[1] Thomas Michael Whalen III was born to an ethnic Irish Catholic family in Albany in 1934.

In 1981, as part of Erastus Corning 2nd's "Team for the Future", he was picked as his successor, and nominated and elected as President of the Albany Common Council.

[1] Whalen's election to the Common Council's presidency put him in position to ascend to the Mayor's Office in City Hall.

[1] At that time, New York State Comptroller Ned Regan was preparing to impose a Financial Control Board over the City of Albany, which was struggling with debt due to a downturn in its economy and loss of jobs.

[1] He is credited with a variety of reforms in city government, including reducing patronage and the reach of the political machine that Corning had ruled for more than four decades.

He retired from public office on December 31, 1993 after being recommended for the US federal bench by Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan of New York.

[6] Mayor Whalen withdrew his name from consideration after waiting over a year for Bill Clinton to officially back his nomination, not an uncommon circumstance.

They had five children together: Laura Whalen, who lives in Albany as an adult; and four sons, Thomas, of Clarksville; Mark, of New Salem; Matthew of Garden City; and Jon.

[16] The "Thomas M. Whalen III Foundation for Cultural Arts" was founded in his honor by friends and family.