John Anthony Volpe
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John Anthony Volpe (; December 8, 1908November 11, 1994) was an American businessman, diplomat, and politician from Massachusetts. A son of Italian immigrants, he founded and owned a large construction firm. Politically, he was a Republican in increasingly Democratic Massachusetts, serving as its 61st and 63rd Governor from 1961 to 1963 and 1965 to 1969, as the
United States Secretary of Transportation The United States secretary of transportation is the head of the United States Department of Transportation. The secretary serves as the principal advisor to the president of the United States on all matters relating to transportation. The secre ...
from 1969 to 1973, and as the United States Ambassador to Italy from 1973 to 1977. As Secretary of Transportation, Volpe was an important figure in the development of the Interstate Highway System at the federal level.


Early life and education

Volpe was born on December 8, 1908 in Wakefield, Massachusetts. He was the son of Italian immigrants Vito and Filomena (née Benedetto) Volpe, who had come from Pescosansonesco,
Abruzzo Abruzzo (, , ; nap, label=Neapolitan language, Abruzzese Neapolitan, Abbrùzze , ''Abbrìzze'' or ''Abbrèzze'' ; nap, label=Sabino dialect, Aquilano, Abbrùzzu; #History, historically Abruzzi) is a Regions of Italy, region of Southern Italy wi ...
to Boston's North End on the
SS Canopic SS ''Canopic'' was a passenger liner of the White Star Line. The ship was built by Harland & Wolff in Belfast for the Dominion Line, and launched on 31 May 1900 as the ''Commonwealth''. The ship was long, and powered by a 988 nhp 6-cylinder tr ...
in 1905; his father was in the construction business. Volpe attended the Wentworth Institute (later known as the Wentworth Institute of Technology) in Boston where he majored in architectural construction and entered the construction business, building his own firm in 1930."Biography: John A. Volpe"
, US Department of Transportation
By the outbreak of World War II, it was one of the USA's leading construction companies.


Personal life

In 1934, Volpe married Giovannina Benedetto, with whom he had two children, John Anthony, Jr. and Loretta Jean Volpe Rotondi. During World War II, he volunteered to serve stateside as a United States Navy Seabees training officer, enlisting with the rank of lieutenant commander. He was a Knight of Malta and a member of the Knights of Columbus.


Early political career

Volpe's first political post was in 1951, when he served as the deputy chair of the Massachusetts Republican Party. In 1953, Governor Christian Herter appointed him the Massachusetts Commissioner of Public Works, and in 1956 he was appointed by President Dwight D. Eisenhower as the first administrator of the Federal Highway Administration. In this position he oversaw the early phases of the development of the Interstate Highway System.


