Former Westmoreland congressman, state Auditor General Donald Bailey’s life was driven by competition
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Whether it was on a wrestling mat, football field, battlefield or in politics, friends of former Westmoreland County Congressman and Pennsylvania Auditor General Donald A. Bailey say he relished competition.
“Don was one of the most competitive people I’ve ever met, and he was certainly driven in everything he did. And he was usually successful,” said former state Sen. Allen G. Kukovich, a fellow Democrat who knew Bailey from Westmoreland and state political circles.
Bailey, 74, of Harrisburg, formerly of Greensburg, died Monday after a lengthy illness. He was born July 21, 1945, in Pittsburgh, a son of the late Glenn Barnes Bailey and Anna Mable Cox Bailey.
Gov. Tom Wolf ordered the commonwealth flag at all state facilities, public buildings and grounds to fly at half-staff to honor Bailey, a 1963 graduate of Greensburg Salem High School.
The commonwealth flag should be lowered to half-staff until sunset Wednesday and again Saturday, the day of the funeral. The U.S. flag is to remain at full staff through this tribute.
Bailey first gained notoriety in high school when he was a county wrestling champion, held numerous discus records in track and field, was all-county, all-WPIAL, and first team all-state in football. He went on to the University of Michigan, where he lettered three times for the Wolverines football team as an offensive lineman and was a member of the 1965 Rose Bowl championship team.
Greensburg attorney John Scales, who was the state Democratic Committee chairman in the late 1960s and 1970s, concurred with Kukovich’s assessment of Bailey.
“He was a competitor and enjoyed it. If you were playing a sport, he was your main guy. And in politics, it was the same thing,” Scales said. “If winning a race meant meeting at midnight to decide what you were going to do the next day, you met at midnight. Don was very outgoing, friendly, and people immediately took to him.”
Bailey enlisted in the Army in 1967. He graduated from Infantry Officer Candidate School (OCS), where he was chosen Leadership Graduate by peers and instructors, and graduated from Airborne Jump School, joining the 82nd Airborne Division. Then, after brief training, he joined the 101st Airborne Division.
He volunteered for service in Vietnam and served 15 months of active combat, during which he received three Bronze Stars, two with “V” for valor and one for meritorious achievement. He also was awarded two Army Commendation medals, one with “V” for valor. He also received the Air Medal for successfully completing more than 30 combat assaults and received the Silver Star for “bravery beyond the call of duty.”
He received his law degree in 1976 from Duquesne University.
In 1978, former Greensburg attorney Gary Fine, who now lives in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., recalled being introduced to Bailey, then a brash 33-year-old attorney, at Mr. Toads in Greensburg. A Philadelphia native, Fine recalled telling Bailey that his mother was a Democratic committee woman in the eastern part of the state.
“He told me he was running for Congress and asked if I wanted to help work on his campaign. I said sure, ‘I’ll put in a few campaign signs for you,’ ” Fine said. “And we wound up winning the seat by 113 votes.”
Fine ended up working as Bailey’s campaign treasurer for four years when he was congressman in the county’s old 21st District from 1979-83.
“People liked Don; he could just take over a room as soon as he walked in. And he had a politician’s memory. … Whether he met you three or five years before and helped him in his campaign, the next time he saw you, he’d remember,” Fine said. “People who helped him in his campaign, he’d write them personal notes thanking them.”
Bailey lost the seat to former U.S. Rep. John Murtha of Johnstown when the two were pitted against each other in the redrawn district.
“Murtha was implicated in the Abscam scandal at the time we were running against him, but Don wouldn’t use it. He said he wouldn’t play dirty politics,” Fine said.
Bailey was elected as state auditor general from 1985-89. He also made unsuccessful runs for governor and U.S. Senate.
Bailey was the most-decorated military veteran in the U.S. House of Representatives when he served in the 97th Congress. He also was well known as a civil rights attorney.
Following a lengthy legal battle, in 2013, the state Supreme Court suspended him from practicing law for five years, saying Bailey violated the rules of professional conduct by making false statements critical of several federal judges in the state.
His son, Zachary, said his father’s most revered public service achievement was “literally spearheading,” while a member of Congress in 1982, the Vietnam Memorial sculpture — also known as The Three Soldiers — that was installed in Washington, D.C.
“At that time, there had been a lot of opposition to the Vietnam war, but Dad, being a Vietnam veteran himself, was really proud of getting that through. It really meant a lot to him,” Zachary Bailey said.
He noted that his father also was proud of his family.
Bailey is survived by his wife of 29 years, Adrienne Palarino Bailey; his children, Zachary, Ryan, Anna, Valerie, Ireland and Shannon; his brother, Glenn; niece, Elizabeth Ann Bailey Washburn and her husband, William; and nephew Robert Speakman.
In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his brothers, David, Charles and Bernard; sisters, Laura, Valerie and Jane.
Visitation will be from noon to 4 p.m. Saturday at Kepple-Graft Funeral Home Inc., 524 N. Main St., Greensburg. Military honors will be held at 4 p.m. at the funeral home.
Interment will be held in Arlington National Cemetery at a later date.