Paul A. Dever

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Paul Andrew Dever (January 15, 1903 – April 11, 1958) was a Democratic politician from Boston, Massachusetts.

He was elected to the Massachusetts House of Representatives in 1928, and served from 1929 to 1935, when he was elected the youngest attorney general in the history of Massachusetts at age 31. In 1940, he challenged the popular incumbent Governor Leverett Saltonstall, coming within a small margin of creating an upset victory.

As the Second World War began, Dever enlisted in the Navy. He lost the 1946 race for lieutenant governor, but two years later he defeated incumbent governor Robert F. Bradford by a substantial margin. Governor Dever increased state aid to schools and issued an executive order to extend higher education benefits to Korean War veterans. Among his chief concerns were civil defense and resisting domestic communism. He advocated increasing old age and workers compensation insurance. He made an unsuccessful bid for the Democratic Presidential nomination in 1952. Dever had many of his supporters on the state payroll, creating a strong political machine. However, he lost a second re-election bid by 15,000 votes against Republican and future Secretary of State Christian Herter.

The Dever administration came under fire in 1952 when the Massachusetts Federation of Taxpayers Associations found pensions for members and former members of the state legislature were increased. One of those eligible was former mayor of Boston and governor James Curley, a convicted felon. Dever gave in to pressure groups, calling a special session of the legislature that repealed the bill. [1] [2]

Governor Dever died in 1958 and was buried in St. Joseph's Cemetery in the West Roxbury section of the city of Boston, Massachusetts.

[edit] External links

• Official Commonwealth of Massachusetts Governor Biography

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There is a mental institution in Taunton, Massachusetts named after Paul A. Dever. It will be used in the Martin Scorsese movie Shutter Island.