March 28, 1992
Robert B. Blaikie Is Dead at 85; Poltical Gadfly Fought Tammany
By WOLFGANG SAXON
Robert B. Blaikie, an insurgent Democratic district leader of the 1940's and 1950's, died on Thursday at his home in Manhattan. He was 85 years old.
He had worked as usual in his insurance office downtown during the day and died of a heart attack while watching the news on television, his son, Donald B., said.
Mr. Blaikie led the old Seventh District on the Upper West Side, between 96th and 125th Streets, from 1945 to 1953. A scrappy party rebel, he was dubbed "Battling Bob" by reporters who chronicled his constant fights with the party machine known as Tammany Hall.
In his campaigns against the established powers, one of Mr. Blaikie's themes was the frugal use of the taxpayer's money. In 1965, he ran as an independent Democrat for Manhattan Borough President, vowing to abolish the office as redundant. At War With Tammany
By his own count Mr. Blaikie beat Tammany and its leader Carmine De Sapio 14 times when backing other independents over Tammany's chosen candidates. Among those who ran -- and won -- with his support were Franklin D. Roosevelt Jr. for Congress in 1949, Vincent R. Impellitteri for Mayor in 1950 and Rudolph Halley for City Council in 1951.
In 1953, after breaking with Mr. Impellitteri, Mr. Blaikie himself sought the Democratic nomination for Mayor.
Among his targets were dominant black political figures like Representative Adam Clayton Powell Jr. and J. Raymond Jones, another district leader and king-maker to whom Mr. Blaikie referred to as "Emperor Jones." John V. Lindsay drew Mr. Blaikie's wrath as "the worst Mayor New York ever had," one who drove New Yorkers from the city, to Florida for one place. When Mr. Lindsay pursued the Presidency in 1972, Mr. Blaikie, who owned a home in Fort Lauderdale, hired a small plane to fly along the Florida coast, towing a sign saying, "LINDSAY SPELLS TSOURIS" -- the Yiddish word for trouble.
Mr. Blaikie started taxpayers' suits against city officials he deemed to be wasteful and court challenges to the flaws he saw in the City Charter. Senator Estes Kevauver of Tennessee asked him in 1956 to manage his Presidential campaign, but Mr. Blaikie demurred on the ground that he was not known well enough in party circles outside New York. Don't Waste Anything
Robert Blair Blaikie was born on the Upper West Side on Dec. 17, 1906, the first of five children. His father Robert, a restaurateur, hailed from Edinburgh and his mother, the former Mary Loughlin, from Ireland.
The family lived comfortably and waste was anathema. Mr. Blaikie said later that he never forgot his father's words when he threw bread across the dining table at his brother: "Don't you ever waste God's gift of bread. So many people need it."
He played football at the public schools he attended, but turned down a college football scholarship because the insurance business beckoned him after he worked in it summers as an office boy. Taking night courses at Columbia University, he started with a $25-a-week job in the bonding business. He prospered with a firm of his own, specializing in court-ordered judicial bonds.
He ventured into politics after straying into a West Side Democratic club. He lost his first primary in 1941 but won the district leadership when he ran again in 1945. He lost it when he unsuccessfully sought the Mayor's Office eight years later.
Besides his son Donald, a resident of Garrison, N.Y., Mr. Blaikie's survivors include another son, Robert P. of Sarasota, Fla., two brothers, William of Fort Pierce, Fla., and James of Brainerd, Minn., nine grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.
A funeral Mass is scheduled for 3 P.M. today in the Lady Chapel of St. Patrick's Cathedral.
_____________________________
Robert Blair Blaikie (1906-1992) — also known as Robert B. Blaikie; "Battling Bob" — of Manhattan, New York County, N.Y. Born in Manhattan, New York County, N.Y., December 17, 1906. Democrat. Insurance business; candidate in primary for mayor of New York City, N.Y., 1953; candidate in primary for borough president of Manhattan, New York, 1965. Irish and Scottish ancestry. Died, from a heart attack, in Manhattan, New York County, N.Y., March 26, 1992 (age 85 years, 100 days). Burial location unknown.
Son of Robert Blaikie and Mary (Loughlin) Blaikie.
_____________________________
The Blaikie Group was founded in 1933 by Robert B. Blaikie, a well-known businessman, Manhattan community leader and mayoral candidate. The Blaikie Group is New York City’s largest and most experienced agency writing surety bonds for lawyers and their clients today.
