John Joseph Moakley (April 27, 1927 – May 28, 2001) was an American politician who served as the

United States representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

for

Massachusetts's 9th congressional district Massachusetts's 9th congressional district is located in eastern Massachusetts. It is represented by Democrat William R. Keating. The 9th district is the least Democratic congressional district in Massachusetts, according to the PVI. Redistric ...

from 1973 until his death in 2001. Moakley won the seat from incumbent

Louise Day Hicks Anna Louise Day Hicks (October 16, 1916 – October 21, 2003) was an American politician and lawyer from Boston, Massachusetts, best known for her staunch opposition to desegregation in Boston public schools, and especially to court-ordered b ...

in a 1972 rematch; the seat had been held two years earlier by the retiring Speaker of the House

John William McCormack John William McCormack (December 21, 1891 – November 22, 1980) was an American politician from Boston, Massachusetts. An attorney and a Democrat, McCormack served in the United States Army during World War I, and afterwards won terms in both t ...

. Moakley was the last Democratic chairman of the U.S. House Committee on Rules before Republicans took control of the chamber in 1995. He is the namesake of Joe Moakley Park in Boston, Massachusetts which was renamed in his honor in 2001 after his death. The beach is known for its beautiful, rocky shoreline and splendid views of the Atlantic Ocean.

Early life and education

Moakley was born in

South Boston, Massachusetts South Boston is a densely populated neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, located south and east of the Fort Point Channel and abutting Dorchester Bay. South Boston, colloquially known as Southie, has undergone several demographic transforma ...

, April 27, 1927, and grew up in the Old Harbor public housing project. Lying about his age, he enlisted in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

and was involved in the

Pacific War The Pacific War, sometimes called the Asia–Pacific War, was the theater of World War II that was fought in Asia, the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean, and Oceania. It was geographically the largest theater of the war, including the vas ...

from 1943 to 1946. After returning home, Moakley attended the

University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private research university in Coral Gables, Florida. , the university enrolled 19,096 students in 12 colleges and schools across nearly 350 academic majors and programs, i ...

Coral Gables, Florida Coral Gables, officially City of Coral Gables, is a city in Miami-Dade County, Florida. The city is located southwest of Downtown Miami. As of the 2020 U.S. census, it had a population of 49,248. Coral Gables is known globally as home to the ...

from 1950 to 1951, and he received his LL.B. at

Suffolk University Law School Suffolk University Law School (also known as Suffolk Law School) is the private, non-sectarian law school of Suffolk University located in downtown Boston, Massachusetts, across the street from the Boston Common and the Freedom Trail, two blocks ...

in Boston in 1956.

Career

1953 John Joseph Moakley Massachusetts House of Representatives

In 1958, he partnered with his Suffolk classmate Daniel W. Healy, and together they opened a law practice at 149A Dorchester Street in South Boston. They remained legal partners into the late 1970s. Moakley was a member of the Portuguese American Civic Club located in

Taunton, Massachusetts Taunton is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. It is the seat of Bristol County. Taunton is situated on the Taunton River which winds its way through the city on its way to Mount Hope Bay, to the south. At the 2020 cen ...

. Moakley served in the

Massachusetts House of Representatives The Massachusetts House of Representatives is the lower house of the Massachusetts General Court, the state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. It is composed of 160 members elected from 14 counties each divided into single-member ...

from 1953 to 1963 and in the

Massachusetts Senate The Massachusetts Senate is the upper house of the Massachusetts General Court, the bicameral state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The Senate comprises 40 elected members from 40 single-member senatorial districts in the st ...

from 1964 to 1970. He was a delegate to the

1968 Democratic National Convention The 1968 Democratic National Convention was held August 26–29 at the International Amphitheatre in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Earlier that year incumbent President Lyndon B. Johnson had announced he would not seek reelection, thus maki ...

. After the retirement of longtime Congressman

John W. McCormack John William McCormack (December 21, 1891 – November 22, 1980) was an American politician from Boston, Massachusetts. An attorney and a Democrat, McCormack served in the United States Army during World War I, and afterwards won terms in both ...

, Moakley ran for the Democratic nomination in the Ninth District but lost to Boston School Committee chair

, who gained support based on her opposition to school desegregation. He was a member of the

Boston City Council The Boston City Council is the legislative branch of government for the city of Boston, Massachusetts. It is made up of 13 members: 9 district representatives and 4 at-large members. Councillors are elected to two-year terms and there is no ...

from 1971 to 1973. In 1972, Moakley ran as an independent against Hicks and defeated her by 3,448 votes. Moakley was sworn in to Congress on January 3, 1973, one day after having switched his party affiliation back to the Democratic Party. He was reelected 14 times, never facing substantive opposition. He faced Republican challengers only six times; the other times, he was either completely unopposed or faced only minor-party opposition. In 2002, he posthumously received the Peace Abbey Courage of Conscience Award for his unrelenting commitment to ending the war in

El Salvador El Salvador (; , meaning " The Saviour"), officially the Republic of El Salvador ( es, República de El Salvador), is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south ...

and throughout

Central America Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...

