CACrown ArchivesThe cinema collection
Menu
Research dossier · People & Ideas

Gerald Solomon

politician and United States Marine (1930–2001)

Correspondence, annotated notebooks and portrait silhouettes prepared for research
People and ideasInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionMay 8, 2026
Entity authorityQ5548906 ↗
Source-derived summary

Gerald Brooks Hunt Solomon (August 14, 1930 – October 26, 2001) was an American businessman and politician most notable for his long service as a member of the United States House of Representatives from New York.

A veteran of the United States Marine Corps and the Marine Corps Reserve, and a successful insurance and investment broker, Solomon entered politics as a Democrat when he was elected town supervisor of Queensbury in 1968. He became a Republican in his first term, and won election to the New York State Assembly as a Republican in 1972.

After three terms in the Assembly, Solomon won election to the U.S. House. He became a high-profile advocate on defense and veterans' issues, and was best known for passage of his Solomon Amendment, which prohibited federal funding to colleges and universities that banned military recruiters from their campuses. After Republicans won control of the House in the 1994 elections, Solomon challenged Newt Gingrich for Speaker, but withdrew when it became clear that Gingrich had the support of a majority of the Republican caucus. Solomon became chairman of the House Rules Committee, a post he held from 1995 until retiring from the House in 1999. He was succeeded by fellow Republican John E. Sweeney.

After leaving Congress, Solomon operated a lobbying and strategic consulting firm. He died in Queensbury on October 26, 2001.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “Gerald Solomon” as politician and United States Marine (1930–2001). This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Gerald, Solomon and politician.

Editorial reviewA productive starting point for separating a subject’s documented career from later reputation and commemoration. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1930, 2001, 1968, 1972—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1930-08-14. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Gerald, Solomon and politician providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Gerald Solomon”, the useful work is to connect “politician and United States Marine (1930–2001)” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

Chronology provides the most reliable spine for this subject; interpretation should follow only after identities and dates are secure. The source revision retrieved here is dated May 8, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q5548906. VIAF identifies the subject as 98226214. The Library of Congress control number is n95026727. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1930, 2001, 1968 and 1972.

Critical limits

A concise life account rarely captures disputed attribution, private networks or the changing language used to describe a career. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.

Best used for
  • Establishing names and roles
  • Building a first chronology
  • Locating cited institutions
Verify next

Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Gerald Solomon”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Gerald Solomon primary sources, Gerald Solomon archive and Gerald research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Gerald Solomon”?
  2. Which claims depend on a single source or contested interpretation?
  3. How has the subject’s reputation changed across later accounts?
Subject index

Search terms from this dossier

Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Gerald Solomon” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.