JFK'S GRANDFATHER WINS BOSTON MAYORSHIP SECOND TIME
Boston, Massachusetts (JFK+50) On January 11, 1910, John Francis Fitzgerald* was elected mayor of Boston for a second time. Mr. Fitzgerald served as mayor from 1906-1908 but was defeated for re-election.
Doris Kearns Goodwin says the party bosses didn't think Honey Fitz, as he was nicknamed, could be re-elected as mayor because of "all the baggage he carried," but Fitzgerald was able to take advantage of reforms which provided for a new method of nomination.
Fitzgerald squared off against James J. Storrow who was a partner in Lee, Higginson and Company. Ms. Goodwin describes him as "one of the richest men in all New England."
As a seasoned pol, Honey Fitz took to the offensive by portraying himself as "an Irish boy from the slums (vs) a wealthy, encrusted Harvard blueblood. "
The election was one of the most competitive and emotional in Boston's history, but John F. Fitzgerald won by 1,402 votes. Goodwin says Honey Fitz called it his "greatest triumph."
*John Francis "Honey Fitz" Fitzgerald (1863-1950) was born in Boston, the 4th of 12 children of Irish immigrants Thomas & Rosanna Fitzgerald.
He married Mary Josephine Hannon in 1889 & their 1st child, Rose, was to be JFK's mother. JFF served on Boston's Common Council, in the Massachusetts State Senate, in the United States Congress & as Boston's mayor.
SOURCE
"The Fitzgeralds and the Kennedys: An American Saga," by Doris Kearns Goodwin, Simon and Schuster, New York, 1987.
".
Boston, Massachusetts (JFK+50) On January 11, 1910, John Francis Fitzgerald* was elected mayor of Boston for a second time. Mr. Fitzgerald served as mayor from 1906-1908 but was defeated for re-election.
Doris Kearns Goodwin says the party bosses didn't think Honey Fitz, as he was nicknamed, could be re-elected as mayor because of "all the baggage he carried," but Fitzgerald was able to take advantage of reforms which provided for a new method of nomination.
Fitzgerald squared off against James J. Storrow who was a partner in Lee, Higginson and Company. Ms. Goodwin describes him as "one of the richest men in all New England."
As a seasoned pol, Honey Fitz took to the offensive by portraying himself as "an Irish boy from the slums (vs) a wealthy, encrusted Harvard blueblood. "
The election was one of the most competitive and emotional in Boston's history, but John F. Fitzgerald won by 1,402 votes. Goodwin says Honey Fitz called it his "greatest triumph."
*John Francis "Honey Fitz" Fitzgerald (1863-1950) was born in Boston, the 4th of 12 children of Irish immigrants Thomas & Rosanna Fitzgerald.
He married Mary Josephine Hannon in 1889 & their 1st child, Rose, was to be JFK's mother. JFF served on Boston's Common Council, in the Massachusetts State Senate, in the United States Congress & as Boston's mayor.
SOURCE
"The Fitzgeralds and the Kennedys: An American Saga," by Doris Kearns Goodwin, Simon and Schuster, New York, 1987.
John F. Fitzgerald
Mayor of Boston
Library of Congress Photo
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