Fiorello Henry LaGuardia (fiəˈrɛloʊ ləˈɡwɑrdiə; born Fiorello Enrico La Guardia; December 11, 1882 September 20, 1947) was Mayor of New York for three terms from 1934 to 1945 as a liberal Republican

Republican Party (United States)

The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

. Previously he was elected to Congress in 1916 and 1918, and again from 1922 through 1930. Irascible, energetic and charismatic, he craved publicity and is acclaimed as one of the three or four greatest mayors in American history.