Biography

Mayor of Boston, Massachusetts; 1968-1984.

He died at his home in Beacon Hill section of Boston, Massachusetts. Son of Joseph C. White and maternal grandson of Henry E. Hagan who served as Presidents of the Boston City Council. His father was also a Massachusetts state legislator. He earned a Bachelor's degree from Williams College in 1952 and his law degree from Boston College in 1955 in Boston, Massachusetts. He also studied at the Harvard Graduate School of Public Administration (now John F. Kennedy School of Government) in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

In 1960, he was elected Massachusetts Secretary of State and was reelect three times serving until 1967. In 1962 and in 1964, he was elected to two year terms. In 1966, he was elected for a four year term. In 1968, he was elected to Mayor of Boston and re-elected three times in 1972, 1976, and 1980. He retired from political office in 1984.

From 1984 to 2002, he was the Director of the Institute for Political Communication at Boston University in Boston, Massachusetts.

He is survived by his wife, Kathryn Galvin White whom he married in 1956 who is also a daughter of a Boston City Council President; a brother Terrence White who was his campaign manager; two sons; three daughters; and seven grandchildren.