Thomas Donohue, a Rockville Centre native who served for the decades as CEO and president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce – credited with the lobbyist group’s revival – died on Oct. 14. He was 86.
Born in Brooklyn and raised on Long Island, Donohue attended university at St. John’s University and Adelphi University before he relocated to Virginia. He will be remembered as a force that helped strengthen the bridge between business and politics through the Chamber of Commerce.
“Tom was a towering figure, and across his decades-long career, his Irish-toughness, combined with his genuine compassion, made him a unique and impactful voice in Washington and around the world,” said the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in a statement after his death.
Donohue served two stints at the Chamber of Commerce. The first, from 1976 to 1984, was followed by 13 years of leading the American Trucking Association. In 1997, Donohue was called back by the Chamber of Commerce to revitalize the organization.
And revitalize he did. The Wall Street Journal reported in 2001 that in his first four years as CEO and president, Donohue had more than doubled the Chamber of Commerce’s annual fundraising tally to $100 million, crucial finances for the lobby to shape the political sphere around business. Donohue stayed in the post until 2021 and remained on the Board of Directors until his death.
“By his own admission, ‘retirement’ was never a word in Tom’s lexicon, and even after he stepped down from his storied career as CEO of the Chamber, he continued to be driven by intellectual curiosity and patriotic duty,” wrote the Chamber of Commerce. “Tom remained engaged on the topics he thought most important to the future of our nation.”
“Tom would often say that to serve the business community was to serve our country, and he did it with distinction,” said the Chamber of Commerce. “Like Tom himself, the spirit of enterprise is strong, it is fearless, and it is enduring—bigger than any of us, and yet a reflection of the best in all of us. Tom Donohue will be deeply missed, but his legacy lives on as we carry that spirit forward.”
Donohue and his wife Elizabeth, who died in 2017, are survived by their sons Thomas Jr., Keith and John, and their five grandchildren.
