Representative John Martin Costello

John Martin Costello (January 15, 1903 – August 28, 1976) was an American lawyer and Democratic politician who served five terms as a U.S. Representative from California from 1935 to 1945. His decade in Congress coincided with the New Deal era, the Great Depression, and the Second World War, during which he participated in the legislative process and represented the interests of his California constituents in the House of Representatives.

Costello was born in Los Angeles, California, the son of Irish immigrants, and was raised in the city’s public school system. His upbringing in Los Angeles, then a rapidly growing urban center, exposed him early to the concerns of working- and middle-class families, many of whom, like his own, were part of the broader wave of Irish immigration that had settled in Southern California. These formative experiences in a diverse and expanding city helped shape his understanding of the needs of his future constituents.

After completing his primary and secondary education in Los Angeles public schools, Costello pursued legal studies at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles. He graduated in 1924 and was admitted to the bar the same year, promptly commencing the practice of law in Los Angeles. Alongside the start of his legal career, he worked as a teacher in Los Angeles secondary schools in 1924 and 1925, combining professional legal training with direct experience in public education. This dual engagement in law and teaching provided him with practical insight into both the legal system and the educational needs of his community.

Costello’s first bid for national office came during the depths of the Great Depression, when he ran as a Democrat for election to the Seventy-third Congress in 1932. Although this initial campaign was unsuccessful, it established his presence in California politics and aligned him with the Democratic Party at a time when Franklin D. Roosevelt and the New Deal coalition were reshaping the national political landscape. His early political efforts reflected the growing strength of Democratic candidates in California during this period of economic crisis and political realignment.

In 1934, Costello was elected as a Democrat to the Seventy-fourth Congress and subsequently won reelection to the four succeeding Congresses, serving from January 3, 1935, to January 3, 1945. During these five terms in the U.S. House of Representatives, he contributed to the legislative process at a time of profound national transformation, as Congress addressed economic recovery, social welfare, and wartime mobilization. As a member of the House of Representatives, he participated in the democratic process and worked to represent the interests of his California constituents in federal policymaking. His service placed him among those legislators who helped oversee the transition from the New Deal era into the wartime economy of World War II. He was also associated with the period in which the House Un-American Activities Committee emerged as a standing body of the House, reflecting the era’s growing concern with internal security and political subversion. In 1944, after a decade in office, he was an unsuccessful candidate for renomination to the Seventy-ninth Congress, bringing his congressional career to a close at the start of 1945.

Following his departure from Congress, Costello remained in public and civic life through his work with the business community and the legal profession. From 1945 to 1947, he served as general counsel and manager of the Washington office of the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce, acting as a liaison between the Chamber and the federal government during the immediate postwar years, when issues of reconversion, trade, and economic adjustment were central concerns. In this role, he drew on his legislative experience and legal training to advocate for the interests of Los Angeles businesses and the broader regional economy.

After completing his service with the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce, Costello continued his legal career in the nation’s capital. Beginning in 1947, he engaged in the practice of law in Washington, D.C., a professional path he followed for nearly three decades, from 1947 until his death in 1976. His long tenure in Washington’s legal community reflected both his expertise in federal law and his enduring connection to the institutions of the federal government developed during his years in Congress.

John Martin Costello died in Las Vegas, Nevada, on August 28, 1976. He was interred in Calvary Cemetery in Los Angeles, California, returning in death to the city where he had been born, educated, and first established himself as a lawyer, teacher, and public servant.