Kevin White
Encyclopedia
Kevin Hagan White is an American politician best known as the Mayor of Boston, a position he held from 1968 to 1984.
, Williams College
(AB, 1952), Boston College
Law School (LLB, 1955) and the Harvard Graduate School of Public Administration
(now known as the John F. Kennedy School of Government
). Prior to his term as Mayor of Boston, he served as Secretary of the Commonwealth
from 1961–1967.
. One of his slogans was "When landlords raise rents, Kevin White raises hell." Rent control became the law in Boston in 1970. White narrowly defeated Boston School Board member Louise Day Hicks
, who had taken a strong anti-desegregation position as a member of the Boston School Committee. Hicks' slogan was the coded "You know where I stand." White won by approximately 12,000 votes after he was endorsed by The Boston Globe
, the paper's first political endorsement in decades. Mayor White defeated Hicks by a larger margin in his bid for a second term.
Learning of the murder of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Mayor White pressed WGBH-TV
to televise the James Brown
concert held that evening at the Boston Garden
. While many cities, including Washington DC, were met with rioting and numerous fires, the city of Boston was spared these, as people throughout the Metro-Boston region tuned in to the concert.
In 1972, White made news when he was able to convince Rhode Island State Police
to release members of The Rolling Stones
from custody so that they could make their scheduled concert appearance in Boston before the waiting fans became violent. As word of this action came out, Mayor White won overwhelming favor among young first time voters in his re-election.
A federal investigation by United States Attorney
William Weld
into White's administration resulted in the indictments of many city officials. That same month the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development
released a report stating that the city had misappropriated $1.9 million dollars worth of community grants. Federal auditors accused White of using the money to pay the salaries of city employees.
against Republican
Frank Sargent
. He was dubbed "Mayor Black" because he was the first Boston Mayor to admit there was a race problem. White's running mate was Michael Dukakis
, who later challenged and defeated Sargent for the Governor's office in 1974. White's campaign for governor was interrupted for several days when he underwent emergency stomach surgery.
In 1972, he was on the verge of the Democratic Party
's vice-presidential nomination. After a number of better known politicians, including Senators Ted Kennedy
and Gaylord Nelson
, and Governor Reubin Askew, turned down the position, White briefly became the front-runner for the post. However, when Kennedy, famed economist John Kenneth Galbraith
and others in the Massachusetts delegation voiced their opposition to White's nomination, as White had supported Maine
Senator Edmund Muskie
during the primaries, Presidential nominee Senator George McGovern
decided to turn elsewhere and selected Senator Thomas Eagleton
, who was later embroiled in a controversy over his failure to disclose having received electric shock therapy for depression. Ultimately, the vice presidential nominee was former Chicago School Board President and later Ambassador R. Sargent Shriver, who had married into the Kennedy family.
On November 1, 2006, a statue of White was unveiled at Boston's Faneuil Hall
. The statue portrays White walking down the sidewalk. Behind the statue are several metal footprints along the sidewalk. With these are several quotes from White which were made during his inauguration speeches.
. The desegregation did not go peacefully, and violence was not uncommon. In one famous incident in 1976 during a demonstration outside Boston City Hall
, a black businessman
was attacked with an American flag.
White also worked for the revitalization of Boston's downtown. In 1976, he achieved perhaps his biggest success in that area with the re-opening of Quincy Market
.
In the 1975 and 1979 Mayoral elections, Mayor White defeated State Senator Joe Timilty
. He retired in 1983 and was succeeded by Raymond Flynn
.
.
Throughout the 1970s, Cleveland was the long-standing butt of jokes and by the early 1980s, city residents were getting fed up. Former Cleveland Mayor and current U.S. Senator from Ohio George Voinovich
complained about White's controversial statement. He responded by saying that Boston had survived facetious remarks from a wide range of jokesters, from Mark Twain
to Johnny Carson
. "I am sure Cleveland will also," he said.
