[1][failed verification] The oldest of eight children, he received his early education at public schools in his native town.

[4] He then joined the Stanley-Carter Company, where he served as superintendent of construction, customer contact man, head of labor relations, and vice-president.

[3] In 1946, McNamara made his first venture into politics with a successful campaign for an unexpired term on the Detroit City Council.

[2] He faced two-term Republican incumbent Homer S. Ferguson in the general election, during which McNamara criticized President Dwight D. Eisenhower's economic, labor, and farm policies.

The 1959 committee hearings which Pat McNamara called on the subject of the health of the elderly began a public debate which led to the creation of Medicare.

McNamara died of a stroke at Bethesda Naval Hospital on April 30, 1966, aged 71, and was interred in Mount Olivet Cemetery in Detroit.

Subjects covered include problems of the aged, civil rights, atomic energy, education, taxes, public works, federal highway acts, and labor.