New York reform and the Senate
Born in Germany, Wagner immigrated with his parents in 1885 and studied in New York. He graduated from City College and New York Law School before entering state politics. Following the 1911 Triangle factory fire, he participated in the state investigation of industrial hazards and working conditions.
Elected to the New York Supreme Court in 1918, he later served briefly in its Appellate Division before leaving the bench to run for the U.S. Senate in 1926. He won that election and retired in 1949. His son Robert F. Wagner Jr., rather than the senator himself, subsequently became New York City's mayor.
Giving collective bargaining an enforcement mechanism
During the Depression, Wagner promoted relief and New Deal legislation. His 1935 National Labor Relations Act sought to overcome the weak enforcement available under earlier labor boards. It required employers to bargain with unions chosen by a majority in an appropriate employee unit and created an independent National Labor Relations Board.
The design connected organizing rights, the selection of representatives and remedies for violations. Roosevelt signed it on July 5, 1935. Wagner also helped advance social security legislation that year, working through Congress alongside administrators and other lawmakers.
Public housing and a broader reform agenda
His low-income housing proposals faced opposition from property interests, fiscal conservatives and lawmakers concerned about urban favoritism. Negotiations in 1937 addressed financing, construction costs and institutional governance. The resulting Wagner–Steagall Act enabled federal loans to state and local housing authorities.
Housing reform connected employment, living conditions and federal funding. Wagner also supported federal anti-lynching legislation, a goal that did not become law during his Senate service. His record includes both enacted institutions and reforms that remained blocked.