Stephen John Brademas, Jr. was born in Mishawaka, Indiana, on March 2, 1927. He was the eldest of four children of Beatrice Goble Brademas, a schoolteacher, and Stephen John Brademas, Sr., a Greek-immigrant restaurateur. Brademas graduated from South Bend Central High School and entered the University of Notre Dame in 1945, but soon left college to join the Navy. He was appointed to the Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps and sent to the University of Mississippi, which he attended until his discharge in May 1946. In September of that year, he entered Harvard College as a Veterans National Scholar. Majoring in government with an emphasis in international affairs, he graduated in 1949 with a B.A., magna cum laude, and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. From 1950 to 1953, he studied as a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University, England, receiving the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Social Studies. His dissertation topic was the anarchist movement in Spain from the mid-1920s to the first year of the Spanish Civil War.
While at Harvard in 1948, Brademas first entertained the idea of a congressional career. In a later interview, he remarked, "After an initial flirtation with the idea of going into business, into export-import work in Latin America, which is something I thought I wanted to do when I was in the 9th grade, I decided I would go into either the United Nations or the Foreign Service or run for Congress." (Oral History, Columbia University, see Series II:, Subseries III: Personal, Articles 1976).
Returning to South Bend in 1953, Brademas became the Democratic nominee from the Third District by defeating six other candidates in the primary. Paul M. Butler, a Notre Dame lawyer from South Bend, then Democratic Comitteeman for the State of Indiana and in 1954 elected Chairman of the Democratic National Committee, became Brademas' political mentor. Although Brademas lost the November election by one-half percent of the vote, he had, at 27, established himself as an able and aggressive campaigner and notable figure in the political climate of Indiana. While waiting for another opportunity to run for office, he joined the staff of Adlai Stevenson in his second presidential campaign. Brademas also during that time served as assistant to Senator Pat McNamara of Michigan and administrative assistant to Representative Thomas Ludlow Ashley of Ohio.
Defeated again by a small margin in 1956, Brademas taught political science at Saint Mary's College in South Bend, Indiana. He at last secured his seat in 1958 by the largest margin of votes received by any Congressional nominee in either party in Indiana.
Beginning service on January 3, 1959, Brademas soon proved himself to be one of the ablest and most respected of the large group of newly-elected Representatives. He served principally on the Education and Labor Committee, and also served on the House Administration Committee and the Joint Committee on the Library of Congress.
As chair of the Select Subcommittee on Education from 1969 to 1979, Brademas earned a reputation for leadership in education. He played a principal role in writing most of the major legislation concerning elementary and secondary education, higher education, vocational education, services for the elderly and handicapped, and Federal support for libraries, museums and the arts and humanities. He is chief architect of the National Institute of Education, the principal Federal agency supporting research in education, and was a major sponsor of the Omnibus Education Act of 1972 and the Higher Education Amendments of 1976.
While serving on the House Administration Committee, Brademas authored major provisions of the Federal Election Campaign Act Amendments of 1974 and 1976, and was chief House author of the Presidential Recordings and Materials Preservation Act of 1974, which assured ownership by the Federal government of the tapes and papers of the Nixon presidency, and was a co-sponsor of the Presidential Records Act of 1978, which governs papers of Presidents.
Brademas was the first native American of Greek origin ever elected to Congress. He remained actively involved in Greek affairs throughout his tenure, particularly in response to the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in 1974. He led a coalition calling for an arms embargo against Turkey. With four other members of the House of Representatives who were of Greek descent (Peter N. Kyros (D-Me.), Gus Yatron (D-Penn.), Paul Sarbanes (D-Md.), and Skip Bafalis (R-Fla.)), Brademas rallied for the American government to enforce provisions of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 and Foreign Military Sales Act of 1968, which stipulated that weapons supplied by the U.S. could only be used for defensive purposes. After facing vigorous opposition from Secretary of State Kissinger and President Ford, the coalition succeeded in passing a resolution to cut off military aid to Turkey. In 1978, however, the embargo was lifted.
In January 1973, Brademas assumed his first role in the Democratic leadership when he was appointed Chief Deputy Majority Whip, fourth ranking position in the House Majority Leadership. In 1977, Speaker Thomas P. O'Neill, Jr. and Majority Leader Jim Wright appointed Brademas Majority Whip, a position which he held for the next four years. As Whip his responsibilities included keeping track of vote counts, exerting gentle pressure when necessary on House Democrats to vote the leadership position on important bills, and serving as advisor to the Speaker of the House on how the vote will go. Additionally, he served on the Democratic Steering and Policy Committee in the House and attended bi-weekly breakfast meetings at the White House.
Brademas had never been guaranteed re-election to the Third District. Of the five presidential elections that occurred during his time in office, only once did his district vote for the Democratic candidate. His constituents were predominantly conservative and Republican, and the community contained a mix of economic classes, industry, and agriculture. He had managed to win eleven terms in Congress by tirelessly campaigning, responding to constituent needs, and seeking government grants and funds for district industry. But by 1980 factors including a struggling economy, the popularity of the Republican Presidential ticket led to Brademas' defeat.
The following year he became President of New York University. Over the next eleven years Brademas led the transition of NYU from a regional commuter school to a national and international residential research university.
In 1992, Brademas embarked on a third career: active engagement in a range of pro bono organizations. His various endeavors include: seven years, by appointment of President Clinton, as Chairman of the president's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities; seven years as Chairman of the National Endowment for Democracy; and chair of the American Ditchley Foundation. He was also in 2004 elected by the New York State Legislature to the New York State Board of Regents.
In 1977, Brademas married Mary Ellen Briggs, of Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. A physician in private practice in New York City, Dr. Brademas is a graduate of the Georgetown University School of Medicine. A member of the Department of Dermatology of the NYU Medical Center, she is former director of the venereal disease clinic at Bellevue Hospital and former chief of dermatology at St. Vincent's Hospital.
Sources:
Brademas, John. Biographical file, New York University Archives.Brademas, John. Washington, D.C. to Washington Square. 1st ed. New York: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1986. Brademas, John, with Lynne P. Brown. The politics of education: conflict and consensus on Capitol Hill. Plains reprint ed. Julian J. Rothbaum distinguished lecture series, Vol. 1. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2002.
