Kitty Dukakis | |
|---|---|
_(Kitty_Dukakis_cropped).jpg) Dukakis inc. 1985 | |
| First Lady of Massachusetts | |
| In role January 6, 1983 – January 3, 1991 | |
| Preceded by | Josephine King |
| Succeeded by | Susan Weld |
| In role January 2, 1975 – January 4, 1979 | |
| Preceded by | Jessie Sargent |
| Succeeded by | Josephine King |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Katharine Virginia Dickson (1936-12-26)December 26, 1936 Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Died | March 21, 2025(2025-03-21) (aged 88) Brookline, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Spouse(s) | |
| Children | 3, includingJohn |
| Education | |
Katharine Dickson Dukakis[1][2] (/dʊˈkɑːkɪs/duu-KAH-kiss;néeDickson; December 26, 1936 – March 21, 2025) was an American author and activist for various social causes. She served as theFirst Lady of Massachusetts from 1975 to 1979 and 1983 to 1991, as the wife of theGovernor of Massachusetts,Michael Dukakis.
Dukakis was bornKatharine Virginia Dickson on December 26, 1936, inCambridge, Massachusetts, the daughter of Jane (née Goldberg) and Harry Ellis Dickson.[3] Her paternal grandparents wereRussian Jews. Her mother was born to anIrish Catholic father and aHungarian Jewish mother, and had been adopted by a family of German Jewish descent.[4][5][6][7] Her father was a member of the first violin section of theBoston Symphony Orchestra for 49 years and also served as Associate Conductor of theBoston Pops orchestra.[8]
She graduated fromBrookline High School in 1954 and attendedPennsylvania State University. She dropped out of college in 1956 and married John Chaffetz in 1957.[3][9] They had one son,John. After four years and several moves, the marriage ended in divorce, and she returned to Cambridge.[10]
She received herB.A. fromLesley College in 1963, the same year she marriedMichael Dukakis in a civil ceremony.[11][12] The couple has two daughters.[13] She received some criticism for being a Jewish woman who married a Christian man; however, in a 1988 interview, she asserted that marrying outside her faith had strengthened her identification with Judaism.[14] She began attending asynagogue following a trip to Israel in 1976,[15] and by 1988, she was attendingTemple Israel, areform synagogue in Boston.[13]
She received aMaster of Arts degree fromBoston University College of Communication in 1982.[16] In 1996, Dukakis graduated from theBoston University School of Social Work with a Master of Arts degree in social work.[17]
Kitty Dukakis was theFirst Lady of Massachusetts from 1975 to 1979, and from January 1983 until January 1991. She kept an office in theMassachusetts State House, and would frequently visit her husband's office to seek his opinion on projects in which she was involved.[18][19]
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Dukakis joined her husband, Michael Dukakis, on the campaign trail duringhis 1988 presidential campaign, speaking as a "poised and energetic public speaker" at many of his events.[20]The New York Times noted in May 1988 that "[she] does not slip easily into the fixed and adoring stare perfected by generations of political wives. She is a toucher, a talker, a woman who laughs easily and gives orders with equal gusto".[15] She was a speaker at campaign events aimed towards the Jewish community, where she used her "scantyYiddish".[15] She was the first spouse of a major Presidential candidate who was Jewish.[21]
After Michael was criticized for being too liberal, she "urged [him] to be more aggressive".[20]
Prior to the1988 presidential election, several false rumors were reported in the media about the Dukakises, including the claim byIdahoRepublican SenatorSteve Symms that she hadburned anAmerican flag to protest theVietnam War.[22] Republican strategistLee Atwater was accused of having initiated these rumors.[23]
Dukakis was involved in multiple social causes throughout her political career. She was appointed by PresidentJimmy Carter to theUnited States Holocaust Memorial Council,[24] serving until 1987, when her term expired.[25] She was reappointed to the council in 1989 by PresidentGeorge H. W. Bush.[25][26]
Starting during her husband's second term, Dukakis served as co-chair of the Massachusetts Governor’s Advisory Committee on the Homeless, where she worked on plans to share shelter costs with charities within the state.[18][19] Her work "helped to dramatically increase the number of state-fundedhomeless shelters" in Massachusetts.[19]
Dukakis was also interested in aiding Vietnamese and Cambodian refugees,[19] and served on the board of the Refugee Policy Group.[27] In the early 1980s, she established the Task Force on Cambodian Children.[18] As an advocate forCambodian refugees, Dukakis visited refugee camps in Thailand[15] and helped bring refugee children to the U.S.[19]
Dukakis struggled withdepression for much of her life, which drove an addiction todiet pills, and later a struggle withalcoholism.[20] She overcame her addiction to diet pills in 1982, making that fact public when her husband began his presidential bid. While on the campaign trail, she shared her story of addiction with high schoolers.[15]
After Michael Dukakis lost the 1988 presidential election, her depression worsened.[19] In February 1989, she entered an alcohol treatment program.[28] In November 1989, she was briefly hospitalized after drinkingrubbing alcohol.[29] In 1991, Dukakis published her memoir,Now You Know, in which she candidly discussed her ongoing battle with alcoholism and the pressures of being a political wife.[19]
Beginning in 2001, Dukakis underwentelectroconvulsive therapy (ECT) to treat her depression.[19] She released a book on the subject,Shock: The Healing Power of Electroconvulsive Therapy, in 2006, and became a leading proponent of using ECT to treat depression.[30][31] She allowed the TV program60 Minutes to film one of her ECT sessions as part of a program on the subject.[19]
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In 2007, the Lemuel Shattuck Hospital inJamaica Plain,Massachusetts, opened a center for addiction treatment named after Dukakis.[32] In her later years, Dukakis ran a support group in Brookline for those struggling with depression.[19]
Dukakis appeared in the 2008 documentary on Lee Atwater,Boogie Man: The Lee Atwater Story.[33]
Dukakis died at her home inBrookline, Massachusetts, on March 21, 2025, at the age of 88, of complications fromdementia.[34][17]
Katharine Dickson Dukakis, who has the prospect of being the nation's first Jewish First Lady, plans to spend a quiet Yom Kippur.
Michael Dukakis's Presidential campaign, responding to comments by Senator Steve Symms, an Idaho Republican, issued a statement Wednesday saying any suggestion that Kitty Dukakis had ever burned an American flag wastotally false and beneath contempt.
Or how about the one about Kitty Dukakis burning a flag at an anti-war demonstration, another out-and-out lie, which the Bush campaign denied having anything to do with, except that it turned out to have come from a United States senator via the Republican National Committee? Atwater later apologized to me for that, too, on his deathbed.
| Honorary titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Jessie Sargent | First Lady of Massachusetts 1975–1979 | Succeeded by Josephine King |
| Preceded by Josephine King | First Lady of Massachusetts 1983–1991 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Academics | |
| Other | |
