Robert B. Meyner

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Robert B. Meyner
44^th Governor of New Jersey
Term of office: 1954 – 1962
Predecessor:	Alfred E. Driscoll
Successor:	Richard J. Hughes
Born:	July 3, 1908 Easton, New Jersey
Died:	May 27, 1990
Political party:	Democratic
Spouse:	Helen Stevenson Meyner

Robert Baumle Meyner (July 3, 1908 - May 27, 1990) of Phillipsburg, New Jersey was an American Democratic Party politician, who served as the 44th Governor of New Jersey, from 1954 to 1962. Before being elected Governor, Meyner represented Warren County in the New Jersey Senate from 1948 to 1951.

Robert Meyner was born in Easton, Pennsylvania to a silk worker of German ancestry. At the age of eight, the family moved across the state border to Phillipsburg, New Jersey. Meyner graduated from Phillipsburg High School in 1926, and entered Lafayette College, where he majored in government and law. He is a brother of the Alpha Chi Rho fraternity. After his graduation, he moved on to Columbia Law School. He first found employment as a law clerk in Union City.

Meyner returned to Phillipsburg in 1936, where he quickly became a well known trial lawyer. His prominent involvement in civic and social affairs, as well as the recognition it generated, helped him in 1941 during his first bid for elected office. He lost a campaign for a seat in the New Jersey Senate by only fifty votes.

During World War II, Meyner served as an officer in the Navy, and he was discharged with the rank of Lieutenant Commander. After a failed run for federal office, he was elected to the state senate in 1947. Though he was the Senate Minority Leader in 1950, Meyner lost his seat in the election of 1952.

The ailing New Jersey Democratic Party chose him as its gubernatorial candidate in 1953, and he achieved a surprise victory, boosted by a minor scandal surrounding his opponent, Paul L. Troast. Meyner's first term was marked by strong support for state education and a general restructuring of the government. He defeated Malcolm Forbes handily in 1957 in his bid for re-election.

While Governor, Meyner uncovered Employment Security Division Director (and former governor) Harold G. Hoffman's massive corruption scam, and suspended Hoffman on March 18, 1954.

At the time, New Jersey's constitution prohibited governors from serving more than two consecutive terms, but did not place a limit on the total number of terms. So when his Democratic successor, Richard J. Hughes had served two terms and was unable to run for a third, the Democratic Party turned back to Meyner as their guberntorial candidate in 1969. But after 16 years of Democratic administrations, the public chose Republican William T. Cahill over Meyner.

Meyner's wife, Helen Stevenson Meyner served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1975 through 1978.

Meyner was cremated and his ashes are at Phillipsburg Cemetery in Phillipsburg.