J. Edward Day
| J. Edward Day | |
|---|---|
Day in 1961
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| 55th United States Postmaster General | |
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In office January 21, 1961 – August 1963 |
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| President | John F. Kennedy |
| Preceded by | Arthur E. Summerfield |
| Succeeded by | John A. Gronouski |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
James Edward Day October 11, 1914 Jacksonville, Illinois |
| Died | October 29, 1996 (aged 82) Hunt Valley, Maryland |
| Spouse(s) | Mary Louise Burgess Day |
| Profession | Business executive, lawyer, state and federal government official |
J. Edward Day (October 11, 1914 – October 29, 1996) was an American lawyer and business executive, most widely known as the United States Postmaster General under whose leadership the ZIP code was introduced.
James Edward Day was born in Jacksonville, Illinois. He received a B.A. from University of Chicago in 1935, then attended Harvard Law School, graduating in 1938. Following law school, Day joined Sidney, Austin, Burgess and Harper in Chicago, where he became a close friend of Adlai Stevenson. In 1940 he joined the Naval Reserve and trained as an officer; he was called to active duty as an ensign in 1942, and was discharged as a lieutenant in 1945.
Day returned to Sidley Austin and in 1948, following Stevenson's election as governor of Illinois, Day worked as a legislative assistant and later as Illinois insurance commissioner. In 1953, he left state government for a job with Prudential Insurance Company, taking over its western operations four years later.
In 1961 he became U.S. Postmaster General in the administration of John F. Kennedy. There, he was responsible for reducing the postal deficit, introducing ZIP codes, and improving service and employee morale; towards the latter he signed its first labor contract, with the National Rural Letter Carriers' Association.
During his time at the job the Dag Hammarskjöld invert stamp was printed and reprinted. In August 1963, he resigned as Postmaster General, saying it was hard to live on the $25,000 salary the office paid. In 1965 he published a light-hearted memoir about his Postmaster General service, My Appointed Round: 929 days as Postmaster General (New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, LCCN 65-14437).
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