Edward J. King

Edward J. King

Edward Joseph "Ed" King (May 11, 1925 – September 18, 2006) was the 66th Governor of the U.S. state of Massachusetts from 1979 to 1983.

Born in Chelsea, Massachusetts, and a graduate of Boston College and Bentley College, King played professional football as a guard with the All-America Football Conference Buffalo Bisons from 1948 to 1949 and the National Football League's Baltimore Colts in 1950. Prior to winning election as Governor, his only elected office, he served as the Executive Director of the Massachusetts Port Authority and President of the New England Business Council.

In 1978, King defeated incumbent Governor Michael Dukakis in the Democratic primary, and served as Governor of Massachusetts from 1979 to 1983. He was defeated for re-election in a 1982 rematch with Dukakis.

During his term of office, Governor King froze property taxes, reduced state spending on social programs, undertook a variety of efforts to encourage increased business and agricultural opportunities in the Commonwealth, and took a tough stand on crime by introducing mandatory minimum sentences and passing legislation to reintroduce the death penalty in Massachusetts, a measure which was later ruled unconstitutional by the state's Supreme Judicial Court. When advocating capital punishment, President Ronald Reagan called King his "favorite Democratic governor" and King endorsed Reagan in the 1984 Presidential election.

Following his term of office, Governor King joined the public relations firm of Hill & Knowlton. In 1985 King switched his party affiliation to the Republican Party and briefly considered running for governor in 1986 on the Republican Party ticket. Until the time of his death, he maintained residences in both Massachusetts and Florida.

His wife Josephine died in 1995. He was survived by two sons, Timothy and Brian; two sisters, Helen Kennedy and Mary King; and five grandchildren. His late brother, Paul, was a judge in the state court system.