American politician Michael Dukakis was born on November 3, 1933 in Brookline , Massachusetts . He was born to Greek immigrants and attended Brookline High School in his early years. After graduating he moved on to and graduated from Swarthmore College in 1955, and then served in the U.S. Army for two years, stationed in Korea . After returning he earned a law degree from Harvard in 1960.

Dukakis entered successfully into politics soon after, having bee elected to the Massachusetts House of Representatives four times between 1962 and 1970. That wasn’t enough, however, and by 1974 he’d been elected Governor of the state in a battle with Republican Francis W. Sargent. He did so by promising not to increase the state’s sales tax in an effort to balance the budget, a pledge that was broken not long after he entered office. He’d also promised to dissolve the Metropolitan District Commission, a powerful organization with large policing powers and little fiscal accountability. His efforts failed, however.

Nevertheless Dukakis was appreciated for his amiability and dedication to his work, being the only member of the state government to go to work during the massive Blizzard of 1978, in which he went from news station to new station to announce emergency bulletins. He was also noted during his first term for commuting the sentences of quite a few first- and second-degree murderers, a practice he would later cut back on.

His attempts to endear himself to the public didn’t work, however – the issue of sales tax being too high hovered over Dukakis’ head in the 1978 elections. Not only did he not win, he wasn’t even re-nominated by his own party for the governorship. The party favored Edward J. King instead, who was not only against high sales tax but enjoyed the confidence of the MDC. Dukakis lost the primary.

But after four years of political limbo Dukakis returned to his Democratic party and, in a dramatic reversal (he’d managed to make peace with the factions opposing him in the 1978 election) Dukakis snatched the primary away from King and soon after won the election. Dukakis managed to hold his governorship until 1991, winning reelection in 1986 with a high majority and enjoying a great deal of popularity. He was especially appreciated for his efforts to expand Boston ’s mass transit system, and was the only governor (reputedly, anyway) who rode the subway to work each day.

In 1988 Dukakis ran for the spot of president of the United States , managing after some finagling to achieve victory in the primaries and become the democratic candidate of choice. However once he achieved that height his popularity started to wane, and a number of issues – most particularly a picture of Dukakis in a tank, which was perceived as male posturing by many – saw Dukakis defeated in the election by George Bush, Sr. Dukakis served out his final two years as governor of Massachusetts and did not run again.

Since then Dukakis has served on the board of directors for Amtrak and as a professor of political science, and has recently become a strong advocate of grassroots organizations.