Robert B. Blaikie Is Dead at 85; Poltical Gadfly Fought Tammany
By WOLFGANG SAXON
Robert B. Blaikie, an insurgent Democratic district leader of the 1940's and 1950's, died on Thursday at his home in Manhattan. He was 85 years old.
He had worked as usual in his insurance office downtown during the day and died of a heart attack while watching the news on television, his son, Donald B., said.
Mr. Blaikie led the old Seventh District on the Upper West Side, between 96th and 125th Streets, from 1945 to 1953. A scrappy party rebel, he was dubbed "Battling Bob" by reporters who chronicled his constant fights with the party machine known as Tammany Hall.
In his campaigns against the established powers, one of Mr. Blaikie's themes was the frugal use of the taxpayer's money. In 1965, he ran as an independent Democrat for Manhattan Borough President, vowing to abolish the office as redundant. At War With Tammany
By his own count Mr. Blaikie beat Tammany and its leader Carmine De Sapio 14 times when backing other independents over Tammany's chosen candidates. Among those who ran -- and won -- with his support were Franklin D. Roosevelt Jr. for Congress in 1949, Vincent R. Impellitteri for Mayor in 1950 and Rudolph Halley for City Council in 1951.
In 1953, after breaking with Mr. Impellitteri, Mr. Blaikie himself sought the Democratic nomination for Mayor.
Among his targets were dominant black political figures like Representative Adam Clayton Powell Jr. and J. Raymond Jones, another district leader and king-maker to whom Mr. Blaikie referred to as "Emperor Jones." John V. Lindsay drew Mr. Blaikie's wrath as "the worst Mayor New York ever had," one who drove New Yorkers from the city, to Florida for one place. When Mr. Lindsay pursued the Presidency in 1972, Mr. Blaikie, who owned a home in Fort Lauderdale, hired a small plane to fly along the Florida coast, towing a sign saying, "LINDSAY SPELLS TSOURIS" -- the Yiddish word for trouble.
Mr. Blaikie started taxpayers' suits against city officials he deemed to be wasteful and court challenges to the flaws he saw in the City Charter. Senator Estes Kevauver of Tennessee asked him in 1956 to manage his Presidential campaign, but Mr. Blaikie demurred on the ground that he was not known well enough in party circles outside New York. Don't Waste Anything
Robert Blair Blaikie was born on the Upper West Side on Dec. 17, 1906, the first of five children. His father Robert, a restaurateur, hailed from Edinburgh and his mother, the former Mary Loughlin, from Ireland.
The family lived comfortably and waste was anathema. Mr. Blaikie said later that he never forgot his father's words when he threw bread across the dining table at his brother: "Don't you ever waste God's gift of bread. So many people need it."
He played football at the public schools he attended, but turned down a college football scholarship because the insurance business beckoned him after he worked in it summers as an office boy. Taking night courses at Columbia University, he started with a $25-a-week job in the bonding business. He prospered with a firm of his own, specializing in court-ordered judicial bonds.
He ventured into politics after straying into a West Side Democratic club. He lost his first primary in 1941 but won the district leadership when he ran again in 1945. He lost it when he unsuccessfully sought the Mayor's Office eight years later.
Besides his son Donald, a resident of Garrison, N.Y., Mr. Blaikie's survivors include another son, Robert P. of Sarasota, Fla., two brothers, William of Fort Pierce, Fla., and James of Brainerd, Minn., nine grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.
A funeral Mass is scheduled for 3 P.M. today in the Lady Chapel of St. Patrick's Cathedral.
_____________________________
Robert Blair Blaikie (1906-1992) — also known as Robert B. Blaikie; "Battling Bob" — of Manhattan, New York County, N.Y. Born in Manhattan, New York County, N.Y., December 17, 1906. Democrat. Insurance business; candidate in primary for mayor of New York City, N.Y., 1953; candidate in primary for borough president of Manhattan, New York, 1965. Irish and Scottish ancestry. Died, from a heart attack, in Manhattan, New York County, N.Y., March 26, 1992 (age 85 years, 100 days). Burial location unknown.
Son of Robert Blaikie and Mary (Loughlin) Blaikie.
_____________________________
The Blaikie Group was founded in 1933 by Robert B. Blaikie, a well-known businessman, Manhattan community leader and mayoral candidate. The Blaikie Group is New York City’s largest and most experienced agency writing surety bonds for lawyers and their clients today.
