PASSINGS
Michael V. O’Hare, 73, an aide to U.S. Sen. Thomas J. Dodd of Connecticut whose accusations of financial impropriety against his boss led the Senate to censure Dodd in 1967, died March 15 at the University of North Carolina Hospitals in Chapel Hill of complications from a stroke.
O’Hare, who began working for Dodd in 1961, was one of four staffers who copied more than 4,000 documents from Dodd’s files and provided them to syndicated columnists Jack Anderson and Drew Pearson.
The files purportedly showed that Dodd, a Democrat, was doing political favors for a registered foreign agent and that he double-billed seven airline tickets and used $116,083 in political donations to pay personal expenses, including back taxes.
The accusations immediately caused a media firestorm. It was the first case to go before the newly created Senate Ethics Committee, and Dodd was the first U.S. senator to be censured for personal financial misconduct.
Michael Vincent O’Hare was born Jan. 25, 1936, in Jersey City, N.J., and served in the Marine Corps from 1953 to 1956. After being discharged, he enrolled at Catholic University. He put himself through college working for Dodd and holding several other jobs.
Dodd held his Senate seat until 1970, when he lost a reelection bid. He died in 1971.
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