Paul G. Kirk
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Paul Grattan Kirk Jr. (born January 18, 1938) is an American lawyer and politician who served as a
United States Senator The United States Senate is the Upper house, upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States House of Representatives, House of Representatives being the Lower house, lower chamber. Together they compose the national Bica ...
from
Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...
from 2009 to 2010, having been appointed to fill the vacancy created by the death of
Ted Kennedy Edward Moore Kennedy (February 22, 1932 – August 25, 2009) was an American lawyer and politician who served as a United States senator from Massachusetts for almost 47 years, from 1962 until his death in 2009. A member of the Democratic ...
. From 1985 to 1989, he chaired the
Democratic National Committee The Democratic National Committee (DNC) is the governing body of the United States Democratic Party. The committee coordinates strategy to support Democratic Party candidates throughout the country for local, state, and national office, as well a ...
(DNC). He served as co-chairman of the
Commission on Presidential Debates The Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD) is a nonprofit corporation established in 1987 under the joint sponsorship of the Democratic and Republican political parties in the United States. The CPD sponsors and produces debates for U.S. pres ...
, the chairman of the board of directors of the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation, and a member of the board of directors of the
Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate The Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate (also known as the Kennedy Institute) is a non-profit civic engagement and educational institution on Columbia Point in the Dorchester neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, next to the ...
.


Early life and education

Kirk, one of five children, was born in
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, Massachusetts. He is the son of Josephine Elizabeth (née O'Connell) and Judge Paul G. Kirk Sr., an associate justice of the
Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) is the highest court in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Although the claim is disputed by the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, the SJC claims the distinction of being the oldest continuously functi ...
. His father was of Irish and English descent and his mother was of Irish ancestry. He attended
The Roxbury Latin School The Roxbury Latin School is a private boys' day school that was founded in 1645 in the town of Roxbury, Massachusetts, Roxbury (now a neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts) by the Rev. John Eliot (missionary), John Eliot under a charter rec ...
and graduated from
St. Sebastian's School Saint Sebastian's School is an independent, all-boys Catholic secondary school located in Needham, Massachusetts on . The school instructs young men in grades seven through twelve. Founded in 1941 by William Cardinal O'Connell, Archbishop of Bo ...
in 1956,
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 1960, and
Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States. Each class ...
in 1964. In college, Kirk took part in the
Reserve Officers' Training Corps The Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC ( or )) is a group of college- and university-based officer-training programs for training commissioned officers of the United States Armed Forces. Overview While ROTC graduate officers serve in all ...
program. He received his commission as a
second lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...
in 1960 and served on active duty for six months to complete his initial training. Kirk remained in the
United States Army Reserve The United States Army Reserve (USAR) is a Military reserve force, reserve force of the United States Army. Together, the Army Reserve and the Army National Guard constitute the Army element of the reserve components of the United States Armed F ...
until 1968, when he was discharged as a
captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...
.


Career

Kirk was admitted to the Massachusetts Bar in 1965. Kirk is affiliated with the law firm Sullivan & Worcester LLP of Boston, Massachusetts, and was a partner from 1977 to 1990. He is the chairman and chief executive officer of Kirk & Associates, Inc., a business advisory and consulting firm located in Boston. He is also a member of the board of directors of the Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc.,
Rayonier Rayonier Inc, headquartered in Wildlight, Florida, is a timberland real estate investment trust ("REIT") with assets located in some of the most productive softwood timber growing regions in the United States and New Zealand. Its core business s ...
, Incorporated, and Cedar Realty Trust, Inc. He was a board member of
ITT Corporation ITT Inc., formerly ITT Corporation, is an American worldwide manufacturing company based in Stamford, Connecticut. The company produces specialty components for the aerospace, transportation, energy and industrial markets. ITT's three businesses ...
from 1989 to 1997 and Bradley Real Estate, Inc. from 1991 to 2000. Kirk is a trustee of
Stonehill College Stonehill College is a Private college, private Catholic church, Roman Catholic Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Easton, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1948 by the Congregation of Holy Cross and is located on ...
. He also served as a trustee of St. Sebastian's School from 1992 to 2004 and again from 2006 to 2009. He is past chairman of the Harvard Board of Overseers Nominating Committee and is the chairman of the Harvard Overseers Committee to Visit the Department of Athletics. From 1992 to 2001 Kirk was the chairman of the
National Democratic Institute for International Affairs The National Democratic Institute (NDI), or National Democratic Institute for International Affairs, is a non-profit American NGO that works with partners in developing countries to increase the effectiveness of democratic institutions. The NDI's ...
.


