Representative Louis Gary Clemente

Louis Gary Clemente (June 13, 1908 – May 13, 1968) was an American lawyer, military officer, and Democratic politician who served two terms as a United States Representative from New York from 1949 to 1953. Over the course of his public career he held elective office at both the municipal and federal levels and was active in the legislative process during a significant period in mid‑twentieth‑century American history.

Clemente was born on June 13, 1908, in New York City. He was educated in Catholic and military institutions, attending St. Ann’s Academy in Manhattan and LaSalle Military Academy in Oakdale, New York. Demonstrating an early interest in military affairs, he received a Reserve officer’s certificate at Plattsburgh in 1925 and later obtained a Reserve commission in 1929. These formative experiences combined academic training with structured military discipline and laid the groundwork for his later service as a commissioned officer.

Pursuing a career in law, Clemente enrolled at Georgetown Law School in Washington, D.C., from which he graduated in 1931. That same year he was admitted to the bar of the District of Columbia. He engaged in the practice of law both in Washington, D.C., and in New York, building a professional background that would support his subsequent entry into public life. His legal work during the 1930s provided him with familiarity with federal institutions and the legal framework within which national policy was made.

With the onset of World War II, Clemente entered active military service. In 1941 he joined the United States Army as a second lieutenant. Over the course of the war he advanced in rank and responsibility, serving until he was released from active duty as a lieutenant colonel in 1946. His wartime service coincided with a period of global conflict and national mobilization, and his military background later informed his perspective on defense and veterans’ issues during his political career.

Immediately following his release from active duty, Clemente turned to municipal politics. He was elected to the New York City Council, serving from 1946 to 1949. In this role he participated in the governance of the nation’s largest city during the immediate postwar years, representing local interests and gaining legislative experience that would prove valuable at the federal level. His tenure on the council marked his transition from legal practice and military service to full-time elective office.

Clemente was elected as a Democrat to the Eighty‑first and Eighty‑second Congresses, representing a New York district in the United States House of Representatives from January 3, 1949, to January 3, 1953. As a member of the House of Representatives during the early Cold War era and the beginning of the Korean War, he participated in the democratic process and contributed to the legislative work of Congress, representing the interests of his New York constituents within the broader national debate. A member of the Democratic Party, he served two consecutive terms before standing for reelection in 1952. He was an unsuccessful candidate that year for the Eighty‑third Congress, bringing his period of congressional service to a close after four years.

After leaving Congress, Clemente entered the private sector in senior executive roles. He served as executive vice president of several industrial and chemical companies, including Unexcelled Chemical Corp., Ohio Bronze Corp., Premier Chemical Corp., and Modene Paint Corp. In these positions he applied his legal training, governmental experience, and administrative skills to corporate management during a period of postwar industrial expansion in the United States.

Louis Gary Clemente died on May 13, 1968, in Jamaica, New York. He was interred in St. John’s Cemetery in Flushing, New York. His career encompassed legal practice, distinguished military service, municipal office, and two terms in the United States Congress, reflecting a life spent in both public service and private enterprise.