Early years
White was educated at Tabor AcademyTabor Academy
Tabor Academy is a highly selective independent preparatory school located in Marion, Massachusetts, United States. Tabor is known for its marine science courses...
, Williams College
Williams College
Williams College is a private liberal arts college located in Williamstown, Massachusetts, United States. It was established in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim Williams. Originally a men's college, Williams became co-educational in 1970. Fraternities were also phased out during this...
(AB, 1952), Boston College
Boston College
Boston College is a private Jesuit research university located in the village of Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, USA. The main campus is bisected by the border between the cities of Boston and Newton. It has 9,200 full-time undergraduates and 4,000 graduate students. Its name reflects its early...
Law School (LLB, 1955) and the Harvard Graduate School of Public Administration
John F. Kennedy School of Government
The John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University is a public policy and public administration school, and one of Harvard's graduate and professional schools...
(now known as the John F. Kennedy School of Government
John F. Kennedy School of Government
The John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University is a public policy and public administration school, and one of Harvard's graduate and professional schools...
). Prior to his term as Mayor of Boston, he served as Secretary of the Commonwealth
Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth
The Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth is the principal public information officer of the state government of the U.S...
from 1961–1967.
Mayor of Boston
White successfully ran for mayor in 1967 on a populist platform that included support for rent controlRent control
Rent control refers to laws or ordinances that set price controls on the renting of residential housing. It functions as a price ceiling.Rent control exists in approximately 40 countries around the world...
. One of his slogans was "When landlords raise rents, Kevin White raises hell." Rent control became the law in Boston in 1970. White narrowly defeated Boston School Board member Louise Day Hicks
Louise Day Hicks
Anna Louise Day Hicks was an American politician and lawyer from Boston, Massachusetts, best known for her staunch opposition to court-ordered busing in the 1960s and 1970s.-Early life:...
, who had taken a strong anti-desegregation position as a member of the Boston School Committee. Hicks' slogan was the coded "You know where I stand." White won by approximately 12,000 votes after he was endorsed by The Boston Globe
The Boston Globe
The Boston Globe is an American daily newspaper based in Boston, Massachusetts. The Boston Globe has been owned by The New York Times Company since 1993...
, the paper's first political endorsement in decades. Mayor White defeated Hicks by a larger margin in his bid for a second term.
Learning of the murder of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Mayor White pressed WGBH-TV
WGBH-TV
WGBH-TV, channel 2, is a non-commercial educational public television station located in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. WGBH-TV is a member station of the Public Broadcasting Service , and produces more than two-thirds of PBS's national prime time television programming...
to televise the James Brown
James Brown
James Joseph Brown was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and recording artist. He is the originator of Funk and is recognized as a major figure in the 20th century popular music for both his vocals and dancing. He has been referred to as "The Godfather of Soul," "Mr...
concert held that evening at the Boston Garden
Boston Garden
The Boston Garden was an arena in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. Designed by boxing promoter Tex Rickard, who also built the third iteration of New York's Madison Square Garden, it opened on November 17, 1928 as "Boston Madison Square Garden" and outlived its original namesake by some 30 years...
. While many cities, including Washington DC, were met with rioting and numerous fires, the city of Boston was spared these, as people throughout the Metro-Boston region tuned in to the concert.
In 1972, White made news when he was able to convince Rhode Island State Police
Rhode Island State Police
The Rhode Island State Police is an agency of the state of Rhode Island responsible for statewide law enforcement and regulation, especially in areas underserved by local police agencies and on the state's limited-access highways...
to release members of The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English rock band, formed in London in April 1962 by Brian Jones , Ian Stewart , Mick Jagger , and Keith Richards . Bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts completed the early line-up...
from custody so that they could make their scheduled concert appearance in Boston before the waiting fans became violent. As word of this action came out, Mayor White won overwhelming favor among young first time voters in his re-election.
A federal investigation by United States Attorney
United States Attorney
United States Attorneys represent the United States federal government in United States district court and United States court of appeals. There are 93 U.S. Attorneys stationed throughout the United States, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands...
