Dante Fascell

Dante Bruno Fascell served as an American politician from the state of Florida.


Dante Fascell was born in Bridgehampton, New York. In 1925, his family moved to Florida. In 1938, he graduated from the University of Miami School of Law. Fascell was a brother of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Fraternity and the Kappa Sigma Fraternity. While a University of Miami law student, Fascell was inducted into its Iron Arrow Honor Society, the University of Miami's highest honor.

Fascell served in the Florida National Guard during World War II, serving in the African, Sicilian, and Italian Campaigns.

Fascell's constituents elected him to the Florida House of Representatives in 1950. In 1954 he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives as a Democrat in a district representing Dade County, Florida. Fascell refused to sign the Southern Manifesto in 1956. Fascell began as a supporter of the Vietnam War, but he soon spoke out against the war. Fascell cosponsored the War Powers Act of 1973 and he won aid for Cuban-Americans who had settled in his district. He served as the chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs from 1984 to 1993. He worked to repeal the Clark Amendment, allowing the U.S. government to send aid to UNITA rebels in Angola, as a partner in the Black, Manafort, Stone and Kelly lobbying firm.

Fascell worked to champion the creation of Biscayne National Park, south of Miami. It was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1968. The visitor center in the park is named after Representative Fascell. Similarly, a public park located in South Miami is named for him. The Dante B. Fascell North-South Center Act of 1991 established the prestigious think-tank at the University of Miami.

During the time between 1981 and 1988, Shirley Mae Albertus was Fascell's administrative assistant.

Fascell retired from the House after his 19th term ended in 1993. When President Bill Clinton took office he proposed to nominate Fascell as the United States Ambassador to Italy, however Fascell declined for family reasons as he had developed colorectal cancer. On October 29, 1998 Fascell was presented with the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Clinton. He died the following month from colorectal cancer, at the age of 81.