A century of governors in Massachusetts

Charles Baker is the 72nd governor in the history of the commonweatlh of Massachusetts. In the last 100 years, 26 have presided from the Massachusetts governor’s office (including two who won the seat back after losing a reelection).

David I. Walsh (1914-1916) served in the Massachusetts legislature and then as lieutenant governor before he was elected as governor in 1913. Born in Leominster and raised in Clinton, Walsh lost his re-election bid for governor but later served in the U.S. Senate for five terms.

Samuel W. McCall (1916-1919) was born in Pennsylvania and graduated from Dartmouth College. Before he was elected to the Massachusetts House, he practiced law in Boston and worked for the Boston Daily Advertiser newspaper. His grandson, Tom McCall, served two terms as governor of Oregon.

Calvin Coolidge (1919-1921), the future 30th president of the United States, served as lieutenant governor and then governor. As governor, Coolidge made a national name for himself during the Boston Police Strike of 1919.

Channing H. Cox (1921-1925) served as lientenant governor under Calvin Coolidge and would succeed Coolidge as governor. A native of Manchester, New Hampshire and a graduate of Dartmouth College, Cox was the first governor of Massachusetts to appear on the radio.

Boston-native Alvan T. Fuller (1925-1929) had served in Congress before being elected as lieutenant governor under Channing Cox. He succeeded Cox and was governor during the trials of anarchists Niccola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti, when he refused to delay their executions.

Frank G. Allen (1929-1931) served under Alvan Fuller as lieutenant governor. As governor, the Lynn native established the Massachusetts Transportation Authority (now the MBTA) and the Massachusetts Port Authority.

Joseph B. Ely (1931-1935) defeated Frank Allen to secure the governor’s seat. Ely was born in Westfield and graduated from Williams College and Harvard Law School. After he left the governor’s post, he ran unsuccessfully for the Democratic presidential nominee in 1944.

James Michael Curley (1935-1937) is better known for the four terms he spent as mayor of Boston on and off again from 1914 to 1945. He first ran for governor in 1925 but was defeated. Curley ran again in 1934 and won. He retired from the governor’s post to run for U.S. Senate but was defeated.

Charles F. Hurley (1937-1939) had served three terms as the treasurer of Massachusetts before he was elected as governor. His administration imposed a minimum wage for women and children and tried to clean up the state’s civil service programs.

Levertt A. Saltonstall (1939-1945) could trace his family back to the landing of the Mayflower. He graduated from Harvard University and Harvard Law School and served three terms as governor, where he helped retire much of the state’s debt. Saltonstall left the governor’s seat for the U.S. Senate.

Maurice J. Tobin (1945-1947) was born in the Mission Hill neighborhood of Boston. He upset the political establishment when he defeated James Michael Curley in the Boston mayor’s race in 1937. The Mystic River Bridge was renamed in his honor in 1967.

Robert F. Bradford (1947-1949) had served as a Republican lieutenant governor under Democrat Maurice Tobin and succeeded him. His administration promoted public housing for veterans as well as advocated for balanced budgets.

Paul A. Dever (1949-1953) was the state’s youngest attorney general when he ran and lost against Governor Leverett Saltonstall in 1940. After serving in World War II, Dever ran again for governor and defeated incumbent Robert Bradford. As governor, Dever worked to increase state aid to schools.

Christian A. Herter (1953-1957) the tall man in the center of this photo, was born in Paris and attended Harvard. He served five terms in Congress before being elected governor. Known for his diplomatic and foreign experience, he later served as U.S. secretary of state under President Dwight D. Eisenhower.

(John) Foster Furcolo (1957-1961), the first Italian-American governor of Massachusetts,was elected to Congress and later Massachusetts treasurer. He was influential in the development of the state’s community college system.

A native of Wakefield, John A. Volpe (1961-1963, 1965-1969) previously served as the first administrator of the Federal Highway Administration. Volpe worked to increase public housing, increase access to birth control, and ban racial imbalances in education.

Endicott Peabody (1963-1965), a descendant of colonial governor John Endecott, was a star defensive lineman for the Harvard Crimson. After he won a narrow victory in 1962 against incumbent Governor John Volpe, Peabody advocated laws to end housing discrimination and worked to abolish the death penalty.

Francis W. Sargent (1969-1975) took over the governor’s seat when John Volpe was appointed to be US secretary of transportation. Sargent was governor in 1974 during the Boston school busing crisis, worked to strengthen the state’s environmental protections, and advocated no-fault auto insurance.

Michael Dukakis (1975-1979, 1983-1991) was the longest serving governor in Massachusetts history. In his first term, he gained notoriety for going into work during the Blizzard of 1978. He later worked to improve mass transit in Boston. He unsuccessruly ran for president in 1988, losing to George H.W. Bush.

William F. Weld (1991-1997), whose family have long roots with Harvard University, won the governor’s seat in 1990 after a contentious race against Boston University President John Silber. Weld won re-election handedly in 1994 but resigned in 1997 in an unsuccessful bid to become US ambassador to Mexico.

Paul Cellucci (1997-2001) was born in Hudson and as lieutenant governor in 1997, became acting governor after William Weld resigned. Cellucci was elected governor outright a year later. He led an effort to reduce the state income tax to 5 percent. He resigned in 2001 to become the US ambassador to Canada.

Jane M. Swift (2001-2003) is the first woman in Massachusetts to perform the duties of governor. When she became acting governor at age 36, she became the youngest female governor in U.S. history. She responded to the September 11 attacks by calling for the creation of the Department of Homeland Security.

Mitt Romney (2003-2007) helped lead Bain Capital, a Boston-based private equity firm. As governor, Romney successfully led the effort to reform health care in Massachusetts. He chose to not run for reelection in 2006 to focus on running for president. He won the 2012 Republican nominiation but lost to President Barack Obama.

Deval Patrick (2007-2015) was the first African-American to serve as governor of Massachusetts. Before Patrick won the post in 2006, he served as an assistant general for the U.S. Department of Justice. As governor, he oversaw the health care reform enacted by Mitt Romney and worked to get casinos into the state.