Thomas Michael Whalen III

Thomas Michael Whalen III, also known as Thomas M. Whalen III, and more simply, Tom Whalen, (1934–2002) was an attorney and politician, a three-term mayor of Albany, New York, serving from 1983 to 1993. A native of Albany, he graduated from Manhattan College and Albany Law School.

Thomas Michael Whalen III was born to an ethnic Irish Catholic family in Albany in 1936. He attended Vincention Institute for elementary, middle and high school. He graduated from Manhattan College in 1955 and Albany Law School.

After law school, Whalen joined the law firm of Cooper, Erving & Savage and went into private practice in Albany.

He became interested in politics, joining the Democratic Party. Whalen was elected as a city court judge and served from 1969 to 1975. In 1981, as part of Erastus Corning's "Team for the Future", he was picked as his successor, and nominated and elected as President of the Albany Common Council. Whalen's election to the Common Council's Presidency put him in position to ascend to the Mayor's Office in City Hall.

Mayor Corning died in 1983 in Boston. In accordance with Albany's charter, Whalen, as Common Council President, succeeded to the office of Mayor. At that time, New York State Comptroller Ned Regan was preparing to impose a Financial Control Board over the City of Albany, which was struggling with debt due to a downturn in its economy and loss of jobs. Whalen quickly set about establishing proper financial controls so that Albany could maintain control over its own finances; in addition, he worked to strengthen the economy and attract new residents and businesses. By all accounts he was successful.

Whalen served as a delegate to the 1984 Democratic National Convention. His administration encouraged the city's year-long Tricentennial celebration together with its business community. Among the project was restoration of the historic carillon of Albany City Hall.

Whalen was elected on his own in 1985 and re-elected in 1989. He is credited with a variety of reforms in city government, including reducing patronage and the reach of the political machine that Corning had ruled for more than four decades.

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