Lordi was a counterespionage agent for the Office of Strategic Services in Europe during World War II.
Richard J. Hughes named him as Director of the New Jersey Alcoholic Beverage Commission, and in 1968 as the Essex County Prosecutor, replacing Brendan Byrne.
He spent nine years in that post, where he grew in prominence for his prosecution of organized crime figures and corrupt public officials.
[1] Byrne named him as the first New Jersey Casino Control Commission Chairman, and he was sworn in on September 6, 1977.
His daughter, Linda Lordi Cavanaugh, served as an Essex County Freeholder.