March 28, 1992
Robert B. Blaikie Is Dead at 85; Poltical Gadfly Fought Tammany
By WOLFGANG SAXON
Robert B. Blaikie, an insurgent Democratic district leader of the 1940's and 1950's, died on Thursday at his home in Manhattan. He was 85 years old.
He had worked as usual in his insurance office downtown during the day and died of a heart attack while watching the news on television, his son, Donald B., said.
Mr. Blaikie led the old Seventh District on the Upper West Side, between 96th and 125th Streets, from 1945 to 1953. A scrappy party rebel, he was dubbed "Battling Bob" by reporters who chronicled his constant fights with the party machine known as Tammany Hall.
In his campaigns against the established powers, one of Mr. Blaikie's themes was the frugal use of the taxpayer's money. In 1965, he ran as an independent Democrat for Manhattan Borough President, vowing to abolish the office as redundant. At War With Tammany
By his own count Mr. Blaikie beat Tammany and its leader Carmine De Sapio 14 times when backing other independents over Tammany's chosen candidates. Among those who ran -- and won -- with his support were Franklin D. Roosevelt Jr. for Congress in 1949, Vincent R. Impellitteri for Mayor in 1950 and Rudolph Halley for City Council in 1951.
In 1953, after breaking with Mr. Impellitteri, Mr. Blaikie himself sought the Democratic nomination for Mayor.
Among his targets were dominant black political figures like Representative Adam Clayton Powell Jr. and J. Raymond Jones, another district leader and king-maker to whom Mr. Blaikie referred to as "Emperor Jones." John V. Lindsay drew Mr. Blaikie's wrath as "the worst Mayor New York ever had," one who drove New Yorkers from the city, to Florida for one place. When Mr. Lindsay pursued the Presidency in 1972, Mr. Blaikie, who owned a home in Fort Lauderdale, hired a small plane to fly along the Florida coast, towing a sign saying, "LINDSAY SPELLS TSOURIS" -- the Yiddish word for trouble.
Mr. Blaikie started taxpayers' suits against city officials he deemed to be wasteful and court challenges to the flaws he saw in the City Charter. Senator Estes Kevauver of Tennessee asked him in 1956 to manage his Presidential campaign, but Mr. Blaikie demurred on the ground that he was not known well enough in party circles outside New York. Don't Waste Anything
Robert Blair Blaikie was born on the Upper West Side on Dec. 17, 1906, the first of five children. His father Robert, a restaurateur, hailed from Edinburgh and his mother, the former Mary Loughlin, from Ireland.
The family lived comfortably and waste was anathema. Mr. Blaikie said later that he never forgot his father's words when he threw bread across the dining table at his brother: "Don't you ever waste God's gift of bread. So many people need it."
He played football at the public schools he attended, but turned down a college football scholarship because the insurance business beckoned him after he worked in it summers as an office boy. Taking night courses at Columbia University, he started with a $25-a-week job in the bonding business. He prospered with a firm of his own, specializing in court-ordered judicial bonds.
He ventured into politics after straying into a West Side Democratic club. He lost his first primary in 1941 but won the district leadership when he ran again in 1945. He lost it when he unsuccessfully sought the Mayor's Office eight years later.
Besides his son Donald, a resident of Garrison, N.Y., Mr. Blaikie's survivors include another son, Robert P. of Sarasota, Fla., two brothers, William of Fort Pierce, Fla., and James of Brainerd, Minn., nine grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.
A funeral Mass is scheduled for 3 P.M. today in the Lady Chapel of St. Patrick's Cathedral.
_____________________________
Robert Blair Blaikie (1906-1992) — also known as Robert B. Blaikie; "Battling Bob" — of Manhattan, New York County, N.Y. Born in Manhattan, New York County, N.Y., December 17, 1906. Democrat. Insurance business; candidate in primary for mayor of New York City, N.Y., 1953; candidate in primary for borough president of Manhattan, New York, 1965. Irish and Scottish ancestry. Died, from a heart attack, in Manhattan, New York County, N.Y., March 26, 1992 (age 85 years, 100 days). Burial location unknown.
Son of Robert Blaikie and Mary (Loughlin) Blaikie.
_____________________________
The Blaikie Group was founded in 1933 by Robert B. Blaikie, a well-known businessman, Manhattan community leader and mayoral candidate. The Blaikie Group is New York City’s largest and most experienced agency writing surety bonds for lawyers and their clients today.