Governor of Massachusetts

In
1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Ja ...
, Volpe was elected Governor of Massachusetts, defeating Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth
Joseph D. Ward Joseph D. Ward (March 26, 1914 – May 10, 2003) was an American politician who served as Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth from January 1959 to January 1961. Ward was elected to the Massachusetts House of Representatives in 1948, rep ...
. He served as governor from 1961 to 1963. In
1962 Events January * January 1 – Western Samoa becomes independent from New Zealand. * January 3 – Pope John XXIII excommunicates Fidel Castro for preaching communism. * January 8 – Harmelen train disaster: 93 die in the wors ...
, Volpe was narrowly defeated for reelection, losing to former Governor's Councillor and JFK friend Endicott Peabody. In
1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 - In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patriarch ...
, Volpe ran again for governor and was able to capitalize on disarray within the Massachusetts Democratic Party when Lieutenant Governor
Francis X. Bellotti Francis Xavier Bellotti (born May 3, 1923) is an American lawyer and politician. In his first campaign he was the Democratic nominee for District Attorney of Norfolk County in 1958, but was defeated in the general election. In 1962 Bellotti was ...
defeated Peabody for the Democratic nomination for governor. Despite the Democratic landslide nationwide that year, Volpe defeated Bellotti in a close race. In
1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo i ...
, Volpe was elected to the first four-year term in Massachusetts history, defeating former Massachusetts Attorney General
Edward J. McCormack, Jr. Edward Joseph McCormack Jr. (August 29, 1923 – February 27, 1997), was an American attorney and politician from Massachusetts. He was most notable for serving as Massachusetts Attorney General from 1959 through 1963. Personal life and educat ...
During his administration, Governor Volpe signed legislation to ban racial imbalances in education, reorganize the state's
Board of Education A board of education, school committee or school board is the board of directors or board of trustees of a school, local school district or an equivalent institution. The elected council determines the educational policy in a small regional are ...
, liberalize
birth control Birth control, also known as contraception, anticonception, and fertility control, is the use of methods or devices to prevent unwanted pregnancy. Birth control has been used since ancient times, but effective and safe methods of birth contr ...
laws, and increase public housing for low-income families. Governor Volpe also raised revenues, engaging in a long and ultimately successful fight to institute a three percent state sales tax. He served as president of the National Governors Association from 1967 to 1968. On April 22, 1965, Volpe received a visit from Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. at the
Massachusetts State House The Massachusetts State House, also known as the Massachusetts Statehouse or the New State House, is the List of state capitols in the United States, state capitol and seat of government for the Massachusetts, Commonwealth of Massachusetts, lo ...
, after which King delivered an address to a joint session of the 164th Massachusetts General Court. On April 1, 1965, a special committee appointed by Massachusetts Education Commissioner Owen Kiernan released its final report finding that more than half of black students enrolled in Boston Public Schools (BPS) attended institutions with enrollments that were at least 80 percent black and that housing segregation in the city had caused the racial imbalance. From its creation under the National Housing Act of 1934 signed into law by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, the Federal Housing Administration used its official mortgage insurance underwriting policy explicitly to prevent
school desegregation School integration in the United States is the process (also known as desegregation) of ending race-based segregation within American public and private schools. Racial segregation in schools existed throughout most of American history and rema ...
, while the Boston Housing Authority actively segregated the city's public housing developments since at least 1941 and continued to do so despite the passage of legislation by the 156th Massachusetts General Court prohibiting racial discrimination or segregation in housing in 1950 and the issuance of Executive Order 11063 by President John F. Kennedy in 1962 that required all federal agencies to prevent racial discrimination in federally-funded subsidized housing in the United States. In response to the report, on April 20, 1965, the Boston
NAACP The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is a civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E.&nb ...
filed a lawsuit in federal district court against the city seeking the desegregation of the city's public schools. Volpe filed a request for legislation from the state legislature that defined schools with nonwhite enrollments greater than 50 percent to be imbalanced and granted the State Board of Education the power to withhold state funds from any school district in the state that was found to have racial imbalance, which Volpe would sign into law the following August. Also in August 1965, along with
Boston Mayor 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-y ...
John F. Collins John Frederick Collins (July 20, 1919 – November 23, 1995) was an American lawyer who served as the mayor of Boston from 1960 to 1968. Collins was a lawyer who served in the Massachusetts Legislature from 1947 to 1955. He and his children cau ...
(1960–1968) and BPS Superintendent
William H. Ohrenberger William Henry Ohrenberger (August 23, 1906 – November 13, 1998) was an American educator who served as superintendent of Boston Public Schools from 1963 to 1972. Early life Ohrenberger was born on August 23, 1906. He graduated from The English ...
, Volpe opposed and warned the Boston School Committee that a vote that they held that month to abandon a proposal to
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several hundred blacks students from Roxbury and North Dorchester from three overcrowded schools to nearby schools in Dorchester and
Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...
, and purchase an abandoned
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in Dorchester to relieve the overcrowding instead, could now be held by a court to be deliberate acts of segregation. Pursuant to the Racial Imbalance Act, the state conducted a racial census and found 55 imbalanced schools in the state with 46 in Boston, and in October 1965, the State Board required the School Committee to submit a desegregation plan, which the School Committee did the following December. In April 1966, the State Board found the plan inadequate and voted to rescind state aid to the district, and in response, the School Committee filed a lawsuit against the State Board challenging both the decision and the constitutionality of the Racial Imbalance Act the following August. In January 1967, the Massachusetts Superior Court overturned a Suffolk Superior Court ruling that the State Board had improperly withdrawn the funds and ordered the School Committee to submit an acceptable plan to the State Board within 90 days or else permanently lose funding, which the School Committee did shortly thereafter and the State Board accepted. In June 1967, the
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) is the court of last resort, highest court in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Although the claim is disputed by the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, the SJC claims the di ...
upheld the constitutionality of the Racial Imbalance Act and the U.S. Supreme Court under Chief Justice Earl Warren (1953–1969) declined to hear the School Committee's appeal in January 1968. In 1968, Volpe stood unsuccessfully as a " favorite son" candidate in the Massachusetts Republican presidential primary. Though he was the only person on the ballot, he was defeated by a spontaneous write-in campaign for
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...
Governor
Nelson A. Rockefeller Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller (July 8, 1908 – January 26, 1979), sometimes referred to by his nickname Rocky, was an American businessman and politician who served as the 41st vice president of the United States from 1974 to 1977. A member of t ...
. Volpe endorsed Richard Nixon. Volpe was one of the finalists in
Richard M. Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was t ...
's decision concerning a running mate; he was considered acceptable to most wings of the party, but Nixon ultimately selected Spiro Agnew instead.


