Daniel Evan Button | |
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Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New York's 29th district |
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In office January 3, 1967 – January 3, 1971 |
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Preceded by | Leo W. O'Brien |
Succeeded by | Samuel S. Stratton |
Personal details | |
Born |
Dunkirk, New York |
November 1, 1917
Died | March 7, 2009 Delmar, New York |
(aged 91)
Political party | Republican Party |
Alma mater |
University of Delaware Columbia University |
Daniel Evan Button (November 1, 1917 – March 7, 2009) was a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from New York. He died aged 91 at Albany Medical Center in Albany, New York.
Button was born in Dunkirk, New York. He graduated from the University of Delaware in 1938 and received a master's degree from Columbia University in 1939. He wrote for the Wilmington,(Del.) Morning News and the Associated Press from 1943 until 1947, when he turned to public relations at the University of Delaware. He was assistant to the president of the State University of New York from 1952 until 1958. He was executive editor of the Albany Times-Union from 1960 until 1966. He was elected to Congress in 1966 as a Republican in a traditionally heavily Democratic district centered around Albany and Schenectady and served from January 3, 1967 until January 3, 1971. Button first ran for the seat vacated by Democrat Leo W. O'Brien in 1966 and was reelected to a second term in 1968. However, a mid-decade redistricting ahead of the 1970 elections made his district even more heavily Democratic, and drew the home of Democratic congressman and former Schenectady mayor Samuel Stratton into Button's district. By 1970, he had become an outspoken critic of the Vietnam War. However, this was not enough to overcome the heavy partisan lean of his new district, and he was routed in the general election.