Foglietta's father, Michael, was a Republican committeeman, ward leader and clerk of quarter sessions who was ultimately elected to the Philadelphia City Council in 1947.

In 1985 a melee broke out at Seoul Airport when Foglietta accompanied South Korean dissident Kim Dae Jung back home.

Upon his nomination, the Philadelphia Daily News published an editorial that stated: "In 68 years, Thomas Michael Foglietta will have made it from a rowhouse at 7th and Clymer to the embassy in Rome on a smile and a trustworthy handshake.

Foglietta expressed his apologies on behalf of President Clinton and the American people for that terrible tragedy and kneeled down in prayer for the poor victims."

On November 13, 2004, Foglietta died from complications of shoulder surgery at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia, at the age of 75.