View source for Ed Derwinski

{{Short description|American politician (1926–2012)}}
{{More citations needed|date=October 2023}}{{Infobox officeholder
| name                = Ed Derwinski
| image               = Ed derwinski.jpg
| order               = 1st
| office              = United States Secretary of Veterans Affairs
| president           = [[George H. W. Bush]]
| term_start          = March 15, 1989
| term_end            = September 26, 1992
| predecessor         = ''Position established''
| successor           = [[Jesse Brown]]
| office1             = [[Administrator of Veterans Affairs]]
| president1          = [[George H. W. Bush]]
| term_start1         = January 21, 1989
| term_end1           = March 15, 1989
| predecessor1        = [[Thomas K. Turnage|Thomas Turnage]]
| successor1          = Position abolished
| office2             = 8th [[Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Affairs|Under Secretary of State for International Security Affairs]]
| president2          = [[Ronald Reagan]]
| term_start2         = March 24, 1987
| term_end2           = January 21, 1989
| predecessor2        = [[William Schneider Jr.|William Schneider]]
| successor2          = [[Reginald Bartholomew]]
| office3             = 22nd [[Counselor of the United States Department of State]]
| president3          = [[Ronald Reagan]]
| term_start3         = March 23, 1983
| term_end3           = March 24, 1987
| predecessor3        = [[James L. Buckley]]
| successor3          = [[Max Kampelman]]
| state4              = [[Illinois]]
| district4           = {{ushr|IL|4|4th}}
| term_start4         = January 3, 1959
| term_end4           = January 3, 1983
| predecessor4        = [[William E. McVey]]
| successor4          = [[George M. O'Brien]]
| office5             = Member of the [[Illinois House of Representatives]]
| term_start5         = January 1957
| term_end5           = January 3, 1959
| birth_name          = Edward Joseph Derwinski
| birth_date          = {{birth date|1926|9|15}}
| birth_place         = [[Chicago, Illinois]], U.S.
| death_date          = {{nowrap|{{death date and age|2012|1|15|1926|9|15}}}}
| death_place         = [[Oak Brook, Illinois]], U.S.
| restingplace        = [[Arlington National Cemetery]]
| party               = [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]]
| spouse              = Patricia van der Giessen<br/>Bonnie Hickey
| children            = 2
| education           = [[Loyola University Chicago|Loyola University, Chicago]] ([[Bachelor of Science|BS]])
| allegiance          = [[United States]]
| branch              = [[United States Army]]
| serviceyears        = 1944–1946
| unit                = [[Infantry]]
| battles             = [[World War II]]
}}
'''Edward Joseph Derwinski''' (September 15, 1926 – January 15, 2012) was an American politician who served as the first [[United States Cabinet|Cabinet]]-level [[United States Secretary of Veterans Affairs]], serving under [[President of the United States|President]] [[George H. W. Bush]] from March 15, 1989 to September 26, 1992. He previously served as a member of the [[United States House of Representatives]] from 1959 to 1983, representing south and southwest suburbs of [[Chicago]].

==Early life==
He was born in [[Chicago, Illinois]], on September 15, 1926, to Sophia Zmijewski and Casimir Ignatius Derwinski, who died in 1947. He attended [[Loyola University Chicago|Loyola University of Chicago]]. Derwinski served in the [[United States Army]] in the [[Asiatic-Pacific Theater|Pacific Theater]] during [[World War II]] and in the postwar [[Occupied Japan|U.S. occupation of Japan]]. He graduated from [[Loyola University Chicago]] in 1951. He was a celebrated member of [[Alpha Delta Gamma]] National Fraternity.

==Legislative career==
In 1957, he was elected to the [[Illinois House of Representatives]], where he served one term before winning election to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1958. He served 12 terms as a [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] representative from the [[Illinois' 4th congressional district|4th District]] of [[Illinois]], a suburban region south and west of Chicago, eventually becoming ranking member of the [[United States House Committee on Foreign Affairs|House Foreign Affairs Committee]] (known for some periods as the International Relations Committee). He also served as a delegate to the [[United Nations General Assembly]] 1971–1972 and as chairman of the U.S. delegation to the [[Interparliamentary Union]] from 1970–1972 and 1978-1980.

