John T. Downey

John Thomas Downey was born on 19 April 1930 in Wallingford, Connecticut. He was a judge and a former C.I.A. agent who became the longest-serving American prisoner of war by surviving more than 20 years in Chinese prisons after he was shot down over Manchuria in 1952 during the Korean War. He was released in 1973.

Downey graduated from Harvard Law School in 1976. In 1977, Connecticut Governor Ella Grasso appointed Downey to a six-year term on the State Personnel Appeal Board. He served in this position until January 1978, when Grasso appointed him Connecticut's first Secretary of the Department of Business Relations. In June 1978, Downey began an unsuccessful run for Lieutenant Governor of Connecticut as a Democrat. Governor Grasso then appointed him Commissioner of the Connecticut Public Utility Control Authority in 1979. In 1980, Downey was appointed to the board of trustees of Quinnipiac College. In 1981, Downey ran for the U.S. Senate, but was defeated in the Democratic primary in May 1982.

He died on 17 November 2014 in Branford, Connecticut.

Sources:

"John T. Downey Obituary (1930 - 2014) New Haven Register". Legacy.com. November 17, 2014.

Martin, Douglas (19 November 2014), "John T. Downey Dies at 84; Held Captive in China for 20 Years", New York Times

Murphy, Robert F. (October 21, 1981). "Downey Sites Past in Bid for Senate". Hartford Courant (Hartford, Connecticut). p. 18.