Fernand Joseph St. Germain

Fernand Joseph St. Germain (January 9, 1928 – August 16, 2014) was an American politician from Rhode Island who served as a Democratic Representative in the United States Congress from 1961 to 1989. Over 14 consecutive terms in the House of Representatives, he played a prominent role in financial and banking legislation and is best known for co-sponsoring the Garn–St. Germain Depository Institutions Act, which deregulated the savings and loan association industry. Before his long congressional career, he served in the Rhode Island House of Representatives and built a reputation as an influential figure in both state and national politics.

St. Germain was born in Blackstone, Massachusetts, on January 9, 1928, and was raised in nearby Woonsocket, Rhode Island. He attended parochial schools in Woonsocket and graduated from Our Lady of Providence Seminary High School in 1945. He then enrolled at Providence College, from which he graduated in 1948. He later remarked that he did not spell his name with a period after the “St” because, as he put it, he was “no saint,” a stylistic preference he maintained throughout his public life.

Following his undergraduate education, St. Germain served in the United States Army from 1949 to 1952, working as a pharmacy and laboratory technician. His military service coincided with the early Cold War period and preceded his entry into elective office. After leaving the Army, he pursued legal studies while beginning his political career, balancing academic work with the demands of public service.

In 1952, at the age of 24, St. Germain was elected to the Rhode Island House of Representatives, marking the start of his formal political career. While serving in the state legislature, he continued his legal education and graduated from Boston University School of Law in 1955. That same year he was admitted to the bar, adding legal training and professional credentials that would later inform his work on complex financial and regulatory issues in Congress.

St. Germain was elected to the United States House of Representatives in 1960 and took office in January 1961, beginning a congressional tenure that would span 14 terms and extend through January 1989. Representing Rhode Island as a member of the Democratic Party, he participated actively in the legislative process during a period of significant change in American political and economic life. Over the course of his service, he became particularly associated with banking and financial policy. He joined what is now the United States House Committee on Financial Services and, in 1981, rose to the position of committee chairman, placing him at the center of national debates over financial regulation and economic policy.

As chairman, St. Germain played a leading role in shaping legislation affecting depository institutions. In 1982, he joined with Senator Jake Garn of Utah to sponsor the Garn–St. Germain Depository Institutions Act. The act’s primary features included the deregulation of the savings and loan industry and expanded authority for thrift institutions to offer new types of deposit accounts and make additional categories of loans. The legislation was intended to help savings institutions cope with rapidly rising interest rates and competitive pressures. However, its loosening of regulatory constraints has been widely cited as a contributing factor to the subsequent savings and loan crisis, and the act remains one of the most consequential and controversial measures associated with his congressional career. Among his other legislative activities, St. Germain voted for the Abandoned Shipwrecks Act of 1987, which asserted United States title to certain abandoned shipwrecks located on or embedded in submerged lands under state jurisdiction and transferred title to the respective states. This measure was designed to enable states to manage these cultural and historical resources more effectively and to prevent damage by treasure hunters and salvors; it was signed into law by President Ronald Reagan on April 28, 1988.

St. Germain’s later years in Congress were marked by ethics-related controversy that affected his political standing. In 1985, The Wall Street Journal published an investigation into his personal finances, reporting that he had obtained no-down-payment loans totaling approximately $1.3 million to acquire several International House of Pancakes (IHOP) restaurants despite an official congressional salary of $42,500 per year. The Journal also reported that an aide in his office had repeatedly contacted federal regulators regarding the application of Florida Federal Savings and Loan to convert to stock ownership; after the application was approved, St. Germain made a $15,000 investment in the company’s stock. The chairman of the savings and loan institution told the Journal that he had offered St. Germain access to real estate deals not available to the general public, while maintaining that he had not requested assistance with the regulatory application. Although both the United States Department of Justice and the United States House Committee on Ethics declined to pursue charges against St. Germain, the allegations and attendant publicity weighed heavily on his subsequent re-election campaigns.

The controversy contributed to increasingly competitive races in what had long been a secure Democratic district. In 1986, Republican challenger John Holmes mounted the most serious challenge St. Germain had faced in many years, winning 42 percent of the vote and forcing the incumbent to spend more than twice what he had in his previous campaign. Holmes attacked St. Germain for accepting $35,000 from a developer, tying that criticism to broader concerns about ethics and influence. In the 1988 election, Republican Ronald Machtley defeated St. Germain, ending his 28-year tenure in the House. Machtley’s campaign drew attention for its use of a live pig named “Les Pork” on the trail, symbolizing his pledge to reduce what he characterized as pork-barrel spending in Congress and underscoring the anti-incumbent, reform-oriented sentiment that helped unseat St. Germain.

Beyond his legislative work, St. Germain received recognition from academic and civic institutions. In 1985, he was awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws degree (LL.D.) from Brown University. He was also associated with veterans’ organizations, including membership in the American Legion, reflecting his continued connection to his period of military service. Over the course of his career, he appeared on national media platforms, including C-SPAN, where he discussed banking, financial regulation, and other public policy issues arising from his role in Congress.

After leaving office, St. Germain resided in Newport, Rhode Island. He remained a notable figure in discussions of financial deregulation and the savings and loan crisis, owing to his central role in the Garn–St. Germain Act. He died of kidney failure at his home in Newport on August 16, 2014. His long career in public life, spanning state and federal service from the early 1950s through the late 1980s, left a lasting imprint on Rhode Island politics and on the national framework of financial regulation.