branch death_date children birth_date term_end alma_mater death_place title battles order term_start spouse image name caption predecessor birth_place president party successor article_title
united states navy 2 october 1996 peter joseph brennan , jr. joan brennan peggy brennan 24 may 1918 march 15 , 1975 city college of new york massapequa , new york united states secretary of labor world war ii 13th february 2 , 1973 josephine brickley pjbrennan.jpg peter j. brennan '' a symbol , along with our great flag , for '' freedom and patriotism to our beloved country . '' '' ` ' the hard hat will stand as james d. hodgson new york , new york richard nixon gerald ford democrat john t. dunlop peter j. brennan

peter j. brennan

peter j. brennan -lrb- may 24 , 1918 -- october 2 , 1996 -rrb- was united states secretary of labor under presidents nixon and ford .
he served between february 2 , 1973 and march 15 , 1975 .
brennan had previously been the president of both the building and construction trades council of greater new york and the building and construction trades council of new york , and returned to the former position after leaving the ford administration .
he was a strong opponent of affirmative action measures to increase the number of minority construction workers .
following the hard hat riot of may 8 , 1970 , brennan was wooed by the nixon administration as a potential supporter in the 1972 presidential election .
his work for nixon in that election was crucial in increasing the vote for nixon in new york and in the union movement .