Secretary of Transportation

Following the election, President Nixon rewarded Volpe for his support by appointing him
Secretary of Transportation A secretary, administrative professional, administrative assistant, executive assistant, administrative officer, administrative support specialist, clerk, military assistant, management assistant, office secretary, or personal assistant is a wh ...
. He resigned as governor to assume the cabinet post, and served in that position from 1969 to 1973. During his tenure, Volpe abandoned previous positions supportive of unfettered highway construction, instead pushing for a more balanced approach to the nation's transportation infrastructure. He was notably instrumental in effectively ending attempts to revive Boston's failed Inner Belt project, which he had promoted as highway administrator. Likewise, Volpe's 1969 decision to kill the proposed Riverfront Expressway saved New Orleans's historic French Quarter and marked a substantial victory for preservationists, who were able to convince Volpe that an expressway that cut the Quarter off from the riverfront would have been disastrous. Amtrak was established during his time in office. An avid cyclist who biked to work on a folding bike, he used his position - and the energy crisis - to encourage more Americans to bike. Volpe was the second to serve in this role following the position becoming a Cabinet-level appointment. He received the
Award of Excellence The National Blue Ribbon Schools Program is a United States Department of Education award program that recognizes exemplary public and non-public schools on a yearly basis. Using standards of excellence evidenced by student achievement measures, ...
in 1970 from ''Engineering News-Record'' for his service as Secretary of Transportation.


Ambassador to Italy

Volpe had a long and abiding interest in the homeland of his parents, and visited it many times. In 1969, he was awarded the Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic. In 1973, Volpe was nominated by President Nixon and confirmed by the United States Senate as United States Ambassador to Italy, a position he held until 1977. Volpe was snubbed by elements of the Italian elite/political establishment, due to his roots in southern Italy, and he upset leftist elements by making strong statements against the inclusion of the Italian Communist Party in its government. He was accused by the Italian Communist press of being "neo-Fascist" for his views.


Death and legacy

Volpe died in Nahant, Massachusetts, on November 11, 1994, at the age of 85. He was buried at Forest Glade Cemetery in Wakefield, Massachusetts. The
John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center The John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center or simply Volpe in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is a center of transportation and logistics expertise, operating under the United States Department of Transportation (U.S. DOT). The Volpe C ...
in Cambridge was named in his memory, as well as the Governor John A. Volpe Library at Wakefield High School in Wakefield. Volpe's papers are stored in the Archives and Special Collections of the
Northeastern University Northeastern University (NU) is a private university, private research university with its main campus in Boston. Established in 1898, the university offers undergraduate and graduate programs on its main campus as well as satellite campuses in ...
Libraries, in Boston.John A. Volpe Papers
- Northeastern University Library
Terminal E at Logan International Airport is also dedicated in his honor.


References


Sources

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External links

* , - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Volpe, John A. 1908 births 1994 deaths 20th-century American politicians Ambassadors of the United States to Italy American politicians of Italian descent United States Navy personnel of World War II Burials in Massachusetts Republican Party governors of Massachusetts Military personnel from Massachusetts Nixon administration cabinet members People from Wakefield, Massachusetts Politicians from Malden, Massachusetts State cabinet secretaries of Massachusetts United States Navy officers Candidates in the 1968 United States presidential election United States Secretaries of Transportation Wentworth Institute of Technology alumni Knights of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic Administrators of the Federal Highway Administration Eisenhower administration personnel 20th-century American diplomats