DNC

Kirk was a special assistant to Senator
Ted Kennedy Edward Moore Kennedy (February 22, 1932 – August 25, 2009) was an American lawyer and politician who served as a United States senator from Massachusetts for almost 47 years, from 1962 until his death in 2009. A member of the Democratic ...
from 1969 to 1977. In 1983, he became treasurer of the national
Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...
. In 1985 Kirk was elected chairman of the Democratic National Committee despite opposition from Virginia Governor Chuck Robb and a group of southern state Democrats who went on to form the Democratic Leadership Council. He caused a brief stir when he suggested
means testing A means test is a determination of whether an individual or family is eligible for government assistance or welfare, based upon whether the individual or family possesses the means to do without that help. Canada In Canada, means tests are use ...
for Social Security, but he quickly withdrew his remarks. In the 1986 mid-term elections, under Kirk's chairmanship, the Democrats regained control of the
Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
, which had had a Republican majority since the 1980 elections. Kirk resigned shortly after Republican vice president George H. W. Bush's victory over Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis in the 1988 presidential election. He was succeeded as DNC chairman by Ron Brown. During his time as DNC Chair, he promoted and executed a successful plan to take over the planning of presidential debates. On May 2, 2008, Paul Kirk formally pledged his
superdelegate In American politics, a superdelegate is an unpledged delegate to the Democratic National Convention who is seated automatically and chooses for themselves for whom they vote. These Democratic Party superdelegates (who make up slightly under 15 ...
nomination vote in the summer 2008 national Democratic convention to Barack Obama.