In October 1978, Derwinski agreed to accompany fellow US representative [[Leo Ryan]] in his investigation of [[Jonestown]] in November 1978. Derwinski was added to comply with Foreign Affairs Committee guidelines on travel, which suggested multiple people. Derwinski backed out later on; during this visit, Ryan was murdered and the members of the Peoples Temple committed [[mass suicide]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hall |first=John R. |title=Gone from the Promised Land: Jonestown in American Cultural History |publisher=[[Transaction Publishers]] |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-7658-0587-4 |edition=2nd |location=Somerset |pages=258–259, 261 |language=en}}</ref>

==Executive career==
A [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] [[redistricting]] plan after the [[United States Census, 1980|1980 Census]] carved up the 4th District, with only about 15% of its territory being retained and added to various territory from other districts; Derwinski and fellow Republican congressman [[George M. O'Brien]] were placed in the same district, and O'Brien won the [[United States House elections, 1982|1982]] primary on the strength of having more of his previous district included in the new configuration. After Derwinski's loss, President [[Ronald Reagan]] appointed him Counselor to the [[United States Department of State|State Department]]. In 1987, Reagan appointed him [[Under Secretary of State]] for Security Assistance, Science and Technology, where he served until the end of Reagan's term, shortly after which he was appointed Administrator of Veterans Affairs, in charge of the Veterans Administration, which was elevated to cabinet-level status as the Department of Veterans Affairs in 1989, making Derwinski the first Secretary of Veterans Affairs.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/congress/edward-j-derwinski-first-secretary-of-the-department-of-veterans-affairs-dies/2012/01/18/gIQA5IlL9P_story.html|title=Edward J. Derwinski, first secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs, dies|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |date=January 18, 2012}}</ref>

==Advocacy==
A [[Polish American]], Derwinski was noted for his efforts on behalf of [[Eastern Europe]] throughout his career. Notably, he aided in the rehabilitation of the [[Serbia]]n Royalist general [[Draža Mihailović]]. Mihailović had received the [[Legion of Merit]] for his resistance efforts against the Axis&mdash;but this information was marked "[[United States security clearance#Secret|secret]]" at the behest of the [[United States Department of State|State Department]] so as not to harm relations with Marshal [[Josip Tito|Tito]], the current ruler of [[Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia|Yugoslavia]] in 1967. Tito was Mihailović's rival in World War II, and after Tito's forces emerged triumphant, Mihailović was accused of collaboration with the Nazis and executed. At the urging of airmen involved in [[Operation Halyard]] who had been saved by Mihailović's forces and had heard rumors of the award to him, Derwinski insisted that the State Department make the text of President Truman's citation public, confirming that Mihailović had not collaborated.<ref>{{cite book|last=Freeman|first=Gregory A.|title=The Forgotten 500|date=September 2007|publisher=Penguin Books|location=London|isbn=978-0-451-22212-1|page=271}}</ref> Derwinski served as head of "Ethnic Americans for [[Bob Dole|Dole]]/[[Jack Kemp|Kemp]]" during the [[1996 United States presidential election|1996 presidential election]].

==Post-politics==
Derwinski resided in [[Glen Ellyn, Illinois]] with his wife, the former Bonita Hickey, known as Bonnie. He had two adult children, Maureen and Michael, from his first marriage to Patricia Derwinski.

Derwinski died in a nursing home from [[Merkel cell carcinoma]], on January 15, 2012, at age 85.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/congress/edward-j-derwinski-first-secretary-of-the-department-of-veterans-affairs-dies/2012/01/18/gIQA5IlL9P_story.html|title=Edward J. Derwinski, first secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs, dies|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |date=January 18, 2012}}</ref> He was buried in [[Arlington National Cemetery]] in [[Arlington, Virginia]].

On learning of his death, former United States Senator [[Peter Fitzgerald (politician)|Peter Fitzgerald]] (R-IL) described Derwinski as "a giant in Illinois politics [...] [H]e had incredible connections in all the different ethnic neighborhoods in Chicago, he was really loved by everybody on both sides".

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{wikisource|works=or}}
{{CongBio|D000269}}
*[http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?r101:E17MY0-507: Congressional Record: Tribute to Ed Derwinski by Dan Rostenkowski]{{Dead link|date=August 2021 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}, May 17, 1990
*{{C-SPAN|4878}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Derwinski, Ed}}
[[Category:1926 births]]
[[Category:2012 deaths]]
[[Category:United States Army personnel of World War II]]
[[Category:American people of Polish descent]]
[[Category:Deaths from cancer in Illinois]]
[[Category:Deaths from Merkel-cell carcinoma]]
[[Category:George H. W. Bush administration cabinet members]]
[[Category:Republican Party members of the Illinois House of Representatives]]
[[Category:Military personnel from Illinois]]
[[Category:Politicians from Chicago]]
[[Category:Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Illinois]]
[[Category:United States Army soldiers]]
[[Category:United States Department of Veterans Affairs officials]]
[[Category:United States secretaries of veterans affairs]]
[[Category:United States under secretaries of state]]
[[Category:Burials at Arlington National Cemetery]]
[[Category:20th-century United States representatives]]
[[Category:20th-century members of the Illinois General Assembly]]