John G. Dow

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John G. Dow (May 6, 1905 – March 11, 2003) was an American businessman, government administrator, and Democratic politician from New York. He served in the U.S. House of Representatives in two periods: 1965–1969 and 1971–1973, representing New York’s 27th district and later the 26th district after redistricting.

Dow was born in New York City to Elizabeth Goodchild and Joy Wheeler Dow, an architect, artist, and author. He grew up in New Jersey and Kennebunkport, Maine, and studied at Brown University before transferring to Harvard University, where he earned a BA in government in 1927. He worked as a business executive and consultant from 1929 to 1964, specializing in strategic planning and systems analysis, and earned an MA in political science from Columbia University in 1937.

From 1950 to 1964 he directed civil defense in Grand View, New York, and he chaired its zoning board of appeals from 1964 to 1965. He ran for various offices as a Democrat, including the New York State Senate in 1954, the State Assembly in 1956, and Town Supervisor of Orangetown in 1963, all unsuccessfully.

In Congress, Dow defeated 18-year incumbent Katharine St. George in 1964, served from January 3, 1965, to January 3, 1969, and was known as an early opponent of the Vietnam War. He was a delegate to the 1968 Democratic National Convention. He lost re-election in 1968 to Martin B. McKneally, worked on the House staff from 1968 to 1970, and then defeated McKneally in 1970 to serve again from January 3, 1971, to January 3, 1973. After the 1972 census, he ran in the 26th district and lost to Benjamin A. Gilman.

After leaving Congress, Dow served as assistant director of New York State’s comprehensive employment training act program from 1976 to 1982 and founded Americans Against Nuclear War in 1980. He also pursued antiques with his wife and was a landscape painter, showing works at venues such as the Edward Hopper House in Nyack.

Dow died in Suffern, New York, on March 11, 2003. The post office in Tappan, New York, was named the John G. Dow Post Office Building in 2003. He and his wife Harriet (1906–2001) had four children: Thomas, Timothy, Diantha, and Sophia.