Abraham Alexander Ribicoff (April 9, 1910 – February 22, 1998) was an American United States Democratic Party politician. He served in the United States Congress, as governor of Connecticut and as President John F. Kennedy's Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare. He was Connecticut's first and to date only Jewish governor.
Born in New Britain, Connecticut to Polish-Jewish immigrants Abraham A. Ribicoff, a factory worker, and Rose Sable Ribi...
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Abraham Alexander Ribicoff (April 9, 1910 – February 22, 1998) was an American United States Democratic Party politician. He served in the United States Congress, as governor of Connecticut and as President John F. Kennedy's Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare. He was Connecticut's first and to date only Jewish governor.
Born in New Britain, Connecticut to Polish-Jewish immigrants Abraham A. Ribicoff, a factory worker, and Rose Sable Ribicoff, he attended local public schools. His relatively poor parents valued education and insisted that all his earnings from part-time boyhood jobs go toward his future schooling. After high school, he worked for a year at a nearby factory of the G. E. Prentice Company in order to earn additional funds for college. He enrolled at New York University in 1928, then transferred to the University of Chicago after the Prentice Company made him the Chicago office manager. While in Chicago, Ribicoff coped with school and work schedules and was...
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