Lindsay, John (Vliet) (1921-2000)

US politician. He was mayor of New York 1966-73, during which time he abandoned the Republican Party for the Democrats.

Lindsay was educated at Yale University, and became a lawyer in 1949. He was elected to the House of Representatives as a Republican in 1959, and was noted for his liberal attitudes on issues such as civil rights. In November 1965, he became New York's first Republican mayor in 20 years (since Fiorello La Guardia), defeating both a Democrat and a right-wing Republican to achieve this. Later re-elected as a Liberal, in 1971 he became a Democrat.