| Louis DiClementi | |
|---|---|
 | |
|
Political office |
56th Chancellor of Aloia |
|
In office |
10 January 1957 - 24 May 1963 |
|
Preceded by |
|
|
Succeeded by |
|
|
Born |
Louis Matthew DiClementi |
|
Died |
|
|
Political party |
|
|
Spouse |
Margaret Pendleton |
|
Alma mater |
Madison State College |
|
Religion |
|
Louis DiClementi (21 September 1883 - 24 May 1963) was an Aloian politician and general who served as Chancellor of Aloia from 1957-1963 and Minister of Defense from 1937 to 1947.
Born in rural Iceland, DiClementi joined the Aloian Army after he graduated from Madison State College in 1905. DiClementi rose through the ranks of the Army. Chancellor Benjamin Hart was elected right after the Great War broke out in 1936, and he appointed DiClementi as the Minister of Defense. Because of their leadership, Aloia was able to get through the war unscathed. DiClementi resigned as Minister when the war ended in 1947, retiring to his farm in Iceland. In 1956, however, the Conservative Party and Christian Democratic Party, desperate to prevent another Social Democratic Chancellery, recruited DiClementi to run for Chancellor as a Conservative with a Christian Democrat Vice Chancellor.
DiClementi ran on his record as a war hero, defeating Social Democrat incumbent Douglas Horn. DiClementi chose Minnesota High Councillor Lady Bird Johnson as his Christian Democrat Vice Chancellor. This alliance between parties, though not unheard of in Aloian politics, was the first such split ticket in almost 50 years. DiClementi's chancellery is notable for also being the first time a Catholic had been elected to the office of Chancellor. DiClementi's term as Chancellor saw many of the Socialist policies of Douglas Horn reversed. DiClementi was re-elected in 1962.
On 26 May 1963, DiClementi was shot by a lone assassin as he left mass at St. Erik's Cathedral, Zumbrota's Catholic cathedral. DiClementi died the next day at St. Anne's Hospital. The nation was shocked and he was succeeded as Chancellor by Vice Chancellor Lady Bird Johnson.
DiClementi was the first member of the DiClementi family to achieve a high political office. Since then, the DiClementi family has been a prominent political dynasty. Numerous governors, Senators, High Councillors, and a Vice Chancellor have come from this family.