American politician
James Edward Day
(October 11, 1914 – October 29, 1996) was an
American
lawyer and business executive, most widely known as the
United States Postmaster General
under whose leadership the
ZIP code
was introduced.
Early years and career
[
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]
James Edward Day was born in
Jacksonville
,
Illinois
.
[1]
He received a B.A. from
University of Chicago
in 1935, then attended
Harvard Law School
, graduating in 1938.
[2]
Following law school, Day joined
Sidley, Austin, Burgess and Harper
in Chicago, where he became a close friend of
Adlai Stevenson
.
[1]
In 1940 he joined the Naval Reserve and trained as an officer; he was called to active duty as an ensign in 1942, and was discharged as a lieutenant in 1945.
[2]
Day returned to Sidley Austin and in 1948, following Stevenson's election as
governor of Illinois
, Day worked as a legislative assistant and later as
Illinois insurance commissioner
.
[1]
[2]
In 1953, he left state government for a job with
Prudential Insurance Company
, taking over its western operations four years later.
[2]
Postmaster General
[
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]
I went to Harvard, I served in the Navy and my wife went to Vassar.
Day joins the rest of
Kennedy's newly formed cabinet
in the
East Room
of the White House as they are sworn in on January 21, 1961, by Chief Justice
Earl Warren
.
In 1961 he became
U.S. Postmaster General
in the
administration of John F. Kennedy
. There, he was responsible for reducing the postal deficit, introducing
ZIP codes
, and improving service and employee morale; towards the latter he signed its first labor contract,
[3]
with the
National Rural Letter Carriers' Association
.
During his time at the job the
Dag Hammarskjold invert
stamp was printed and reprinted. In August 1963, he resigned as Postmaster General, saying it was hard to live on the $25,000 salary the office paid.
[3]
In 1965 he published a light-hearted memoir about his Postmaster General service,
My Appointed Round: 929 days as Postmaster General
(New York:
Holt, Rinehart and Winston
,
LCCN
65-14437
).
Return to private practice
[
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]
Immediately after leaving the federal government, Day returned to private law practice and joined the firm of
Sidley Austin
Burgess and Smith. In this capacity he helped establish the firm's Washington, DC office.
[4]
His clients included the
Advertising Mail Marketing Association
, an organization that particularly benefited from the ZIP code's use in targeting
mass marketing
campaigns by income level.
[3]
Day's departure resulted from a perceived slight by his partners following the merger of Sidley with the Chicago law firm Liebman, Williams, Bennett, Baird and Minow.
[
citation needed
]
Day sued his former partners in a case that went to the
United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
.
Day v. Sidley & Austin, 548 F.2d 1018 (D.C.Cir. 1976)
. The court found that Day suffered from a bruised ego but that the facts failed to establish a legal
cause of action
.
[
citation needed
]
Day joined
Squire, Sanders & Dempsey
in 1973, where he remained until he retired in 1984.
[1]
Day also served as legal counsel for the
Association of Postal Commerce
for a number of years until 1986; the association subsequently established the annual "J. Edward Day Award", given in recognition of "distinguished service to the nation's postal community."
[5]
Day died of a
heart attack
on October 29, 1996, in
Hunt Valley, Maryland
.
[3]
References
[
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]
External links
[
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]
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