U.S. Senate

In August 2009, Senator
Ted Kennedy Edward Moore Kennedy (February 22, 1932 – August 25, 2009) was an American lawyer and politician who served as a United States senator from Massachusetts for almost 47 years, from 1962 until his death in 2009. A member of the Democratic ...
died, leaving a vacancy in the Massachusetts Senate delegation. Five years earlier in 2004, the Massachusetts General Court had withdrawn the authority of the governor to fill a U.S. Senate vacancy by appointment, to prevent the then-Governor
Mitt Romney Willard Mitt Romney (born March 12, 1947) is an American politician, businessman, and lawyer serving as the junior United States senator from Utah since January 2019, succeeding Orrin Hatch. He served as the 70th governor of Massachusetts f ...
, a Republican, from appointing a fellow Republican to fill the remainder of Democrat John Kerry's Senate term, if Kerry were to win the 2004 presidential election. The legislation was enacted over Romney's veto. At that time, Senator Ted Kennedy successfully made personal appeals to Massachusetts Democratic legislative leaders to pass the bill, which had been stalled prior to his request. The new law called for a special election months later to fill the vacancy. However, Kennedy's death denied Democrats in the U.S. Senate the 60‑vote supermajority required to end
filibusters A filibuster is a political procedure in which one or more members of a legislative body prolong debate on proposed legislation so as to delay or entirely prevent decision. It is sometimes referred to as "talking a bill to death" or "talking out ...
. Given the urgency of and narrow partisan support for some legislation before Congress, most notably
health care reform Health care reform is for the most part governmental policy that affects health care delivery in a given place. Health care reform typically attempts to: * Broaden the population that receives health care coverage through either public sector insur ...
, Democratic lawmakers and liberal pundits called for an interim senator to be appointed so that Massachusetts would have full Senate representation until the special election; Kennedy himself had requested such a change before he died. In September, the General Court passed legislation restoring the governor's power to make interim appointments to serve until the special election stipulated in the earlier legislation is held, over multiple bipartisan concerns of hypocrisy. Kennedy's two sons, Patrick J. Kennedy and
Edward Kennedy Jr. Edward Moore Kennedy Jr. (born September 26, 1961) is an American lawyer and politician. He is a partner at Epstein Becker & Green, a firm headquartered in New York City, and previously represented Connecticut's 12th State Senate district in the ...
; and his wife, Victoria Reggie Kennedy, had all expressed their preference for Kirk. On September 23, 2009, several national media organizations reported that Kirk was favored by the family of the late Senator Edward M. Kennedy to be the senator's interim replacement, and that the family had communicated their preference to Governor
Deval Patrick Deval Laurdine Patrick (born July 31, 1956) is an American politician, civil rights lawyer, author, and businessman who served as the 71st governor of Massachusetts from 2007 to 2015. He was first elected in 2006, succeeding Mitt Romney, who ...
. Governor Patrick announced Kirk's appointment the next day. Kirk pledged he would not be a candidate in the special election, which was won by Republican
Scott Brown Scott Brown may refer to: Sportsmen *Scott Brown (American football), American college football coach of Kentucky State * Scott Brown (baseball) (born 1956), former Major League Baseball pitcher for the Cincinnati Reds *Scott Brown (footballer, bor ...
. Kirk was sworn into office on September 25, 2009. On September 24, 2009, members of the Massachusetts Republican Party filed suit seeking to block the appointment of Kirk, saying that under commonwealth law, the law giving Gov. Patrick the right to appoint Kirk should not take effect for 90 days. A hearing was scheduled for the morning of September 25 to resolve the issue. A Suffolk Superior Court judge dismissed the case the same day, and Kirk took the oath of office as senator that afternoon. On January 19, 2010, Scott Brown, a Republican state senator, was elected to serve the balance of Kennedy's term. Although Kirk was only appointed until his successor was elected, he continued to sit, and voted on the Senate floor on January 20, 2010, without any objection from Senate staff or Senate Republicans. This situation is analogous to 1993, when
Kay Bailey Hutchison Kay Bailey Hutchison (born Kathryn Ann Bailey; July 22, 1943) is an American attorney, television correspondent, politician, diplomat, and was the 22nd United States Permanent Representative to NATO from 2017 until 2021. A member of the Republi ...
was elected on June 5, but Bob Krueger continued to hold the seat until she took the oath of office on June 14, but was different from when Ted Kennedy was allowed to be sworn into office the day after his special election to the Senate in 1962. Kirk was present at his successor's swearing in ceremony on February 4, 2010.


Later career

Kirk supported
Bernie Sanders Bernard Sanders (born September8, 1941) is an American politician who has served as the junior United States senator from Vermont since 2007. He was the U.S. representative for the state's at-large congressional district from 1991 to 2007 ...
in the
2016 Democratic Party presidential primaries Presidential primaries and caucuses were organized by the Democratic Party to select the 4,051 delegates to the 2016 Democratic National Convention held July 25–28 and determine the nominee for president in the 2016 United States presidential e ...
. Kirk has written opinion columns for '' The Boston Globe''.


Personal life

In 1974, he married Gail Loudermilk. They reside in
Marstons Mills Marstons Mills (sometimes spelled Marston's Mills) is a village in the town of Barnstable, Massachusetts, United States. It is primarily residential, located on Massachusetts Route 28, and rural in nature. Main roads also include Massachusetts ...
, a village of Barnstable, Massachusetts. Kirk is a great-nephew of the late Cardinal William O'Connell and the brother-in-law of ice hockey player and coach Bill Cleary.


References


External links

* * ''Massachusetts Republican Party v. Deval Patrick'', No. 2009-4078 (Mass. Sup. Ct. Sep 25, 2009)
Memorandum and Order on Plaintiff's Motion for a Preliminary Injunction
(Massachusetts Superior Court Judge Thomas Connolly's order denying the request to enjoin Kirk's appointment) * , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Kirk, Paul G. 1938 births American people of English descent Democratic National Committee chairs Democratic Party United States senators from Massachusetts Harvard Law School alumni Lawyers from Boston Living people Massachusetts Democrats People from Marstons Mills, Massachusetts Politicians from Boston 21st-century American politicians People from Newton, Massachusetts Military personnel from Massachusetts Harvard College alumni