Andy Ireland

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Andrew Poysell Ireland
Member of the
U.S. House of Representatives
from Florida
In office
January 3, 1977 – January 3, 1993
Preceded byJames A. Haley
Succeeded byCharles T. Canady (Redistricting)
Constituency8th District (1977-1983)
10th District (1983-1993)
Personal details
Born (1930-08-23) August 23, 1930 (age 93)
Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.
Political partyRepublican (1984-present)
Other political
affiliations
Democratic (until 1984)
Alma materYale University
Columbia University
Louisiana State University

Andrew Poysell Ireland (born August 23, 1930) is an American banker and politician and former U.S. Representative from Florida. From 1977 to 1993, he served eight terms, first as a Democrat, then as a Republican after switching parties in 1984.

Biography

Born to a wealthy family in Cincinnati, Ohio, he attended a private school within the city. He finished his high school career at Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts. Ireland earned his undergraduate degree in business at Yale University and did graduate studies at Columbia University. Ireland joined Barnett National Bank in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1954, and in 1962 he became the president, chairman and chief executive officer of American National Bank of Winter Haven, Florida. From 1968 to 1970, Ireland served as a member of the board of the Federal Reserve Bank in Atlanta, Georgia.

Political career

Ireland became involved in politics in 1966, when he successfully ran for the position of Winter Haven city commissioner. In 1981, he served as a delegate to the United Nations.

Ireland was elected as a Democrat to the 95th United States Congress and to the three succeeding Congresses. On March 17, 1984, however, he announced that he had become a Republican, with his party switch becoming official on July 8. He had been one of the more conservative Democrats in the Florida delegation, and had become increasingly uncomfortable with the leftward bent of the national party; in a speech announcing his switch, he said, "I didn't leave the Democratic Party, the Democratic Party left me." Even before his switch, Ireland had worn his party ties so loosely that Speaker Tip O'Neill mused that Ireland "wasn't much of a Democrat anyway." Future Republican National Committee chairman Ed Gillespie, who was a staffer in Ireland's office at the time and switched parties soon after his boss, said that he and Ireland were classic examples of Reagan Democrats who became Republicans–"a southern conservative and a young northeastern ethnic Catholic who no longer felt comfortable in the party of their heritage." All but a few of Ireland's staffers stayed on after the switch, though some of them remained Democrats.[1]

Ireland was reelected as a Republican to the 99th United States Congress and to the three succeeding Congresses. He served in the House of Representatives from January 3, 1977, to January 3, 1993, before retiring.

See also

References

  1. ^ Winning Right. Simon & Schuster. 11 September 2007. ISBN 9781416525639. Retrieved October 28, 2014.

External links

Government offices
Preceded by
Director of the
Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta
Jacksonville Branch

1968 – 1970
Succeeded by
Diplomatic posts
Preceded by
Delegate to the
United Nations General Assembly

1981 – 1981
Succeeded by
Political offices
Preceded by
Member of the Winter Haven, Florida
City Commission

1966 – 1968
Succeeded by
U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Florida's 8th congressional district

1977–1983
Succeeded by
Preceded by Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Florida's 10th congressional district

1983–1993
Succeeded by
U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial)
Preceded byas Former US Representative Order of precedence of the United States
as Former US Representative
Succeeded byas Former US Representative