Compiled by Russell Bastedo
NH State Curator
1998/1999

Daniel J. Healy (1908 - )
Born at ?
Career state legislator.
Portrait by James Aponovich, 1996.
Presented to the State, 1996.

Daniel J. Healy served fifty-two years (1944/46, 1948/98) in the State House of Representatives. It is a record of service to the State that has never been equaled.

Healy began his career in State politics in the presidential election of 1944, when President Franklin D. Roosevelt campaigned successfully for an unprecedented fourth term in office. According to the Manchester Morning Union newspaper (p. 6, November 4, 1944), Manchester's voter registration that year set a record of 42,247, and Healy came into office as a part of that election.

Healy lost his bid for reelection to the State House of Representatives in 1946, when he ran (as an Independent) last in a field of twelve, with 256 votes. He was re-elected in 1948 when Harry Truman stunned Thomas E. Dewey in the presidential election. Forty-seven out of fifty-four Democrats were elected to the State House of Representatives, and Healy was one of those swept in.

The newly elected State House of Representatives faced a state financial crisis when they convened in January 1949. D. Frank O'Neil, columnist of "Under the Capitol Dome" had already warned the new legislators of the situation:

...the first thing the incoming lawmakers should do in their spare time is start getting used to talking about increases that run into at least seven figures!...

...and where is New Hampshire going to pick up between $2,500,000 and $4,000,000 in new revenue? Generally, the answer to that one seems to narrow down to (a) new taxes (b) more dependence upon gambling or liquor revenue, or both...(Manchester Morning Union, Nov. 13, 1948)

In response to the 1949 funding shortfall, the "money" legislature came close to recommending a 1% income tax. Healy, a House Finance Committee member opposed to a state income tax, saw his minority view prevail on the House floor, and from that day to this (March 1999) the State has avoided an income tax. Now that Dan Healy has decided not to seek re-election (p. B-6, Concord Monitor, June 16, 1998), perhaps the State will face the issue again, this time with a different outcome.

References: The Manchester Morning Union, November 4, 1944; Ibid., November 13, 1948; State of New Hampshire Manual for the General Court, 1947 (1947); The Concord Monitor, June 16, 1998.