Michael Dukakis

Michael Dukakis, born in 1933, American politician and Democratic candidate for president in 1988. Michael Stanley Dukakis was born to Greek immigrant parents in Brookline, Massachusetts. In 1955 he graduated from Swarthmore College. After serving in the United States Army, he earned a law degree from Harvard Law School in 1960. Dukakis married Katherine (Kitty) Dickson in 1963.

More interested in politics than in practicing law, Dukakis was elected to the Massachusetts state legislature in 1962. He was reelected in 1964, 1966, and 1968. Although it was a time of turmoil and civil unrest, he focused on practical matters such as rent control and no-fault auto insurance. Dukakis was nominated for lieutenant governor in 1970, but lost the election. He turned to public television and served as moderator of a popular show, “The Advocate.” He was elected governor of Massachusetts in 1974. Dukakis's style of government was perceived as distant, and after he reversed himself on a campaign pledge not to raise taxes, he lost his bid for renomination. He then taught at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government from 1979 to 1982. In 1982 Dukakis was again elected governor. He was now more cooperative in his personal relations and able to take advantage of an economic boom, the so-called “Massachusetts Miracle.” He was reelected governor in 1986. In 1988 Dukakis won the Democratic presidential nomination. During the election campaign he and running mate Senator Lloyd Bentsen of Texas failed to find issues that attracted voters or to attack effectively the Republicans' record under President Ronald Reagan since 1981. After losing decisively to Republican George Bush, Dukakis finished his term as governor and returned to private life in 1991.