Leonard W. Hall

Leonard W. Hall, New York Congressman

Leonard Wood Hall (October 2, 1900 – June 2, 1979) was a United States Representative from New York.

Biography

Leonard W. Hall (right) with Israel's Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion in Jerusalem, 1951

Born in Oyster Bay, Nassau County, he attended the public schools and graduated from the law department of Georgetown University in 1920. He was admitted to the bar in 1922 and commenced practice in New York City.

He was a member of the New York State Assembly (Nassau Co., 2nd D.) in 1927 and 1928; Sheriff of Nassau County from 1929 to 1931; and again a member of the State Assembly in 1934, 1935, 1936, 1937 and 1938. He was a delegate to the 1948, 1952, 1956 and 1968 Republican National Conventions.

Hall was elected as a Republican to the 76th, 77th, 78th, 79th, 80th, 81st and 82nd United States Congresses, holding office from January 3, 1939, to December 31, 1952, when he resigned to take office as Surrogate of Nassau County. He resigned that office to become Chairman of the Republican National Committee, serving from 1953 to 1957.

He was President Dwight D. Eisenhower's personal representative at opening of the Brussels World's Fair in April 1958, and resumed the practice of law in Garden City and New York City as senior partner in the firm of Hall Casey Dickler & Brady. Later that year he was a candidate for the Republican nomination for Governor of New York, but withdrew in favor of Nelson Rockefeller, who went on to defeat incumbent W. Averell Harriman in the general election.

In 1964, after Republican presidential nominee Barry M. Goldwater of Arizona named his friend of nearly three decades, Denison Kitchel, as the national campaign manager, a group of party establishment donors urged Goldwater to replace the inexperienced Kitchel with Hall, but Goldwater stood behind his initial choice.

Hall resided in Locust Valley and in 1979 died in Glen Cove. Interment was in Memorial Cemetery of St. John's Church, Laurel Hollow.

External links

• Leonard W. Hall at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Leonard W. Hall at Find a Grave
• The Political Graveyard
• Records of the Office of the Chairman of the Republican National Committee (Leonard W. Hall), Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library
• A film clip "Longines Chronoscope with Leonard Hall" is available at the Internet Archive

New York Assembly
Preceded by F. Trubee Davison	New York State Assembly Nassau County, 2nd District 1927–1928	Succeeded by Edwin R. Lynde
Preceded by Edwin R. Lynde	New York State Assembly Nassau County, 2nd District 1934–1938	Succeeded by Norman F. Penny
United States House of Representatives
Preceded by Robert L. Bacon	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New York's 1st congressional district 1939–1945	Succeeded by Edgar A. Sharp
Preceded by William Bernard Barry	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New York's 2nd congressional district 1945–1952	Succeeded by Steven Derounian
Party political offices
Preceded by C. Wesley Roberts	Chairman of the Republican National Committee 1953–1957	Succeeded by Meade Alcorn