Robert B. Blaikie Is Dead at 85; Poltical Gadfly Fought Tammany
By WOLFGANG SAXON
Robert B. Blaikie, an insurgent Democratic district leader of the 1940's and 1950's, died on Thursday at his home in Manhattan. He was 85 years old.
He had worked as usual in his insurance office downtown during the day and died of a heart attack while watching the news on television, his son, Donald B., said.
Mr. Blaikie led the old Seventh District on the Upper West Side, between 96th and 125th Streets, from 1945 to 1953. A scrappy party rebel, he was dubbed "Battling Bob" by reporters who chronicled his constant fights with the party machine known as Tammany Hall.
In his campaigns against the established powers, one of Mr. Blaikie's themes was the frugal use of the taxpayer's money. In 1965, he ran as an independent Democrat for Manhattan Borough President, vowing to abolish the office as redundant. At War With Tammany
By his own count Mr. Blaikie beat Tammany and its leader Carmine De Sapio 14 times when backing other independents over Tammany's chosen candidates. Among those who ran -- and won -- with his support were Franklin D. Roosevelt Jr. for Congress in 1949, Vincent R. Impellitteri for Mayor in 1950 and Rudolph Halley for City Council in 1951.
In 1953, after breaking with Mr. Impellitteri, Mr. Blaikie himself sought the Democratic nomination for Mayor.
Among his targets were dominant black political figures like Representative Adam Clayton Powell Jr. and J. Raymond Jones, another district leader and king-maker to whom Mr. Blaikie referred to as "Emperor Jones." John V. Lindsay drew Mr. Blaikie's wrath as "the worst Mayor New York ever had," one who drove New Yorkers from the city, to Florida for one place. When Mr. Lindsay pursued the Presidency in 1972, Mr. Blaikie, who owned a home in Fort Lauderdale, hired a small plane to fly along the Florida coast, towing a sign saying, "LINDSAY SPELLS TSOURIS" -- the Yiddish word for trouble.
Mr. Blaikie started taxpayers' suits against city officials he deemed to be wasteful and court challenges to the flaws he saw in the City Charter. Senator Estes Kevauver of Tennessee asked him in 1956 to manage his Presidential campaign, but Mr. Blaikie demurred on the ground that he was not known well enough in party circles outside New York. Don't Waste Anything
Robert Blair Blaikie was born on the Upper West Side on Dec. 17, 1906, the first of five children. His father Robert, a restaurateur, hailed from Edinburgh and his mother, the former Mary Loughlin, from Ireland.
The family lived comfortably and waste was anathema. Mr. Blaikie said later that he never forgot his father's words when he threw bread across the dining table at his brother: "Don't you ever waste God's gift of bread. So many people need it."
He played football at the public schools he attended, but turned down a college football scholarship because the insurance business beckoned him after he worked in it summers as an office boy. Taking night courses at Columbia University, he started with a $25-a-week job in the bonding business. He prospered with a firm of his own, specializing in court-ordered judicial bonds.
He ventured into politics after straying into a West Side Democratic club. He lost his first primary in 1941 but won the district leadership when he ran again in 1945. He lost it when he unsuccessfully sought the Mayor's Office eight years later.
Besides his son Donald, a resident of Garrison, N.Y., Mr. Blaikie's survivors include another son, Robert P. of Sarasota, Fla., two brothers, William of Fort Pierce, Fla., and James of Brainerd, Minn., nine grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.
A funeral Mass is scheduled for 3 P.M. today in the Lady Chapel of St. Patrick's Cathedral.
_____________________________
Robert Blair Blaikie (1906-1992) — also known as Robert B. Blaikie; "Battling Bob" — of Manhattan, New York County, N.Y. Born in Manhattan, New York County, N.Y., December 17, 1906. Democrat. Insurance business; candidate in primary for mayor of New York City, N.Y., 1953; candidate in primary for borough president of Manhattan, New York, 1965. Irish and Scottish ancestry. Died, from a heart attack, in Manhattan, New York County, N.Y., March 26, 1992 (age 85 years, 100 days). Burial location unknown.
Son of Robert Blaikie and Mary (Loughlin) Blaikie.
_____________________________
The Blaikie Group was founded in 1933 by Robert B. Blaikie, a well-known businessman, Manhattan community leader and mayoral candidate. The Blaikie Group is New York City’s largest and most experienced agency writing surety bonds for lawyers and their clients today.
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