureds are indemnified for losses by their own insurance company, regardless of fault in the incident generating losses. In this sense, it is no different from first-party coverage...
legislation in the state. In the wake of the Watergate crisis
Watergate scandal
The Watergate scandal was a political scandal during the 1970s in the United States resulting from the break-in of the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate office complex in Washington, D.C., and the Nixon administration's attempted cover-up of its involvement...
, he established a sweeping Sunshine Law for the state, the most comprehensive of any state at the time.
He also faced a massive recovery effort after Hurricane Agnes
Hurricane Agnes
Hurricane Agnes was the first tropical storm and first hurricane of the 1972 Atlantic hurricane season. A rare June hurricane, it made landfall on the Florida Panhandle before moving northeastward and ravaging the Mid-Atlantic region as a tropical storm...
caused widespread flooding in the state causing the death of 48 Pennsylvanians. The flooding was so bad and so rapid that Governor Shapp and his wife, Muriel, had to be rescued from the governor’s mansion in Harrisburg
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
Harrisburg is the capital of Pennsylvania. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 49,528, making it the ninth largest city in Pennsylvania...
by boat as flood waters from the Susquehanna River
Susquehanna River
The Susquehanna River is a river located in the northeastern United States. At long, it is the longest river on the American east coast that drains into the Atlantic Ocean, and with its watershed it is the 16th largest river in the United States, and the longest river in the continental United...
inundated the building. He was carried from the executive mansion to the boat on the back of a State Trooper. WHP-TV
WHP-TV
WHP-TV is the CBS-affiliated television station for South Central Pennsylvania licensed to Harrisburg. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 21. Its transmitter on a ridge north of Linglestown Road in Susquehanna Township...
covered this evacuation.
No longer limited to one term, Shapp was reelected governor by a large majority in 1974. He set his sights on the White House
White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
and ran unsuccessfully for the 1976 Democratic nomination for President, but failed to win even his home state of Pennsylvania in the primary elections and dropped out after an 89-day campaign. After that defeat, he settled into a lame-duck term as governor, enacting no further significant reforms.
His administration was plagued with numerous scandals during his tenure in the governor's mansion. Although generally regarded as personally honest and never personally implicated in any of the scandals, he was heavily criticized for not doing enough to prevent corruption among his subordinates in the state executive branch.
Governor Shapp opposed capital punishment
Capital punishment
Capital punishment, the death penalty, or execution is the sentence of death upon a person by the state as a punishment for an offence. Crimes that can result in a death penalty are known as capital crimes or capital offences. The term capital originates from the Latin capitalis, literally...
and vetoed an attempt to restore it in Pennsylvania in 1974. The legislature, however, overrode the veto and reinstated the death penalty.
Later years and death
Shapp died on November 24, 1994, aged 82. After his death, MotorolaMotorola
Motorola, Inc. was an American multinational telecommunications company based in Schaumburg, Illinois, which was eventually divided into two independent public companies, Motorola Mobility and Motorola Solutions on January 4, 2011, after losing $4.3 billion from 2007 to 2009...
corporation established the Milton Jerrold Shapp Memorial Scholarship Fund, an engineering scholarship in Shapp's honor. Motorola was the successor corporation to
General Instrument
General Instrument
General Instrument was an electronics manufacturer based in Horsham, PA specializing in semiconductors and cable television equipment. The company was active until 1997, when it split into which was later acquired by Vishay Intertechnology in 2001, CommScope and NextLevel Systems General...
, the company that had acquired Shapp’s firm in 1967.