Paul Grattan Kirk, Jr. (born January 18, 1938) is the junior United States Senator from Massachusetts. From 1985 to 1989, he served as chairman of the Democratic National Committee (DNC). He is the co-chair of the Commission on Presidential Debates, the chairman of the board of directors of the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation,[1] and a member of the board of directors of the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate.[2] On September 24, 2009, Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick appointed Kirk to fill the vacant seat of the late U.S. Senator Edward M. Kennedy; the term expires when a special election, held on January 19, 2010, is concluded.[3][4][5] [edit] Education and Family Kirk is one of the five children of Judge Paul Grattan Kirk, Sr., an associate justice of the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts,[6] and Josephine E. O'Connell. He attended The Roxbury Latin School and graduated from St. Sebastian's School in 1956, Harvard College in 1960, and Harvard Law School in 1964, and was admitted to the Massachusetts Bar in 1965.[7] In 1974, he married Gail Loudermilk. The couple has no children. They reside in Marstons Mills Village, Barnstable County, Massachusetts.[1] Kirk is a great-nephew of the late William Cardinal O’Connell.[8][9] [edit] Board memberships and company affiliations Kirk is affiliated with the law firm Sullivan & Worcester LLP of Boston, Massachusetts and was a partner from 1977 to 1990.[1] He is the chairman and chief executive officer of Kirk & Associates, Inc., a business advisory and consulting firm located in Boston.[1] Kirk is a member of the Board of Directors of The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc., Rayonier, Incorporated, and Cedar Shopping Centers, Inc. He was a board member of ITT Corporation from 1989 to 1997 and Bradley Real Estate, Inc. from 1991 to 2000.[1] Kirk is a trustee of Stonehill College. He also served as a trustee of St. Sebastian's School from 1992 to 2004 and again from 2006 to 2009. He is past chairman of the Harvard Board of Overseers Nominating Committee and is the chairman of the Harvard Overseers Committee to Visit the Department of Athletics.[1] From 1992 to 2001 Kirk was the chairman of the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs.[1] [edit] Political career Kirk was a special assistant to U.S. Senator Edward M. Kennedy from 1969-1977. In 1983, he became treasurer of the national Democratic Party.[1] In 1985, Kirk was elected chairman of the Democratic National Committee despite opposition from Virginia Governor Chuck Robb and a group of southern state Democrats who went on to form the Democratic Leadership Council.[10] He caused a brief stir when he suggested means testing for Social Security, but he quickly withdrew his remarks.[11] In the 1986 mid-term elections, under Kirk's chairmanship, the Democrats regained control of the Senate, which had had a Republican majority since the 1980 elections. Kirk resigned shortly after Republican Vice President George H. W. Bush's victory over Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis in the 1988 Presidential Election.[citation needed] He was succeeded as DNC chair by Ron Brown.[citation needed] On May 2, 2008, Paul Kirk formally pledged his superdelegate nomination vote in the summer 2008 national Democratic convention to Barack Obama.[12] [edit] Appointment as senator In August 2009, Senator Ted Kennedy died, leaving a vacancy in the Massachusetts Senate delegation. Existing Massachusetts law called for a special election months later to fill the vacancy. However, given the urgency of some legislation before Congress, most notably health care reform, lawmakers and pundits called for an interim senator to be appointed so that Massachusetts would have full Senate representation until the special election. Appropriate legislation was passed by the Massachusetts legislature. On September 23, 2009, several national media organizations reported that Kirk was favored by the family of the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy to be the senator's interim replacement, and that the family had communicated their preference to Governor Deval Patrick.[13][14][15] Governor Patrick announced Kirk's appointment the next day.[7][13][16][17] Kirk pledged he would not be a candidate in the special election.[4][5] On September 24, 2009, members of the Massachusetts Republican Party filed suit seeking to block the appointment of Kirk, saying that under commonwealth law, the law giving Gov. Patrick the right to appoint Kirk should not take effect for 90 days. A hearing was scheduled for the morning of September 25 to resolve the issue.[18] A Suffolk Superior Court judge dismissed the case the same day, and Kirk took the oath of office as senator that afternoon.[19][20] [edit] Committee assignments [edit] References - ^ a b c d e f g h "Paul G. Kirk, Jr., Chairman". John F. Kennedy Library Foundation. (undated). http://www.jfklibrary.org/JFK+Library+and+Museum/Kennedy+Library+Foundation/Board+of+Directors/Paul+G.+Kirk+Jr+Chairman.htm. Retrieved September 24, 2009.
- ^ "Kirk's the keeper". http://www.bostonherald.com/news/opinion/op_ed/view.bg?articleid=1199565.
- ^ "Kirk to be named interim senator". http://www.boston.com/news/local/breaking_news/2009/09/kirk_to_be_name.html.
- ^ a b O'Sullivan (September 24, 2009). "Patrick circulates 'talking points' on interim Snate appointee". State House News Service. http://www.wickedlocal.com/sherborn/news/x2024003230/Patrick-circulates-talking-points-on-interim-Snate-appointee. Retrieved September 234, 2009.
