John Volpe

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John Volpe

John Anthony Volpe (born  December 8, 1908 in Wakefield , Middlesex County , Massachusetts , † November 11, 1994 in Nahant , Massachusetts) was an American politician .

Life

Volpe grew up as the son of Italian immigrants from Abruzzo in Massachusetts. In 1934 he married Jennie Benedetto; they had a son and a daughter. He attended the Wentworth Institute of Technology in Boston and then went into construction. In 1930 he founded his own company. During the Second World War he supported the United States Navy , in which he was active as a training officer with the Seabees , the construction troops of the Navy.

In 1953, Volpe was named Massachusetts State Public Service Commissioner. Three years later, US President Dwight D. Eisenhower appointed him head of the Federal Highway Administration , a sub-agency of the Department of Transportation responsible for transport on highways .

politics

As a member of the Republican Party , he was elected governor of Massachusetts in 1960. In 1962 he was defeated by the Democrat Endicott Peabody , but he was able to replace him two years later. In 1966 he was confirmed in office; thus Volpe was the first governor in the history of the state of Massachusetts with a four-year term.

During his tenure, John Volpe enacted legislation to break down racial barriers in the field of education. He reorganized the state school board, liberalized birth control laws, and promoted public housing for low-income families. He also succeeded in increasing the state's income by raising sales tax to three percent. From 1967 to 1968 he served as president of the National Governors Association .

In 1968, John Volpe was one of the Republican candidates for the office of US president, but without receiving a delegate vote at the Republican National Convention . After Richard Nixon was elected President, he was appointed Secretary of Transportation of the United States; he ceded his governorship to his deputy Francis W. Sargent . He headed the Ministry of Transport until February 1, 1973; During this time, among other things, the semi-state transport company Amtrak was launched. From 1973 to 1977 he finally held the post of US ambassador to Italy as the successor to Graham Martin .

Appreciations

The Volpe Center , a transportation center in Cambridge , and the Wakefield High School library are named after John Volpe, who died in 1994 and was buried in his hometown of Wakefield .

Web links

Commons : John Volpe  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME Volpe, John
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Volpe, John Anthony
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American politician
DATE OF BIRTH December 8, 1908
PLACE OF BIRTH Wakefield , Massachusetts
DATE OF DEATH November 11, 1994
Place of death Nahant , Massachusetts