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Michael Dukakis

Michael Stanley Dukakis (/dʊˈkɑːkɪs/ duu-KAH-kiss; born November 3, 1933) is an American retired lawyer and politician who served as governor of Massachusetts from 1975 to 1979 and again from 1983 to 1991. He is the longest-serving governor in Massachusetts history and only the second Greek-American governor in U.S. history, after Spiro Agnew. He was nominated by the Democratic Party for president in the 1988 election, losing to the Republican nominee, Vice President George H. W. Bush.

Michael Dukakis

Edward J. King

Jon Rotenberg

10th Norfolk (1963–1965)
13th Norfolk (1965–1971)

Michael Stanley Dukakis

(1933-11-03) November 3, 1933
Brookline, Massachusetts, U.S.
(m. 1963)

4, including John

Olympia Dukakis (cousin)

1955–1957

8020th Administrative Unit[2]

Born in Brookline, Massachusetts, to Greek immigrants, Dukakis attended Swarthmore College before enlisting in the United States Army. After graduating from Harvard Law School, he won election to the Massachusetts House of Representatives, serving from 1963 to 1971. He won the 1974 Massachusetts gubernatorial election but lost his 1978 bid for re-nomination to Edward J. King. He defeated King in the 1982 gubernatorial primary and served as governor from 1983 to 1991, presiding over a period of economic growth known as the "Massachusetts Miracle".


Building on his popularity as governor, Dukakis sought the Democratic presidential nomination for the 1988 presidential election. He prevailed in the Democratic primaries and was formally nominated at the 1988 Democratic National Convention. Dukakis chose Senator Lloyd Bentsen of Texas as his running mate, while the Republicans nominated a ticket of George H. W. Bush and Senator Dan Quayle. Dukakis made history as the first person with ancestry from outside Western or Northern Europe nominated for president by a major party and was the only one until President Obama's nomination in 2008. He was the first Greek Orthodox presidential nominee for a major political party.[3] Although he lost the election, carrying only ten states and Washington, D.C., he improved on the Democratic performances in the previous two elections. After the election, Dukakis announced that he would not seek another term as governor, and he left office in 1991.


Since leaving office, Dukakis has served on the board of directors for Amtrak and taught political science at Northeastern University and UCLA. He was mentioned as a potential appointee to the Senate in 2009 to fill the vacancy caused by Ted Kennedy's death, but Governor Deval Patrick chose Paul G. Kirk. In 2012, Dukakis backed the successful Senate campaign of Elizabeth Warren, whom he also supported in the 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries. Since the death of Bob Dole on December 5, 2021, Dukakis is the oldest living losing major party presidential candidate.

Michael Dukakis 1988 presidential campaign

Ward Commission

(June 20, 1988). "A Tale of Two Childhoods". Time. Archived from the original on March 12, 2007.

Carlson, Margaret

(October 27, 1988). "Insider Baseball". The New York Review of Books. ISSN 0028-7504.

Didion, Joan

Ducat, Stephen J. (2004). . Boston: Beacon Press. pp. 84–99. ISBN 0-8070-4344-3.

The Wimp Factor: Gender Gaps, Holy Wars, and the Politics of Anxious Masculinity

(2005). Voices of Brookline. Portsmouth, New Hampshire: Peter E. Randall. pp. xvii–xx and 194–198. ISBN 1-931807-39-6.

Ruttman, Larry

at IMDb

Michael Dukakis

Faculty Page at the Northeastern University Department of Political Science

(Archived May 16, 2016, at the Wayback Machine)

Faculty Page at UCLA

The (Archived October 12, 2008, at the Wayback Machine) are located in the Northeastern University Libraries, Archives and Special Collections Department, Boston, MA.

Michael S. Dukakis Presidential Campaign records, 1962–1989 (bulk 1987–1988)

The are located in the Northeastern University Libraries, Archives and Special Collections Department, Boston, MA.

Joseph D. Warren papers, 1972–2003 (bulk 1980–1990)

as reported in the Harvard Law Record

Dukakis discusses presidential debates

Dukakis mentioned on MSNBC's Morning Joe: The Scoop on 'Boogie Man'

on C-SPAN

Appearances