Obituary: Robert Remini, Noted Political Historian and Wilmette Resident

Noted American political historian/biographer and former Historian of the U.S. House of Representatives Robert V. Remini of Wilmette IL passed away on March 28 due to complications from a recently suffered stroke. He was 91.

Dr. Remini was born in 1921 in New York City, the son of the late William Remini and Lauretta Tierney Remini. He was the older brother of the late Vincent and William Remini. After graduating from Fordham University, he served as a Lieutenant in the U.S Navy in the Atlantic during WWII before returning to New York to obtain his Masters and Doctorate in History from Columbia University.

During these studies in 1948, he married his kindergarten friend and classmate Ruth Kuhner, who passed away in 2012. Together they were the proud parents of Elizabeth Nielson of Eugene OR, Joan Costello of Cincinnati OH, and Robert W Remini of Wilmette IL, as well as grandparents to Caitlin and Brian Costello and Grace Nielson.

After teaching at Fordham for over a decade, Dr. Remini moved to Chicago and became the first Chair of the Department of History at the newly established University of Illinois-Chicago where he later founded and chaired the UIC Institute for the Humanities.

During this period he published his three-volume biography of Andrew Jackson, the third of which won the National Book Award for non-fiction in 1984. He followed with several other acclaimed biographies of the leading political figures of the Jackson era such as Henry Clay, Daniel Webster, and John Quincy Adams as well as other books on Jacksonian history.

In recognition of his scholarship, Dr. Remini was asked to author the official history of the United States House of Representatives, which was published in 2006. In 2004, he was named to the position of Historian of the United States House of Representatives. He retired from this position in 2010.

While the winner of many prestigious awards for his writings, Dr. Remini was most happy in the classroom teaching. His lectures were passionate and thought provoking as he taught both future historians and those who just loved history. It is for this reason that the family requests that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the Robert V Remini Scholarship Fund at the University of Illinois Foundation, 1305 W Greene St. Urbana IL 61801. 

Reprinted with permission of Donnellan Family Funeral Home.