Michael Stanley Dukakis ( duu-KAH-kiss; born November 3, 1933) is an American politician and lawyer who served as the 65th governor of Massachusetts from 1975 to 1979 and the 67th from 1983 to 1991. He is the longest-serving governor in Massachusetts history and the second Greek-American governor in U.S. history, after Spiro Agnew. He was nominated by the Democratic Party for president in the 1988 election, losing to the Republican nominee, Vice President George H. W. Bush.
Born in Brookline, Massachusetts, to Greek immigrants, Dukakis attended Swarthmore College before enlisting in the United States Army. After graduating from Harvard Law School, he won election to the Massachusetts House of Representatives, serving from 1963 to 1971. He won the 1974 Massachusetts gubernatorial election but lost his 1978 bid for re-nomination to Edward J. King. He defeated King in the 1982 gubernatorial primary and was again governor from 1983 to 1991, presiding over a period of economic growth known as the "Massachusetts Miracle".
Building on his popularity as governor, Dukakis sought the Democratic presidential nomination for the 1988 presidential election. He prevailed in the Democratic primaries and was formally nominated at the 1988 Democratic National Convention. Dukakis chose Senator Lloyd Bentsen of Texas as his running mate, while the Republicans nominated a ticket of George H. W. Bush and Senator Dan Quayle. Dukakis made history as the first Greek-American and Aromanian presidential candidate, first Greek Orthodox major-party nominee, and the first major-party nominee with ancestry outside Europe. Although he lost the election, carrying only ten states and Washington, D.C., he improved on the Democratic performances in the previous two elections. After the election, Dukakis announced that he would not seek another term as governor, and he left office in 1991. Since the death of Jimmy Carter in 2024, Dukakis is the oldest living presidential nominee.
Since leaving office, Dukakis has served on the board of directors for Amtrak and taught political science at Northeastern University and UCLA. He was mentioned as a potential appointee to the Senate in 2009 to fill the vacancy caused by Ted Kennedy's death, but Governor Deval Patrick chose Paul G. Kirk. In 2012, Dukakis backed the successful Senate campaign of Elizabeth Warren, whom he also supported in the 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries.
Dukakis was born in Brookline, Massachusetts, on November 3, 1933. His father Panos was a Greek immigrant from Edremit in Turkey. His family originates from Pelopi, Greece, on the island of Lesbos. Panos Dukakis settled in Lowell, Massachusetts, in 1912, and graduated from Harvard Medical School twelve years later, subsequently working as an obstetrician. Dukakis's mother Euterpe (née Boukis) was born in Larissa, to Aromanian parents from Vrysochori. She and her family emigrated to Haverhill, Massachusetts, in 1913.
Dukakis attended Brookline High School in his hometown, where he was an honor student and a member of the basketball, baseball, tennis, and cross-country teams. As a 17-year-old senior in high school, he ran the Boston Marathon. He graduated from Swarthmore College in 1955 with a Bachelor of Arts in political science. Although Dukakis had been accepted into Harvard Law School, he chose to enlist in the United States Army. After basic training at Fort Dix and advanced individual training at Camp Gordon, he was assigned as radio operator to the 8020th Administrative Unit in Munsan, South Korea. The unit was a support group to the United Nations delegation of the Military Armistice Commission Dukakis served from 1955 to 1957. He then received his J.D. degree from Harvard Law School in 1960. Dukakis is also an Eagle Scout and recipient of the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award from the Boy Scouts of America. Dukakis began his political career as an elected town meeting member in the town of Brookline. In 1963, he married Katherine "Kitty" Dickson (who adopted his surname), and they remained together until Kitty's death in March 2025.
Dukakis had a brother named Stelian, three years his elder. Michael looked up to Stelian as a child, but Stelian suffered a mental breakdown and attempted to commit suicide when Michael was seventeen years old. He was institutionalized for years afterward, but eventually became a teacher for the North Attleborough public school system, a professor at Boston State College, and an assistant city manager for the cities of Waltham and Malden. Despite his own career, Stelian developed a resentment for his brother's successes and unsuccessfully attempted to sabotage Michael's campaign for the Massachusetts House of Representatives in 1964, distributing anti-Michael Dukakis pamphlets in their hometown of Brookline. He also sought electoral office, running unsuccessfully twice for the Brookline Board of Selectmen and once in 1972 for the Massachusetts House of Representatives as a Republican. In 1973, Stelian was struck by a car while cycling, being critically injured and dying months later. Stelian's death had a significant impact on Dukakis.
Dukakis served four terms in the Massachusetts House of Representatives between 1962 and 1970. In 1966, Dukakis unsuccessfully ran for Attorney General of Massachusetts. In 1970, Dukakis was the Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor on a ticket led by Boston mayor Kevin White. However, the Democratic ticket lost the 1970 gubernatorial election. After losing his bid for lieutenant governor, Dukakis returned to the private sector, practicing law and becoming a partner at Hill and Barlow.
Dukakis was elected governor in 1974, defeating the incumbent Republican Francis Sargent during a period of fiscal crisis. Dukakis won in part by promising to be a "reformer" and pledging a "lead pipe guarantee" of no new taxes to balance the state budget. He would later reverse his position after taking office. He also pledged to dismantle the powerful Metropolitan District Commission (MDC), a bureaucratic enclave that served as home to hundreds of political patronage employees. The MDC managed state parks, reservoirs, and waterways, as well as the highways and roads abutting those waterways. In addition to its own police force, the MDC had its own maritime patrol force, and an enormous budget from the state, for which it provided minimal accounting. Dukakis's efforts to dismantle the MDC failed in the legislature, where the MDC had many powerful supporters. As a result, the MDC would withhold its critical backing of Dukakis in the 1978 gubernatorial primary.
Governor Dukakis hosted President Gerald Ford and Queen Elizabeth II during their visits to Boston in 1976 to commemorate the bicentennial of the United States. He gained some notice as the only politician in the state government who went to work during the Blizzard of 1978, during which he went to local TV studios in a sweater to announce emergency bulletins. Dukakis is also remembered for his 1977 exoneration of Sacco and Vanzetti, two Italian anarchists whose trial sparked protests around the world. During his first term in office, Dukakis commuted the sentences of 21 first-degree murderers and 23 second-degree murderers.
His first term performance proved to be insufficient to offset a backlash against the state's high sales and property tax rates, which turned out to be the predominant issue in the 1978 gubernatorial campaign. Dukakis, despite being the incumbent Democratic governor, was refused renomination by his own party. The state's Democratic Party chose to support Director of the Massachusetts Port Authority Edward J. King in the primary, partly because King rode the wave against high property taxes, but more significantly because state Democratic Party leaders lost confidence in Dukakis's ability to govern effectively. King also enjoyed the support of the power brokers at the MDC, who were unhappy with Dukakis's attempts to dismantle their powerful bureaucracy. King also had support from state police and public employee unions. Dukakis suffered a scathing defeat in the primary, a disappointment that his wife Kitty called "a public death".