, and for the compassionate care he gave his constituents in Massachusetts for nearly three decades. He was succeeded in office by fellow Democrat Stephen Lynch.

Opposition to the legislative veto

Moakley was prominent in the opposition to the legislative veto, which became an increasingly popular device in the 1970s. He held up in committee a controversial bill proposed by Rep.

Elliott Levitas Elliott Harris Levitas (December 26, 1930 – December 16, 2022) was an American politician and lawyer from Georgia. He was a former U.S. Representative from Georgia's 4th congressional district, serving five consecutive terms from 1975 to 1985. ...

that proposed to institute the legislative veto as a general feature of legislation. His position was vindicated when the Supreme Court held in ''

INS v. Chadha ''Immigration and Naturalization Service v. Chadha'', 462 U.S. 919 (1983), was a United States Supreme Court case ruling in 1983 that the one-house legislative veto violated the constitutional separation of powers. Background Section 244(a)(1) ...

'' (1983) that the legislative veto violated the

bicameralism Bicameralism is a type of legislature, one divided into two separate assemblies, chambers, or houses, known as a bicameral legislature. Bicameralism is distinguished from unicameralism, in which all members deliberate and vote as a single gr ...

and presentment clauses of the U.S. Constitution.

The Moakley Commission

Moakley led a special panel that investigated the 1989 deaths of six Jesuit priests and two women in El Salvador . The United States ended its military aid to El Salvador in part because of the Moakley Commission's report implicating several high-ranking Salvadoran military officials in the murders. Moakley had a close relationship with Salvadoran activist

Leonel Gómez Vides Leonel Eugenio Gómez Vides (December 31, 1940 – November 25, 2009) was a Salvadoran political activist. Born into a wealthy family, Gómez worked on land reform issues on behalf of the poor. Following an assassination attempt in 1981, Góm ...

Later career

Joe Moakley chaired the Committee on Rules from the 101st Congress through

103rd Congress The 103rd United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from January 3, 19 ...

. Moakley had a bridge in Boston named for his wife, Evelyn Moakley, after her death. The

Evelyn Moakley Bridge The Evelyn Moakley Bridge is a bridge that connects Downtown Boston to the Seaport District. It was named for the late wife of Congressman Joe Moakley on October 4, 1996, shortly after her death. At the eastern end of the bridge is the John Josep ...

is next to a U.S. Courthouse, which was subsequently named the

John Joseph Moakley Federal Courthouse The John Joseph Moakley United States Courthouse is a federal courthouse for the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit and the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts, located on Fan Pier on the Boston, Massac ...

shortly before his death. Joe Moakley Park in South Boston is also named after him. Moakley's efforts led to the acquisition by

Bridgewater State College Bridgewater State University is a public university with its main campus in Bridgewater, Massachusetts. It is the largest of nine state universities in Massachusetts. Including its off-campus sites in New Bedford, Attleboro, and Cape Cod, BSU h ...

(Bridgewater, MA) of a $10 million grant. The grant allowed the construction of the campus fiber network and a new regional telecommunications facility, which dramatically enhanced the teaching capabilities of the region's educational professionals. The John Joseph Moakley Center for Technological Applications in Bridgewater provides training in the use of technology for students, teachers, and members of the workforce. The three-story building houses a large computer lab, a television studio, an auditorium, and numerous classrooms.

Personal life

In 2001, Moakley announced that he would not be running for re-election for his 16th term in 2002, due to his ongoing battle with

myelodysplastic syndrome A myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) is one of a group of cancers in which immature blood cells in the bone marrow do not mature, and as a result, do not develop into healthy blood cells. Early on, no symptoms typically are seen. Later, symptoms may ...

. Moakley died on May 28, 2001, in

Bethesda, Maryland Bethesda () is an unincorporated, census-designated place in southern Montgomery County, Maryland. It is located just northwest of Washington, D.C. It takes its name from a local church, the Bethesda Meeting House (1820, rebuilt 1849), which ...

. His body was interred in Blue Hill Cemetery,

Braintree, Massachusetts Braintree (), officially the Town of Braintree, is a municipality in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. Although officially known as a towBraintree is a city, with a mayor-council government, mayor-council form of government, and ...

. The Hematological Cancer Research Investment and Education Act, enacted in 2002, established the Joe Moakley Research Excellence Program for expanded and coordinated blood cancer research programs.

References

External links

John Joseph Moakley Archive and Institute at Suffolk University

Congressman John Joseph Moakley Papers

Congressman John Joseph Moakley Oral History Project

The John Joseph Moakley Charitable Foundation

at about.com
John Joseph Moakley Center
at

. * * , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Moakley, John Joseph 1927 births 2001 deaths Deaths from myelodysplastic syndrome United States Navy personnel of World War II Boston City Council members Massachusetts Independents Massachusetts state senators Members of the Massachusetts House of Representatives Suffolk University Law School alumni Deaths from cancer in Maryland Deaths from leukemia University of Miami alumni Massachusetts lawyers Military personnel from Massachusetts Burials in Massachusetts Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Massachusetts People from South Boston 20th-century American politicians 21st-century American politicians 20th-century American lawyers South Boston High School alumni