John Hancock was an American merchant, statesman, and prominent Patriot of the American Revolution. He served as president of the Second Continental Congress and was the first and third Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. He is remembered for his large and stylish signature on the United States Declaration of Independence, so much so that the term John Hancock or Hancock has become a nickname in the United States for one's signature.
Michael Stanley Dukakis is an American retired politician and lawyer who served as governor of Massachusetts from 1975 to 1979 and again from 1983 to 1991. He is the longest-serving governor in Massachusetts history and only the second Greek-American governor in U.S. history, after Spiro Agnew. He was nominated by the Democratic Party for president in the 1988 election, losing to the Republican nominee, Vice President George H. W. Bush.
Paul Efthemios Tsongas was an American politician. He represented Massachusetts in both houses of the United States Congress, holding office from 1975 to 1985. He won eight states as a candidate in the 1992 Democratic presidential primaries, losing the nomination to Bill Clinton.
Joseph Patrick Kennedy II is an American businessman, Democratic politician, and a member of the Kennedy family. He is a son of former United States Senator Robert F. Kennedy and Ethel Kennedy, and he is also a nephew of former U.S. President John F. Kennedy.
Endicott "Chub" Peabody was an American politician from Massachusetts. A Democrat, he served a single two-year term as the 62nd Governor of Massachusetts, from 1963 to 1965. His tenure is probably best known for his categorical opposition to the death penalty and for signing into law the bill establishing the University of Massachusetts Boston. After losing the 1964 Democratic gubernatorial primary, Peabody made several more failed bids for office in Massachusetts and New Hampshire, including failed campaigns for the U.S. Senate in 1966 and 1986.
Anthony Thomas Grafton is an American historian of early modern Europe and the Henry Putnam University Professor of History at Princeton University, where he is also the Director the Program in European Cultural Studies. He is also a corresponding fellow of the British Academy and a recipient of the Balzan Prize. From January 2011 to January 2012, he served as the President of the American Historical Association.
Jacob Crowninshield was a U.S. Representative from Massachusetts and appointee to the position of U.S. Secretary of the Navy, which he never filled. His brother Benjamin Williams Crowninshield did successfully hold the post; the Crowninshield family in general was prominent in early American maritime affairs. His ancestor, Johann Casper Richter von Kronenscheldt, immigrated from Leipzig. He was the grandfather of Arent S. Crowninshield.
Peter I. Blute is a former American Republican member of the United States House of Representatives. He served two terms, between January 3, 1993 and January 3, 1997, representing the Third District of Massachusetts. As of 2020, Blute and colleague Peter G. Torkildsen remain the last Republicans elected to serve in the United States House delegation from Massachusetts.
James Michael Shannon, is an American Democratic politician from Massachusetts. He served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1979 to 1985, and later as the Massachusetts Attorney General.
Frank Bradford Morse was a member of the United States House of Representatives from Massachusetts. He had a notable career in the United States Congress and the United Nations. In Congress, he served in various capacities for nearly twenty years, the last twelve as Congressman from Lowell, Massachusetts. In 1972, he became Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and in 1976, the Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme. He received a Franklin D. Roosevelt "Four Freedoms" award for his career as an international public servant.
Theodore C. "Ted" Speliotis is a Democratic member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, representing the 13th Essex District. He lives in Danvers, Massachusetts.
The 1986 Massachusetts gubernatorial election was held on November 4, 1986. Michael Dukakis was elected Governor of Massachusetts for a third term. He defeated Republican George Kariotis by a 65–30% margin.
The Wakefield Daily Item is an independent weekday daily newspaper published in Wakefield, Massachusetts, with issues published Mondays through Fridays.
Stanley Fink was an American lawyer and politician.
Marcos A. Devers is a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, since January 2019, after having served in the same position from 2011 until 2017. Devers also is a former acting mayor of Lawrence, Massachusetts; when he served as acting mayor from September to November 2001, he became the first Dominican-American to execute the role of mayor in the United States and the first Latino mayor in Massachusetts.
Capital punishment, more commonly known as the death penalty, was a legal form of punishment from 1620 to 1984 in Massachusetts. This practice dates back to the state's earliest European settlers. Those sentenced to death were hanged. Common crimes punishable by death included religious affiliations and murder.
A Massachusetts general election was held on November 4, 1986 in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
Thomas M. "Tommy" Petrolati is an American politician who represented the 7th Hampden district in the Massachusetts House of Representatives and was a member of the Ludlow, Massachusetts Board of Selectmen from 1984 to 1986.
Jeffrey N. Roy is a State Representative in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Massachusetts General Court. Roy represents the 10th Norfolk District, which includes the Town of Franklin, Massachusetts in its entirety and Precincts 2, 3 and 4 of the Town of Medway, Massachusetts. Roy was elected on the 6th of November, 2012.
The 174th Massachusetts General Court, consisting of the Massachusetts Senate and the Massachusetts House of Representatives, met in 1985 and 1986 during the governorship of Michael Dukakis. William Bulger served as president of the Senate and George Keverian served as speaker of the House.
