Michael Dukakis
Michael Stanley Dukakis (born November 3, 1933) is a politician of Greek origin, from Massachusetts in the United States.
Dukakis graduated from Swarthmore College in 1955, served in the U.S. Army, and then received his law degree from Harvard Law School in 1960. He was Governor of Massachusetts from 1974 until 1978, but lost in to Ed King in the Democratic primary election when he ran for reelection. He was Governor again from 1982 until 1990. Dukakis presided over a period of prosperity in Massachusetts. Residents of the city of Boston and its surrounding areas remember him for the improvements he made to Boston's mass transit system, especially major renovations to the city's underground trains. He was known as the only governor who rode the subway to the state capitol every day.
He also gained fame as the only person in the state Government who went to work during the Blizzard of 1978. During the storm, he went into local TV studios to announce emergency bulletins.
He was the Democratic Party nominee for President of the United States in the 1988 elections, but lost to George H. W. Bush. Dukakis was attacked by Bush before the election as "a card-carrying liberal" for his membership of the American Civil Liberties Union. Dukakis has been blamed for allowing "liberal" to be considered a bad word, and was lampooned for an ill-considered photo-op in a tank in which his wearing of a helmet made him appear out of place and was used by his opponents campaign as evidence he would not make a good commander-in-chief. His vice-presidential candidate was Senator Lloyd Bentsen of Texas.
He later served on the board of directors for Amtrak, and became a distinguished professor of political science at Northeastern University in Massachusetts. He resides in his boyhood home in Brookline, Massachusetts.
| Preceded by: Francis W. Sargent | Governor of Massachusetts | Succeeded by: Edward J. King |
| Preceded by: Edward J. King | Governor of Massachusetts | Succeeded by: William Weld |