Edward Boland

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For the rugby league player, see Edward Boland (rugby league). For the baseball player, see Ed Boland. For the American actor, see Eddie Boland.
Edward Boland
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Massachusetts's 2nd district
In office
January 3, 1953 – January 3, 1989
Preceded byFoster Furcolo
Succeeded byRichard Neal
Chair of the House Intelligence Committee
In office
July 14, 1977 – January 3, 1985
Preceded byOtis G. Pike
Succeeded byLee H. Hamilton
Register of Deeds of Hampden County
In office
1941–1952
Preceded byC. Wesley Hale[1]
Succeeded byJohn P. Lynch[2]
Member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives
from the 4th Hampden district
In office
January 2, 1935 – January 1, 1941
Preceded byEdward M. Cawley[3]
Succeeded byEugene J. Sweeney[4]
Personal details
Born
Edward Patrick Boland

(1911-10-01)October 1, 1911
Springfield, Massachusetts, U.S.
DiedNovember 4, 2001(2001-11-04) (aged 90)
Springfield, Massachusetts, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
SpouseMary Egan
Children4
EducationBay Path University
Boston College
Signature
Military service
Allegiance United States
Branch/service United States Army
Years of service1942–1946
RankCaptain[5]
Battles/warsWorld War II
Edward Boland's voice
Boland questions Caspar Weinberger during the Iran–Contra hearings
Recorded August 3, 1987

Edward Patrick Boland (October 1, 1911 – November 4, 2001) was an American politician from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. A Democrat, he was a representative from Massachusetts's 2nd congressional district.

Early life and education

Boland's father was an Irish immigrant railroad worker.[6] Boland was born in Springfield, Massachusetts and graduated from Springfield Central High School in 1928. He attended Bay Path Institute and Boston College Law School.

Military service

He served in the United States Army during World War II.[7]

Political career

President Ronald Reagan attending a St. Patrick's Day luncheon hosted by Speaker Tip O'Neill, House Minority Leader Robert H. Michel, and Boland

He was a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives from 1939 to 1940 and was the Hampden County register of deeds from 1941 to 1952.

Boland was elected to the United States House of Representatives as a Democrat in 1952.[7] Congressman Boland was in office during the closing of the Springfield Armory in 1968, and was harshly criticized for his inability to prevent its closure. This failure resulted in a challenge to Boland in 1968 by Springfield Mayor Charles V. Ryan. Boland was re-elected handily with significant help from the family of U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy in what was to be the last challenge to Boland by a major contender. Boland's most famous work as a congressman was the 1982 Boland Amendment, which blocked certain funding of the Contras in Nicaragua after the Central Intelligence Agency had supervised acts of sabotage without notifying Congress.[8] Boland lived in a Washington apartment with fellow Massachusetts Congressman Tip O'Neill (whose wife remained in Massachusetts) until 1977.

Boland announced in April 1988 that he would not run for a 19th term later that year; he never lost an election in 50 years as an elected official.[9] Earlier, he'd tipped off Springfield mayor Richard Neal about his pending retirement, allowing Neal to get a significant head start in fundraising.[10] Neal would be unopposed for the Democratic nomination–the real contest in this heavily Democratic district–and has held this seat, now numbered as the 1st district, ever since.

Personal life & death

Boland married at the age of 62, fathering four children. Boland died in 2001 at the age of 90 from natural causes.[11]

See also

References

  1. ^ A manual for the use of the General Court (1939)
  2. ^ A manual for the use of the General Court (1953)
  3. ^ Journal of the House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts (1934)
  4. ^ Journal of the House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts (1941)
  5. ^ EDWARD P. BOLAND, 90
  6. ^ Oliver, Myrna (November 6, 2001). "Rep. Edward Boland, 90; Opposed Aid to Contras". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved December 16, 2012.
  7. ^ a b "BOLAND, Edward Patrick, (1911 - 2001)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved December 16, 2012.
  8. ^ "The Counterrevolutionaries (The Contras)". Understanding the Iran-Contra Affairs. Brown University. Retrieved December 16, 2012.
  9. ^ Trudy Tynan (April 7, 1988). "Massachusetts Democrat Will Retire After 18 House Terms". The Associated Press.
  10. ^ Duncan, Philip D., and Nutting, Brian (eds.) (1999). "Neal, Richard E., D-Mass." CQ's Politics in America 2000: The 106th Congress. Washington: Congressional Quarterly. pp. 488–489. ISBN 978-1-56802-470-7.
  11. ^ Feeney, Mark (November 6, 2001). "Longtime congressman Edward Boland dies". Boston Globe. Archived from the original on November 21, 2001.
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