Julius C. Michaelson

Julius Cooley Michaelson (January 25, 1922 – November 12, 2011) served as Rhode Island Attorney General from 1975 to 1979 and was the Democratic U.S. Senate nominee in 1982 against liberal Republican John Chafee.

Michaelson was born to Carl and Celia (née Cooley) Michaelson. He entered the U.S. Army in 1943 as a Private and was released in 1946 as a First Lieutenant. He graduated from Boston University in 1947, having earned his law degree. He received a Master's degree from Brown University in 1967. His public service career began in 1957 as public counsel in public utility rate cases and as a delegate to the Rhode Island Constitutional Convention. In 1962, Michaelson was elected to the State Senate, and served there until 1974. He was Deputy Majority Leader during the 1969 session.

In 1974, he won election as State Attorney General, and left office after two terms. He challenged incumbent Republican U.S. Senator John Chafee in 1982, garnering 49% to Chafee's 51%.

He died on November 12, 2011. At the order of Rhode Island Governor Lincoln Chafee, son of Michaelson's former political opponent John Chafee, state flags were flown at half-staff in his memory.

Julius C. Michaelson, 89, of Angell St., Providence, died at home on Saturday, November 12, 2011. Born in Salem, MA he was the son of the late Carl and Celia (Cooley) Michaelson. A Providence resident for most of his life, Mr. Michaelson was educated in Providence Public Schools graduating from Hope High School in 1939 and subsequently graduating from Boston University School of Law in 1947. He later received his master's degree in Philosophy from Brown University. He served as a First Lieutenant in the U.S. Army during World War II. A Past President of the Rhode Island Bar Association, he began his law career with his partner and lifelong friend, Milton Stanzler, as a principle partner in the law firm of Abedon, Michaelson and Stanzler retiring in 2010 from Michaelson & Michaelson, where he was a partner with his son Jeffrey. Among his many accomplishments and recognitions, he was general counsel to the State AFL-CIO, served as a Senator in the Rhode Island General Assembly for a dozen years and was the Attorney General in the 1970s. He concentrated much of his political and legal efforts championing causes of social justice to aid the ordinary citizen and society's less fortunate. Mr. Michaelson received many awards over his long career. In 2002, he was inducted into the Rhode Island Heritage Hall of Fame. Part of its citation reads as follows: “Your real accomplishments rise above office holding. You have been a community stalwart your entire life and seamlessly joined the causes of social justice into your legislative life. You spoke out against racial injustice and chaired an Ad Hoc group to study the problem, and eventually led the charge in the General Assembly that passed a Fair Housing Law, and paved the way for open public meetings. At the same time, you gave your vocal stamp of approval to women's rights legislation like the Equal Rights Amendment in your capacity as chairperson of the Senate Judiciary Committee. In 1971, it was pointed out that you concentrated much of your efforts on bills to help the ordinary citizen, such as the Fair Housing Law, consumer protection, antipollution, conservation and for school teachers rights to collective bargaining, (the bill named the Michaelson Act), and that your work in these areas attracted much attention beyond the borders of Providence. It has been said that whatever the issue, you seemed to instinctively side with society's less fortunate, not always a popular or pragmatic position to take. You followed the star of social justice regardless of the consequences. In a larger frame, you served on the National Institute for Democracy under Madeleine Albright to promote democracy in third world countries, were a delegate to the 1980 Conference on Security and Cooperation in Madrid, and in 1988, you participated in American-Russian bilateral talks in Moscow. In a break with partisanship, President Reagan appointed you to the Foreign Service Grievance Board. Throughout your distinguished career, you rose above party politics to do what you thought was the right thing. You truly represent the State's Independent Spirit.” Mr. Michaelson is survived by Rita, his wife of sixty-one years, sons, Mark and Jeffrey, daughter-in-law Karen, grandchildren Kristen and Graham, brothers-in-law Dr. Joel Caslowitz and Dr. Ronald Green and sisters-in-law Susan Green and Joyce Richard. Funeral arrangements under the direction of the Holt Funeral Home, 510 So. Main St., Woonsocket, will be held Tuesday, November 15, 2011 at 2 PM in Temple Beth El, 70 Orchard Ave., Providence. Burial will follow in Swan Point Cemetery, Blackstone Blvd., Providence. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Celia and Carl Michaelson Endowment Fund at the Brown University Judaic Studies Department, Home and Hospice Care of Rhode Island or Temple Beth-El in Providence.

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