William Weld
William Weld
William Floyd Weld is a former governor of the US state of Massachusetts. He served as that state's 68th governor from 1991 to 1997. From 1981 to 1988, he was a federal prosecutor in the United States Justice Department...
into White's administration resulted in the indictments of many city officials. That same month the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development
United States Department of Housing and Urban Development
The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, also known as HUD, is a Cabinet department in the Executive branch of the United States federal government...
released a report stating that the city had misappropriated $1.9 million dollars worth of community grants. Federal auditors accused White of using the money to pay the salaries of city employees.
Other political races
In 1970, White unsuccessfully ran for Governor of MassachusettsGovernor of Massachusetts
The Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is the executive magistrate of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States. The current governor is Democrat Deval Patrick.-Constitutional role:...
against Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
Frank Sargent
Francis W. Sargent
Francis William Sargent was the 64th Governor of Massachusetts from 1969 to 1975. Born in 1915 in Hamilton, Massachusetts, he was known for his sharp wit and self-deprecating manner...
. He was dubbed "Mayor Black" because he was the first Boston Mayor to admit there was a race problem. White's running mate was Michael Dukakis
Michael Dukakis
Michael Stanley Dukakis served as the 65th and 67th Governor of Massachusetts from 1975–1979 and from 1983–1991, and was the Democratic presidential nominee in 1988. He was born to Greek immigrants in Brookline, Massachusetts, also the birthplace of John F. Kennedy, and was the longest serving...
, who later challenged and defeated Sargent for the Governor's office in 1974. White's campaign for governor was interrupted for several days when he underwent emergency stomach surgery.
In 1972, he was on the verge of the Democratic Party
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
's vice-presidential nomination. After a number of better known politicians, including Senators Ted Kennedy
Ted Kennedy
Edward Moore "Ted" Kennedy was a United States Senator from Massachusetts and a member of the Democratic Party. Serving almost 47 years, he was the second most senior member of the Senate when he died and is the fourth-longest-serving senator in United States history...
and Gaylord Nelson
Gaylord Nelson
Gaylord Anton Nelson was an American politician from Wisconsin who served as a United States Senator and governor. A Democrat, he was the principal founder of Earth Day.-Public service and leadership:...
, and Governor Reubin Askew, turned down the position, White briefly became the front-runner for the post. However, when Kennedy, famed economist John Kenneth Galbraith
John Kenneth Galbraith
John Kenneth "Ken" Galbraith , OC was a Canadian-American economist. He was a Keynesian and an institutionalist, a leading proponent of 20th-century American liberalism...
and others in the Massachusetts delegation voiced their opposition to White's nomination, as White had supported Maine
Maine
Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...
Senator Edmund Muskie
Edmund Muskie
Edmund Sixtus "Ed" Muskie was an American politician from Rumford, Maine. He served as Governor of Maine from 1955 to 1959, as a member of the United States Senate from 1959 to 1980, and as Secretary of State under Jimmy Carter from 1980 to 1981...
during the primaries, Presidential nominee Senator George McGovern
George McGovern
George Stanley McGovern is an historian, author, and former U.S. Representative, U.S. Senator, and the Democratic Party nominee in the 1972 presidential election....
decided to turn elsewhere and selected Senator Thomas Eagleton
Thomas Eagleton
Thomas Francis Eagleton was a United States Senator from Missouri, serving from 1968–1987. He is best remembered for briefly being the Democratic vice presidential nominee under George McGovern in 1972...
, who was later embroiled in a controversy over his failure to disclose having received electric shock therapy for depression. Ultimately, the vice presidential nominee was former Chicago School Board President and later Ambassador R. Sargent Shriver, who had married into the Kennedy family.
On November 1, 2006, a statue of White was unveiled at Boston's Faneuil Hall
Faneuil Hall
Faneuil Hall , located near the waterfront and today's Government Center, in Boston, Massachusetts, has been a marketplace and a meeting hall since 1742. It was the site of several speeches by Samuel Adams, James Otis, and others encouraging independence from Great Britain, and is now part of...
