U.S. SENATOR (1926-1949)

A Voice for the Common Man.

Robert Wagner, Democratic senator from New York, was one of the major architects of the modern American welfare state. A voice in the Senate for working people, the poor, and minorities, Wagner was a political activist who picked his political fights with care and often won. Wagner often relied on social scientists to conceive the initiatives he sponsored.

Background.

Born in Germany, Wagner immigrated to New York City with his family at the age of eight. He attended City College of New York, earned a law degree, and then worked his way up the political ladder by forging an urban-progressive coalition. As a New York State assemblyman (1904-1909) and a New York State senator (1910-1918) he became a vocal advocate of laws to protect working people. Elected a justice on the New York State Supreme Court in 1918, he continued to champion the rights of...