Foster Furcolo

John Foster Furcolo (July 29, 1911 – July 5, 1995) was an American lawyer, writer, and Democratic Party politician from Massachusetts.

John Foster Furcolo was born in New Haven, Connecticut, on July 29, 1911.

His father, Charles Furcolo, was an Italian immigrant and a doctor, and his mother was an Irish immigrant.

Furcolo attended public schools in Longmeadow, Massachusetts and New Haven.

He then attended Yale University, where he graduated in 1933, and finally Yale Law School, where he received his LL.B. in 1936.

At Yale he played a variety of sports, serving on both the boxing team (as a welterweight) and the baseball team.

According to his brother Charles, he played second base.

He was undefeated as a boxer and was encouraged to turn professional, but chose not to.

He also engaged in literary pursuits, writing short stories and plays that were produced locally.

Furcolo dropped use of his first name when he entered politics.

In 1937 Furcolo moved to Springfield, Massachusetts, where he opened a law practice.

He specialized in criminal and civil trial work, and quickly rose in prominence, the quality of his legal preparation and trial work receiving favorable notice from others in the legal community.

After a few years he moved his growing family to neighboring Longmeadow.

He made his first bid for public office in 1942, an unsuccessful run for district attorney.

During World War II he served in U.S. Navy as a lieutenant (junior grade) aboard USS Kershaw (APA-176), a transport vessel in the Pacific, which participated in the Invasion of Okinawa.

He was a member of the Indian Orchard Council number 183 of the Knights of Columbus.

In 1946 Furcolo stood for election as a Democratic Party candidate for the 2nd Congressional District seat, running against incumbent Charles R. Clason.

He lost by 3,000 votes, a narrow margin, in an election dominated in the state by Republican victories.

He first won election to Congress in 1948, and served most of two terms, resigning after being appointed Massachusetts Treasurer in 1952 by Governor Paul A. Dever.

In 1948, he again ran against Clason, and won by a comfortable margin, buoyed by the support of war veterans and organized labor.

Furcolo served in the House of Representatives from January 3, 1949, until his resignation on September 30, 1952.

He drew national attention when he was the first freshman representative to be invited to the White House by President Harry S. Truman to discuss legislative matters.

He innovatively introduced the idea of a "people's council", composed of individuals from a cross-section of his district's interests, which he could consult to gauge opinion on legislative matters.

His major legislative proposal, introduced early in his first term, was for a scholarship loan program to help needy high school graduates attend college.

Furcolo was adopted as a protégé by the powerful majority leader of the house, Massachusetts Congressman John W. McCormack.

McCormack engineered Furcolo's appointment to the powerful House Appropriations Committee.

This appointment rankled John F. Kennedy, elected to the body with Furcolo, and Kennedy later blamed Furcolo for hampering his attempts to gain patronage influence from McCormack.

In 1950, Furcolo was challenged by Polish-American Republican Charles Skibinski, who sought to capitalize on the large number of Polish-Americans in the district in a campaign in which there were no major issues.

Furcolo retained his seat, winning by more than 10,000 out of over 130,000 votes cast.

In 1951 Furcolo was appointed to a special committee established to investigate reports of mass killings of Polish military officers and intelligentsia by the Soviets during World War II in the Katyn Forest.

Furcolo's appointment to this committee (which was otherwise dominated by Polish-Americans) was also the work of McCormack, likely because of the large Polish-American population in Furcolo's district.

The committee concluded that the killings had been perpetrated by the Soviet secret service (NKVD), and sought to bring a case before the International Court of Justice.

He won two terms as governor, serving from 1957 to 1961.

In addition to supporting community colleges, he also furthered the redevelopment of parts of Boston, supporting development of the Prudential Center and Government Center.

His administration was overshadowed by corruption scandals, but no charges against him made it to trial.

He was twice an unsuccessful candidate for the United States Senate.

He was the author of several books, including a novel set amid events surrounding the World War II Katyn massacre.

He was the state's 60th governor, and also represented the state as a member of the United States House of Representatives.

He was the first Italian-American governor of the state, and an active promoter of community colleges.

Born in New Haven, Connecticut and educated at Yale, Furcolo practiced law before serving in the United States Navy during World War II.