Hamilton Fish III

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Hamilton Fish III (December 7, 1888 - January 18, 1991) was a U.S Congressman from New York.

Fish, a member of a family prominent in New York politics, first came to public attention of his own as a student-athlete at Harvard University. Playing tackle from 1907 to 1909, he was an All-American twice. Years after graduating, the accolades continued, with Walter Camp naming him in 1923 to his all-time All-America team, and induction into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1954.

Fish served in World War I by commanding an all African American regiment known as the "Harlem Hellfighters."

Fish was elected to Congress in 1920 and served until 1945. He was opposed to Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal policies before and after Pearl Harbor. An isolationist until Pearl Harbor, Fish was responsible for a number of legislative and diplomatic moves aimed at helping Jews out of Hitler's Germany and turned aside as refugees. His unapologetic opposition to the New Deal provoked Roosevelt into including him with two other Capitol Hill opponents in a rollicking taunt that became a staple of FDR's 1940 re-election campaign: "Martin, Barton and Fish." Finally, in part under the influence of New York Gov. Thomas E. Dewey, Fish's congressional career ended when he won the Republican Party primary in his district but lost the general election in 1944.

After his tenure in Congress, Fish wrote a short history of World War I and an autobiography, Memoir of an American Patriot, published shortly after his death. For many years he was a familiar speaker at various political and veterans' functions; an indefatiguable traveler, he was known to do it by car as often as not. Almost invariably, he ended such speeches with, "If there is any country worth living in, if there is any country worth fighting for, and if there is any country worth dying for, it is the United States of America."

When Fish celebrated his 102nd birthday in 1990, he was the oldest living American politician.

Ancestors and descendents

Fish was a member of one of New York's most prominent political families. His grandfather, Hamilton Fish, served as a Senator and as President Ulysses S. Grant's Secretary of State.

His son, another Hamilton Fish (1926-1996), served in the House from 1969-1995.

Although he was the third Hamilton Fish in direct line in his family, like his father and his son, he was known as Hamilton Fish Jr. during his time in Congress. His grandson has also been known as Hamilton Fish III, and was publisher of the left-wing magazine The Nation before making his own run for Congress as "Hamilton Fish Jr." in 1994.

External links

• Biography from the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Biography from the College Football Hall of Fame website