Endicott Peabody

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Endicott Peabody
Endicott Peabody

In office
January 3, 1963 – January 7, 1965
Lieutenant Francis X. Bellotti
Preceded by John A. Volpe
Succeeded by John A. Volpe

Born February 15, 1920(1920-02-15)
Lawrence, Massachusetts
Died December 1, 1997 (aged 77)
Hollis, New Hampshire
Political party Democratic
Profession Lawyer
Religion Episcopalian

Endicott "Chub" Peabody (February 15, 1920December 1, 1997) was Governor of Massachusetts from January 3, 1963 to January 7, 1965.

Peabody was born in Lawrence, Massachusetts, served in the United States Navy during World War II where he was decorated with the Silver Star for gallantry, and received a BA and a law degree from Harvard University. He was admitted to the Massachusetts bar on October 14, 1948.

An All-American star defensive lineman for the Harvard football team, he was later inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. He was a grandson of the founder of the Groton School and Brooks School, also named Endicott Peabody. He ran for political office unsuccessfully in Massachusetts several times. In 1962 he was elected Governor and served until 1965. In 1966 he ran for a seat in the United States Senate and was defeated by Edward Brooke. Also during the United States presidential election, 1960 he coordinated John F. Kennedy's Presidential campaigns in West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and New Hampshire[1]

Peabody is remembered for recommending the commutation of every death sentence he reviewed while serving as governor between 1963 and 1965.[2] Massachusetts performed the last execution in state history in 1947.[3]

During his administration as Governor the state's constitutional offices were standardized to four-year terms. Peabody advocated laws to prevent discrimination in housing and the establishment of drug addiction treatment programs. Governor Peabody was defeated in the Democratic Party primary and did not stand for popular reelection to a second term.[4]

In 1983, he moved to Hollis, New Hampshire, where he ran, again unsuccessfully, for local and statewide political office several times. He also undertook an extremely quixotic campaign for Vice President of the United States on the Democratic Party (United States) ticket in 1972. He ran under the slogan "Endicott Peabody, the number one man for the number two job."

Nicknamed "Chub", Peabody, an engaging politician, struggled to transcend his preppy-sounding name and WASP ethnicity at a time when Irish American politicians like the Kennedy family and their Italian American counterparts such as John A. Volpe and Foster Furcolo were appealing to large Roman Catholic Church constituencies. His detractors made a joke of his name, saying, "He was the only governor to have four towns named after him: Endicott (actually a village in Dedham), Peabody, Marblehead and Athol."

Peabody died in 1997 in Hollis, New Hampshire at the age of 77, and is buried in Groton, Massachusetts.

Peabody was a descendant of the colonial Massachusetts governor John Endecott.

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Political offices
Preceded by
John A. Volpe
Governor of Massachusetts
January 3, 1963January 7, 1965
Succeeded by
John A. Volpe
Languages