Robert Neill McGarvey was a Republican

Republican Party (United States)

The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

 member of the United States House of Representatives

United States House of Representatives

The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...

 from Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...

.

Robert McGarvey was born in Philadelphia, PA. He attended the University of Pennsylvania

University of Pennsylvania

The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...

 Business College. He was engaged as a telegrapher

Telegraphy

Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages via some form of signalling technology. Telegraphy requires messages to be converted to a code which is known to both sender and receiver...

 and as manager of a news bureau. He became an investment broker in 1922.

He was elected to Congress as a Republican in 1946

United States House election, 1946

Elections to the United States House of Representatives for the 80th United States Congress took place in 1946. These midterm elections occurred in the middle of President Harry S. Truman's first term....

 to the 80th United States Congress

80th United States Congress

The Eightieth United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, DC from January 3, 1947 to January 3, 1949, during the third and fourth...

, defeating incumbent Democratic Congressman William T. Granahan

William T. Granahan

William T. Granahan was a Democratic politician from the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, most prominently serving in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1945–47 and 1949-56.-Biography:...

. As a congressman he was part of the Federal Commission that helped to designate Independence Hall as a National Historical Park

National Historical Park

National Historic Sites are protected areas of national historic significance in the United States. A National Historic Site usually contains a single historical feature directly associated with its subject...

. He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1948 in a re-match against Granahan.