Joseph D. Ward (March 26, 1914 – May 10, 2003) was an American politician who served as

Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth The secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a constitutional officer in the executive branch of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Originally appointed under authority of the Monarchy of the United Kingdom, Eng ...

from January 1959 to January 1961. Ward was elected to the

Massachusetts House of Representatives The Massachusetts House of Representatives is the lower house of the Massachusetts General Court, the State legislature (United States), state legislature of Massachusetts. It is composed of 160 members elected from 14 counties each divided into ...

in 1948, representing the 13th Worcester District. He was a candidate for

Massachusetts Attorney General The Massachusetts attorney general is an elected constitutionally defined executive officer of the Massachusetts government. The officeholder is the chief lawyer and law enforcement officer of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The officeholder ...

in 1956, but lost to

Edward J. McCormack Jr. Edward Joseph McCormack Jr. (August 29, 1923 – February 27, 1997), was an American attorney and politician from Massachusetts. He was most notable for serving as Massachusetts Attorney General from 1959 through 1963. Personal life and educat ...

in the Democratic primary. Ward was appointed Secretary of the Commonwealth following the death of Edward J. Cronin. In 1960, Ward ran for

Governor of Massachusetts The governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is the head of government of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The governor is the chief executive, head of the state cabinet and the commander-in-chief of the commonw ...

. He defeated

Endicott Peabody Endicott Howard Peabody (February 15, 1920 – December 2, 1997) was an American politician from Massachusetts. A Democrat, he served a single two-year term as the 62nd Governor of Massachusetts, from 1963 to 1965. His tenure is probably ...

Francis E. Kelly Francis E. Kelly (March 26, 1903 – January 27, 1982) was an American politician who served as a member of the Boston City Council from 1930 to 1933, the 53rd lieutenant governor of Massachusetts from 1937 to 1939 and Massachusetts attorney ...

, Robert F. Murphy, John Francis Kennedy, Gabriel Piemonte, and Alfred Magaletta in the primary, but lost to

John A. Volpe John Anthony Volpe ( ; December 8, 1908November 11, 1994) was an American businessman, diplomat, and politician from Massachusetts. A son of Italian immigrants, he founded and owned a large construction firm. Politically, he was a Republican in ...

in the general election. He was elected to 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 ...

in 1962 and remained there until his retirement from politics in 1972. Ward also spent 12 years as a professor of political law at

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. BU was founded in 1839 by a group of Boston Methodism, Methodists with its original campus in Newbury (town), Vermont, Newbur ...

References

1914 births 2003 deaths Politicians from Fitchburg, Massachusetts Boston University faculty College of the Holy Cross alumni Boston University School of Law alumni Democratic Party Massachusetts state senators Democratic Party members of the Massachusetts House of Representatives Secretaries of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts 20th-century members of the Massachusetts General Court {{Massachusetts-MASenate-stub

See also

References