John Droney loved verbal calisthenics. He had the skills to engage in diplomacy but he marinated in tasty political fights.
I, as a flack, communicated often with Droney, an attorney, when we both represented Donald Trump in the 1990s during the heated casino-expansion debate as two tribal-nation gaming facilities were coming to eastern Connecticut.
Droney was Donald’s mix-it-up kinda guy.
Trump had told a Congressional committee that the casino owners “don’t look like Indians.”
In response Governor Lowell Weicker called Trump a “dirt bag.”
Right after that, during a visit to Bridgeport that was a subject for possible casino expansion, reporters asked Trump about Weicker’s comment. Trump called Weicker a “fat slob.”
Droney had a history with Weicker. In 1988, as Dem Party state chair, Drony had a leading role shepherding Attorney General Joe Lieberman’s general election victory over then Republican U.S. Senator Weicker.
Squier-Eskew Communications was hired by the Lieberman team to draw a contrast with Weicker. A television commercial depicted Weicker as a snoozing bear.
”Zzzzzs” emerge from a cave, followed by a deep voiceover: ”Lowell Weicker is like a big bear. On things that matter to him personally, he will always growl, but sometimes when it matters, he is sleeping. The official Congressional record reveals that Weicker has one of the worst attendance records in the Senate.”
The commercial is credited to Lieberman’s victory.
Weicker, the sleeping bear, came out of hibernation two years later, winning the governorship.
John F. Droney Jr., who happily clashed with political opponents of either party as a quotable Democratic state chairman under Gov. William O’Neill and a strategist for Joseph I. Lieberman in two very different U.S. Senate campaigns, died Sunday. He was 79.
His family announced his death Monday, saying he was stricken at his home in West Hartford.
Droney was a litigator by profession and politician by avocation, albeit one who realized after two terms on the town council that he was better suited as an advocate for others, helping O’Neill fend off a reelection challenge from liberal Toby Moffett in 1986 and Lieberman unseat U.S. Sen. Lowell P. Weicker Jr. in 1988.
Lieberman ran to the right of Weicker, then a three-term senator whose liberal politics eroded his support among Republicans. When Ned Lamont challenged Lieberman over the war in Iraq in 2006, Droney stood with the senator after Lieberman lost a Democratic primary and won as a petitioning candidate.
Droney was the state party chair for six years, leaving after O’Neill left office in 1991 after a record 10 years. Weicker, running as an independent, had won in 1990, when Democrat Bruce Morrison ran third.
He was an early backer of Al Gore, who ran for president in 1988, and then for the Clinton-Gore ticket in 1992.
“John Droney was a giant — an incomparable community leader, public servant, litigator, and, of course, politician,” said U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn. “He helped shape countless careers, including mine, with insight and encouragement. His wit and wisdom were legendary. He saw politics as a virtuous calling, a vital means to helping everyday ordinary people.”
Droney could be famously blunt to the point of profanity, whether dealing with reporters, state lawmakers, local town committee chairs or representatives of presidential candidates. His friendships crossed party and ideological lines.
“If you were square with him, you had no problem,” said Chris Healy, a former Republican state chair.
Droney remained friends with George Jepsen, a successor as Democratic chair and later a state attorney general, despite Jepsen backing Lamont’s challenge to Lieberman. They lunched recently.
His younger brother was Chris Droney, who was a West Hartford council member before being named U.S. attorney for Connecticut and then to seats on the federal district and appellate courts. His brother preceded him on the council, then became the Democratic town chair and state chair.
“He really didn’t like campaigning,” Droney said. “It just wasn’t the right role.”
He enjoyed the freedom to be direct that came with being a political advisor, not a candidate, Droney said.
“You’ve got to hold your fire at times,” Droney said.
John Droney was an Army medic during the Vietnam War, serving in Pleiku, a military hub in the central highlands. His service in Vietnam sometimes was a source of friction with Democrats who had opposed the war.
“A Vietnam veteran, he counseled many a candidate and campaign and was famously unafraid to offer his opinion,” said Roberto Alves, the current Democratic state chair. “His dedication to Democratic politics will be missed.”
Droney was close to his brother. When the younger Droney was U.S. attorney, federal investigators picked up talk that Los Solidos gang members were threatening violence. Chris Droney received advice on security that his brother deemed insufficient.
John Droney arrived with a shotgun and stayed with him until the threat eased.
He graduated from the College of the Holy Cross in 1968 and University of Connecticut School of Law in 1973. He was a partner at Levy & Droney until the firm dissolved in 2012, its principals joining Hinckley, Allen. He retired from law in 2022.
Besides Chris Droney and two other siblings, he is survived by his wife, Patricia Mulkeen Droney; two daughters, Superior Court Judge Nuala E. Droney and Maura A. Droney; and four grandchildren.
Calling hours are Friday from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. at the Ahern Funeral Home in Hartford. The funeral is 10 a.m. Saturday at St. Patrick-St. Anthony Church in Hartford.
This article first appeared on CT Mirror and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
