Birth Name: Milton Jerrold Shapiro
Date of Birth: June 25, 1912
Place of Birth: Cleveland, Ohio
Date of Death: November 24, 1994
Place of Death: Merion, Pennsylvania
Ethnicity: Ashkenazi Jewish
Milton Shapp was an American politician. A Democrat, he served as Governor of Pennsylvania, from January 19, 1971 to January 16, 1979. Milton was a candidate for the Democratic Party’s nomination for President of the United States in 1976.
Milton was the son of Eva R. (Smelsky/Smelsey) and Aaron L. Shapiro. His father was born in New York, to Russian Jewish parents. His mother was born in New Jersey, also to Russian Jewish parents.
Milton’s paternal grandparents were Isaac Shapiro and Mary Mendelsohn.
Milton’s maternal grandfather was Manuel Smelsky.
Milton is the first person of Jewish religion to mount a major campaign for President of the United States.
Two people of Jewish heritage have been nominated for President of the United States by a major party. Barry Goldwater, nominated by the Republican Party in 1964, was the first (Goldwater was born to a Jewish father and a non-Jewish mother, and was raised an Episcopalian). John Kerry, nominated by the Democratic Party in 2004, was the second (Kerry’s paternal grandparents were born Jewish, though Kerry’s father and Kerry himself were raised Catholic). Goldwater also sought the 1960 Republican nomination.
Joe Lieberman, who is Jewish, was nominated for Vice President of the United States by the Democratic Party in 2000.
Four people of Jewish heritage have won a major party’s Presidential caucus and/or primary:
*Barry Goldwater (1964, the year he was nominated; Republican; won 7 states)
*John Kerry (2004, the year he was nominated; Democratic; won 46 states)
*Wesley Clark (who sought the 2004 Democratic nomination; won 1 state, Oklahoma; Clark was born to a Jewish father and a non-Jewish mother, and is a practicing Catholic)
*Bernie Sanders (who is seeking the 2016 Democratic nomination; has thus far won 5 states)
Of the four, only Bernie Sanders is Jewish by religion, and he is the first person of Jewish religion to win a caucus and/or primary for a major American political party’s Presidential nomination (the 2016 New Hampshire primary).
Other people of Jewish heritage who have mounted major campaigns for President of the United States are:
*Larry Agran (who sought the 1992 Democratic nomination)
*Arlen Specter (who sought the 1996 Republican nomination)
*Joe Lieberman (who sought the 2004 Democratic nomination)
Agran, Specter, and Lieberman were/are all Jewish by religion.
Source: Milton Shapp on the 1930 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org