. The statue portrays White walking down the sidewalk. Behind the statue are several metal footprints along the sidewalk. With these are several quotes from White which were made during his inauguration speeches.
Boston in the 1970s
The 1970s were a turbulent time for Boston. In 1974, Judge W. Arthur Garrity found that the Boston School Committee had followed a practice of segregating the city's public schools by race, including building new schools in districts tailored to white constituents. As a remedy, Garrity ordered the city's schools desegregated, leading to a system of desegregation busingDesegregation busing
Desegregation busing in the United States is the practice of assigning and transporting students to schools in such a manner as to redress prior racial segregation of schools, or to overcome the effects of residential segregation on local school demographics.In 1954, the U.S...
. The desegregation did not go peacefully, and violence was not uncommon. In one famous incident in 1976 during a demonstration outside Boston City Hall
Boston City Hall
Boston City Hall is the seat of the municipal government of Boston, Massachusetts. Architecturally, it is an example of the brutalist style. It was designed by Kallmann McKinnell & Knowles...
, a black businessman
Ted Landsmark
Theodore C. Landsmark is the president of the Boston Architectural College and was previously the Dean of Graduate and Continuing Education at the Massachusetts College of Art...
was attacked with an American flag.
White also worked for the revitalization of Boston's downtown. In 1976, he achieved perhaps his biggest success in that area with the re-opening of Quincy Market
Quincy Market
Quincy Market is a historic building near Faneuil Hall in downtown Boston, Massachusetts. It was constructed 1824–1826 and named in honor of Mayor Josiah Quincy, who organized its construction without any tax or debt.-History:...
.
In the 1975 and 1979 Mayoral elections, Mayor White defeated State Senator Joe Timilty
Joseph F. Timilty (state senator)
Joseph F. Timilty is an American politician who served in the Massachusetts Senate from 1972 to 1985 and was a member of the Boston City Council from 1967 to 1971....
. He retired in 1983 and was succeeded by Raymond Flynn
Raymond Flynn
Raymond Leo Flynn , also known as Ray Flynn, served as Mayor of Boston, Massachusetts from 1984 until 1993. He was later appointed United States Ambassador to the Holy See by President Bill Clinton.-Early life:...
.
Health
In 1970, during his campaign for governor, White underwent surgery that removed two-thirds of his stomach. In 2001, the since-retired White suffered a heart attack which left him with a pacemaker. In his advanced age, he has lost hearing in his right ear and is suffering from Alzheimer's diseaseAlzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease also known in medical literature as Alzheimer disease is the most common form of dementia. There is no cure for the disease, which worsens as it progresses, and eventually leads to death...
.
Quote
White made this statement in light of Boston's finances:- It's not Camelot, but it's not Cleveland, either.
Throughout the 1970s, Cleveland was the long-standing butt of jokes and by the early 1980s, city residents were getting fed up. Former Cleveland Mayor and current U.S. Senator from Ohio George Voinovich
George Voinovich
George Victor Voinovich is a former United States Senator from the state of Ohio, and a member of the Republican Party. Previously, he served as the 65th Governor of Ohio from 1991 to 1998, and as the 54th mayor of Cleveland from 1980 to 1989.-Personal life:Born in Cleveland, Ohio, his father was...
complained about White's controversial statement. He responded by saying that Boston had survived facetious remarks from a wide range of jokesters, from Mark Twain
Mark Twain
Samuel Langhorne Clemens , better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American author and humorist...
to Johnny Carson
Johnny Carson
John William "Johnny" Carson was an American television host and comedian, known as host of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson for 30 years . Carson received six Emmy Awards including the Governor Award and a 1985 Peabody Award; he was inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame in 1987...
. "I am sure Cleveland will also," he said.
External links
- "White speaks to residents about the opening of schools" on the WGBH series, Ten O'clock News