Peter F. Flaherty, 80; Former Democratic Mayor of Pittsburgh
Peter F. Flaherty, 80, a former mayor of Pittsburgh and deputy U.S. attorney general under President Carter, died Monday of colon cancer at his home in Mount Lebanon, Pa.
Flaherty, a Democrat, was elected mayor in 1969 after proclaiming himself “nobody’s boy,” a reference to not being controlled by the city’s Democratic machine that helped elect past mayors. He served two terms from 1970 to 1977.
Flaherty served as deputy U.S. attorney general for less than a year before stepping down to run for Pennsylvania governor in 1978, losing to Dick Thornburgh. He also lost U.S. Senate bids to Richard Schweiker in 1974 and to Arlen Specter in 1980.
A native of Pittsburgh, Flaherty served in the Army Air Forces as a navigator during World War II.
After the war, he attended what is now Carlow University and earned his law degree from Notre Dame before working as an assistant district attorney in Allegheny County.
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