Curley, James (1874–1958)

JAMES MICHAEL CURLEY was a figure in Massa-chusetts's politics for more than five decades. He was born in 1874 in Boston, Massachusetts, the second of three sons, to refugees from the Irish potato famine. A Democrat, Curley's first public office was a seat in the Boston Common Council, on which he served in 1900 and 1901. He then served a term in the State House of Representatives (1902–03), and was elected to the Boston Board of Alderman in 1904 while serving a 90-day prison term after he was convicted of fraud. Curley had taken a civil service examination for the post office for another man so that he would be able to get a job. His slogan, “He did it for a friend,” cemented Curley's image as somebody who would help a poor man, an attribute that appealed to Curley's working-class constituents. He served on the Board of Aldermen until 1909, when he was elected to the Boston City Council for one term (1910–11). His base of support was the City's Irish, who constituted about 40 percent of the population.

Curley was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1910. In Congress, Curley opposed literacy tests and other restrictions on immigration, issues of concern to his largely immigrant district. Curley served in Congress from March 4, 1911 until his resignation on February 4, 1914 after he defeated John “Honey Fitz” Fitzgerald for mayor. He then began the first of his four separate terms as Boston's Mayor (1914–18; 1922–26; 1930–34; and 1947–50).

As mayor, he spent part of every day meeting with constituents and offering them help with jobs, food, or legal aid. He raised taxes to finance public works projects that provided jobs and amenities to the city's poor. Under Curley, libraries, health centers, municipal buildings, parks, and playgrounds were built. An early supporter of Franklin Roosevelt's candidacy, Curley attended the 1932 Democratic Convention as a Roosevelt delegate from Puerto Rico after he was kept out of the Massachusetts delegation.

Roosevelt nominated Curley as American ambassador to Poland in April 1933, but Curley withdrew from consideration. Curley had hoped to be named ambassador to Italy (which, at the time, would have made Curley, a Roman Catholic, the American emissary to the Vatican).

In 1935, he was elected governor of Massachusetts (1935–37). As governor, he championed public-works projects that provided employment to those idled by the Great Depression, and encouraged public utilities to lower their rates. He advocated a 48-hour workweek and improved old-age pension laws. In 1936, Curley [Page 157]declined to run for re-election and instead ran for a U.S. Senate seat. Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr. defeated Curley. In 1937, Curley was convicted of bribery and avoided jail when thousands of his supporters helped to pay his fine. Later that year, Curley ran unsuccessfully for another term as mayor, losing to Maurice J. Tobin. He would lose to Tobin again four years later.

Curley was a member of the Democratic National Committee (1941–42), and was elected to two more terms in the U.S. House of Representatives (1943–47). John F. Kennedy succeeded him in Congress when Curley ran successfully for his final term as mayor. In 1947, during this final term as mayor, Curley was convicted on federal charges of official misconduct and mail fraud. He spent five months in prison until President Harry S Truman commuted his sentence on Thanksgiving Day 1947. Truman granted him a full pardon in 1950. Curley was defeated for re-election in 1949 by City Clerk John Hynes. Curley would run for mayor again in 1951 and 1955, losing both times. Curley ran for mayor of Boston 10 times during his long political career. In 1957, he was appointed to his last government position as a member of the State Labor Relations Commission, a position he held at the time of his death in 1958.

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