The plumber and founding president of the AFL-CIO, who was born in New York City on this date in 1894, claimed, in his official biography, that he had "never walked a picket line in his life," but he also said that "You only make progress by fighting for progress." Meany served as secretary-treasurer of the AFL from 1940 to 1952, succeeded as president of the AFL, and then continued as president of the AFL-CIO following the historic merger in 1955 until retiring in 1979.