Robert F. Wagner Jr. served as New York City mayor during one of the most important periods in the city’s modern history. His administration helped expand public housing, strengthen labor rights for city workers, support the creation of Lincoln Center, and lay the groundwork for landmark preservation in New York. Though sometimes overshadowed by other mayors, Wagner’s three terms left a lasting mark on the city’s government, culture, and skyline.
Photo: Kheel Center, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
Even though he isn’t as well known as other elected officials. Former New York City mayor Robert F. Wagner Jr. earned an enduring legacy. He served three terms during the 1950’s and 1960’s. Both his father and his eldest son were also appointed to different political positions during their lifetimes. Wagner Jr. was born in Manhattan on April 20, 1910, to U.S. Senator Robert Ferdinand Wagner and Margaret Marie (McTague) Wagner. Robert graduated from Taft School and Yale University. After his college graduation in 1933, he attended Harvard Business School and the Graduate School of International Studies in Geneva, Switzerland. The younger Wagner received his law degree in 1937 from Yale Law School.
His first political experience was serving in the New York State Assembly, the lower house of New York’s state legislature. Wagner Jr. was a member of the state assembly and represented New York’s 16th District from 1938 to 1942. Robert resigned in 1942 to serve in the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II. He returned to New York City after the conflict and accepted the position of City Tax Commissioner. Wagner was later named Commissioner of Housing and Buildings and chairman of the City Planning Commission for the city. Robert was elected the Borough President of Manhattan in 1950 and held that office until 1953.
Wagner Jr. was nominated as the Democratic candidate for mayor of New York City in 1953. His nomination was rather controversial at the time. It created a rift between Carmine DeSapio, who was the head of the New York Democratic political organization, Tammany Hall, at the time, and Eleanor Roosevelt, who supported Wagner’s candidacy. Robert won the election and took office in January 1954.
Robert accomplished many significant tasks during his mayoral term. The City University of New York school system was developed, collective bargaining was secured for city workers and public school employees, and housing developments were constructed under his leadership. Wagner’s administration also prevented housing discrimination based on people’s race, religion, or ethnic background.
Wagner sought ways to improve his city and to attract more visitors and residents. Shakespeare productions began in Central Park during his term, and the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts was created during his tenure. After the Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Giants left the state in 1957 (relocating to Los Angeles and San Francisco, California, respectively), he assembled a committee to evaluate whether the city could support another Major League Baseball team. The group was later awarded a franchise that would become the New York Mets.
Robert Wagner Jr. decided to run for Senate in 1956, but lost the race to Republican candidate Jacob K. Javits. Robert sided with the Tammany Hall political organization until 1961. That year, he opted to break ties with the group and still won the Democratic primary for mayor of New York City. It signified a reduced influence by large political groups in city offices.
Mayor Wagner photo credit at end of article
Wagner Jr. approved the law that authorized the creation of the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission. He was also the mayor when the first Penn Station was torn down in 1963. The railroad station was scheduled for demolition after years of decreased ridership due to the popularity of highway and air travel. Penn Station’s train station and head house were scheduled for demolition, but Grand Central Terminal was saved thanks to the city’s landmark preservation act.
Not everything that Robert did as mayor was praised. The mayor’s office was traditionally open to welcoming dignitaries from other nations. However, Wagner did not comply with President Eisenhower’s request to meet with King Saud of Saudi Arabia and provide a ticker-tape parade for him. The foreign leader had been invited to the country by the president to work on a peaceful solution for the Suez crisis in 1957. Robert was a devoted Roman Catholic and felt that the king’s anti-Catholic and anti-Jewish sentiments were “a crude appeal to the prejudices of the hyphenated voters.” Wagner also created a stir in the early 1960’s when he approved a plan to shut down all of the gay bars in 1960. He allowed undercover police officers to induce gay men into committing crimes that they could be arrested for. He also took away the bars’ liquor licenses. All of this was done because the mayor was concerned about the city’s image as it prepared to host the 1964 World’s Fair. These incidents drew considerable scrutiny and complaints from Wagner’s critics and contemporaries.
Wagner chose not to run for mayor when his term ended in 1965, and returned to his law practice at Finley, Kumble, Wagner, Heine, Underberg and Casey. He did attempt a fourth term as mayor in 1969 and 1973, but lost in the Democratic primary each time. Robert was the U.S. Ambassador to Spain from June 1968 through March 1969. President Jimmy Carter appointed Wagner Jr. as his Vatican representative in 1978. He stayed in that position until 1981.
Robert was married three times. His first marriage was to Susan Edwards. Together they raised two sons, Robert Ferdinand Wagner III and Duncan Wagner. Susan passed away in 1964 after battling lung cancer. Wagner Jr. greatly missed his wife, who had always liked traveling with him and meeting new people, even though she had very little interest in politics. His second marriage was to Barbara Cavanaugh in 1965. That union ended in divorce in 1971. Four years later, Robert married again, this time to Phyllis Fraser, who had been the widow of Random House co-founder Bennett Cerf.
Wagner passed away on February 12, 1991, from heart failure. He had been hospitalized for bladder cancer treatment before his death. Robert’s body was buried at Calvary Cemetery in the residential community of Maspeth in Queens. His body was laid to rest next to his parents and first wife.
New York University’s Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service was named for the late New York City Mayor. He was also honored posthumously by Long Island City’s Robert F. Wagner Jr. Secondary School for Arts and Technology and Battery Park City’s Robert F. Wagner Jr. Park. His photos, papers, and other items of historical significance are contained at the arts and technology school’s La Guardia and Warner Archives and at the New York City Municipal Archives in Manhattan’s Surrogate Courthouse.
Wagner Jr. is frequently compared to his father, who was a Democratic U.S Senator for 22 years. Both Wagners are admired by fellow politicians, usually for very different reasons. They each had their own unique leadership styles. Robert Wagner Jr. learned from his father and peers but made his own decisions about which policies to support or oppose. He was a controversial figure at times, but it’s impossible to ignore the many positive contributions that he made for his hometown.
Kheel Center, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
Photo 2 – New York Public Library Archives, The New York Public Library. “Grand Concourse Dedication: Mayor Wagner, speaking; (l-r) Commissioner Zurmuhlen; Mr. John Mackenzie Cory, Chief of the Circulation Department; Mr. Samuel P. Tolesano, Secretary to Borough President Lyons” New York Public Library Digital Collections. Accessed January 10, 2021. https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47dd-e59b-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99
Updated July 2, 2026.
If you enjoyed learning about Robert F. Wagner Jr., continue exploring the history of New York City’s mayors with our features on Fiorello La Guardia, John Lindsay, Abraham D. Beame, Ed Koch, David Dinkins, and Michael Bloomberg. From expanding public housing and supporting Lincoln Center to helping establish New York City’s landmark preservation movement, Wagner’s administration marked an important turning point in the city’s modern development. Exploring the careers of New York’s other mayors reveals how each leader faced different challenges while helping shape the city’s remarkable history.
