John L. Saltonstall Jr. (1916 – April 25, 2007) was an American attorney and politician who served as a member of the

Boston City Council The Boston City Council is the legislative branch of government for the city of Boston, Massachusetts. It is made up of 13 members: 9 district representatives and 4 at-large members. Councillors are elected to two-year terms and there is no ...

from 1968 to 1972.

Early life

Saltonstall was born

Beverly, Massachusetts Beverly is a city in Essex County, Massachusetts, and a suburb of Boston. The population was 42,670 at the time of the 2020 United States Census. A resort, residential, and manufacturing community on the Massachusetts North Shore, Beverly incl ...

in 1916 to a family of prominent Massachusetts Republicans. He graduated from

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate college of Harvard University, an Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636, Harvard College is the original school of Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher lea ...

in 1938 and

Yale Law School Yale Law School (Yale Law or YLS) is the law school of Yale University, a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was established in 1824 and has been ranked as the best law school in the United States by ''U ...

in 1941. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, he volunteered for military service three times, but was rejected each time for failing the physical exam. He instead served as a member of the National War Labor Board.

Legal career

After the war, Saltonstall worked in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

as an attorney for the

American Civil Liberties Union The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1920 "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States". T ...

. He later returned to Boston to work for the firm

Hill and Barlow Hill & Barlow was a law firm in Boston, Massachusetts that was dissolved in 2002. Founded in 1895, the firm had been one of the city's oldest and most elite firms, and was also the 12th largest in Boston at the time of its dissolution, employing ...

. From 1954 to 1956, he represented Harvard professor

Leon Kamin Leon J. Kamin (December 29, 1927 – December 22, 2017) was an American psychologist known for his contributions to learning theory and his critique of estimates of the heritability of IQ. He studied under Richard Solomon at Harvard and contributed ...

, who was charged with

contempt of Congress Contempt of Congress is the act of obstructing the work of the United States Congress or one of its committees. Historically, the bribery of a U.S. senator or U.S. representative was considered contempt of Congress. In modern times, contempt of Co ...

after he refused to identify fellow Communist party members during the

Army–McCarthy hearings The Army–McCarthy hearings were a series of televised hearings held by the United States Senate's Subcommittee on Investigations (April–June 1954) to investigate conflicting accusations between the United States Army and U.S. Senator Joseph ...

. In 1964, he left his corporate practice for several weeks to represent several black civil rights workers who were being sued for libel in northern Mississippi. He later said: "I probably did work that was more intellectually challenging later on, but I probably never did any work that was more exciting." In addition to his work with Hill and Barlow, Saltonstall also maintained a law office in

Edgartown, Massachusetts Edgartown is a tourist destination on the island of Martha's Vineyard in Dukes County, Massachusetts, United States, for which it is the county seat. It was once a major whaling port, with historic houses that have been carefully preserved. Tod ...

. He also served as town counsel for Gay Head, Massachusetts. Previously married and divorced, in 1976 he married Adriana Gianturco.''New York Times''
"Adriana Gianturco Is Boston Bride," January 18, 1976
accessed June 28, 2011 After retiring from Hill & Barlow, Saltonstall taught at the

McGeorge School of Law University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law is a private, American Bar Association (ABA)-approved law school in the Oak Park neighborhood of the city of Sacramento, California. It is part of the University of the Pacific and is located on t ...

Politics

In 1958, Saltonstall was the Democratic Party candidate for

United States Representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

from

Massachusetts's 10th congressional district Massachusetts's 10th congressional district was a small district that included parts of the South Shore of Massachusetts, and all of Cape Cod and the islands. The district had existed since 1795, but was removed for the 113th Congress in 2013 a ...

. He lost to incumbent

Laurence Curtis Laurence Curtis (September 3, 1893 – July 11, 1989) was an American attorney and Republican Party politician from Massachusetts. Early life, military service, and education Laurence Curtis was born in Boston, Massachusetts on September 3, 18 ...

52% to 48%. In 1960, he was one of a group of former supporters of presidential candidate Adlai Stevenson who urged their "fellow liberals" to support

John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination i ...

for the Democratic Party's nomination, citing Kennedy's assurance of support for desegregation. Saltonstall served on the Boston City Council from 1968 to 1972. In the 1971 election, he ran for

Mayor of Boston The mayor of Boston is the head of the municipal government in Boston, Massachusetts. Boston has a mayor–council government. Boston's mayoral elections are nonpartisan (as are all municipal elections in Boston), and elect a mayor to a four- ...

. He finished in fifth place in the preliminary election with 4.86% of the vote.; ''New York Times''
Bill Kovach, "Mayor Runs First in Boston Voting," September 15, 1971
accessed June 28, 2011 He died in

Fall River, Massachusetts Fall River is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. The City of Fall River's population was 94,000 at the 2020 United States Census, making it the tenth-largest city in the state. Located along the eastern shore of Mount H ...

, on April 25, 2007.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saltonstall Jr., John L. 1916 births 2007 deaths Boston City Council members Harvard College alumni Yale Law School alumni Massachusetts Democrats Lawyers from Boston People from Westport, Massachusetts 20th-century American politicians People from Beverly, Massachusetts 20th-century American lawyers