- ^ a b Viser, Matt; Phillips, Frank (2009-09-24). "Kirk named interim senator". The Boston Globe. http://www.boston.com/news/local/breaking_news/2009/09/kirk_to_be_name.html. Retrieved 2009-09-24.
- ^ Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court website
- ^ a b Fletcher, Dan (September 24, 2009). "Paul Kirk, Jr.: Kennedy's Possible Replacement". Time Magazine.
- ^ "Remains of Cardinal O’Connell could be relocated". http://www.thebostonpilot.com/article.asp?ID=10872.
- ^ "Family ties: Kirk is heir to Boston cardinal". http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles_of_faith/2009/09/kirk.html.
- ^ Rae, Nicol C. (1994). Southern Democrats. Oxford University Press. p. 113. ISBN 0195087097.
- ^ Love, Keith; Karen Tumulty (1985-04-18). "Top Democrat Stirs Fuss on Social Security". Los Angeles Times. http://articles.latimes.com/1985-04-18/news/mn-23533_1_social-security.
- ^ Salant, Jonathan D. Former Democratic Party Leader Paul Kirk Backs Obama Bloomberg, May 2, 2008
- ^ a b Goddnough, Abby; Carl Hulse (September 23, 2009). "Kennedy Confidant Expected to Take Senate Seat". New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/24/us/politics/24massachusetts.html. Retrieved September 23, 2009.
- ^ "Senate OK’s Kennedy successor bill" Boston Globe, September 23, 2009
- ^ http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2009/09/23/kirk-is-kennedy-family-favorite-to-fill-mass-senate-seat/
- ^ "Paul Kirk Tapped For Kennedy Senate Seat". The Huffington Post. September 23, 2009. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/09/23/paul-kirk-kennedy-senate_n_296411.html. Retrieved September 23, 2009.
- ^ Phillips, Kate (September 24, 2009). "Kennedy Seat Appointment Is Imminent". New York Times. http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/09/24/kennedy-seat-appointment-is-imminent/. Retrieved September 24, 2009.
- ^ GOP files suit to block Kirk
- ^ Ellement, John R., Ryan, Andrew (2009-09-25) "GOP fails to block Kirk swearing-in", The Boston Globe. Retrieved on 2009-09-25.
- ^ Montopoli, Brian (September 25, 2009). "Paul Kirk Sworn In, Replaces Kennedy in Senate". Political Hotsheet (CBS News). http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2009/09/25/politics/politicalhotsheet/entry5340489.shtml. Retrieved September 28, 2009.
[edit] External links | Current members of the United States Senate | | | | AL: Shelby (R), Sessions (R)
AK: Murkowski (R), Begich (D)
AZ: McCain (R), Kyl (R)
AR: Lincoln (D), Pryor (D)
CA: Feinstein (D), Boxer (D)
CO: M. Udall (D), Bennet (D)
CT: Dodd (D), Lieberman (ID)
DE: Carper (D), Kaufman (D)
FL: C. W. Nelson (D), LeMieux (R)
GA: Chambliss (R), Isakson (R)
HI: Inouye (D), Akaka (D)
ID: Crapo (R), Risch (R)
IL: Durbin (D), Burris (D)
| IN: Lugar (R), Bayh (D)
IA: Grassley (R), Harkin (D)
KS: Brownback (R), Roberts (R)
KY: McConnell (R), Bunning (R)
LA: Landrieu (D), Vitter (R)
ME: Snowe (R), Collins (R)
MD: Mikulski (D), Cardin (D)
MA: Kerry (D), Kirk (D)
MI: Levin (D), Stabenow (D)
MN: Klobuchar (D), Franken (D)
MS: Cochran (R), Wicker (R)
MO: Bond (R), McCaskill (D) | MT: Baucus (D), Tester (D)
NE: E. B. Nelson (D), Johanns (R)
NV: Reid (D), Ensign (R)
NH: Gregg (R), Shaheen (D)
NJ: Lautenberg (D), Menendez (D)
NM: Bingaman (D), T. Udall (D)
NY: Schumer (D), Gillibrand (D)
NC: Burr (R), Hagan (D)
ND: Conrad (D), Dorgan (D)
OH: Voinovich (R), Brown (D)
OK: Inhofe (R), Coburn (R)
OR: Wyden (D), Merkley (D) | PA: Specter (D), Casey (D)
RI: Reed (D), Whitehouse (D)
SC: Graham (R), DeMint (R)
SD: Johnson (D), Thune (R)
TN: Alexander (R), Corker (R)
TX: Hutchison (R), Cornyn (R)
UT: Hatch (R), Bennett (R)
VT: Leahy (D), Sanders (I)
VA: Webb (D), Warner (D)
WA: Murray (D), Cantwell (D)
WV: Byrd (D), Rockefeller (D)
WI: Kohl (D), Feingold (D)
WY: Enzi (R), Barrasso (R) | | | | Democratic (58) • Republican (40) • Independent (2) | | |
