Vivion de Valera military service during "The Emergency", de Valera retired from the army with the rank of Major. In 1945, he embarked on a political career, being elected as a Fianna Fáil Teachta Dála (TD) for Dublin North-West. He served in Dáil Éireann until 1981. He was a director of "The Irish Press" from 1932 until 1982 and managing director from 1951 until 1982. Vivion de Valera died in Bray in 1982. He was also the uncle of former ministers Síle de Valera and Éamon Ó Cuív. Vivion de Valera Vivion Laurence de Valera (13 December 1910 – 16 February 1982) was
Éamon de Valera 84, until 2013 a world record for the oldest elected head of state. At his retirement in 1973 at the age of 90, he was the oldest head of state in the world. As President of Ireland, de Valera received many state visits, including the 1963 visit of U.S. President John F. Kennedy. Five months later de Valera attended the state funeral for Kennedy in Washington, D.C. and accompanied a group of 24 Defence Forces cadets who performed a silent drill at his grave site. In June 1964, he returned to Washington, D.C. as the second President of Ireland to