They called him �the Corrupt Midget,� and for 25 years, the 65-inch high brother of a bloodthirsty gangster was the most powerful man in Massachusetts politics. As vindictive as his older brother, he ruled the State House with an iron fist, and soon even politicians seeking the presidency were kowtowing to him, at least on St. Patrick�s Day. He lived next door to the house where his brother strangled at least one young woman who made the fatal error of getting between Whitey and his underworld partner, Stevie �the Rifleman� Flemmi. After Whitey fled, Billy never sought elective office again. Now Billy Bulger is about to turn 74, and he subsists on a state pension of more than $200,000 a year.
Sen. Ted Kennedy with Mass. Senate President Billy Bulger at a St. Patrick�s Day breakfast in South Boston, mid-1980�s. In 1962, when Ted first ran for the Senate, freshman state rep Billy Bulger was with Mass. Atty. Gen. Eddie McCormack, the nephew of U.S. House Speaker John McCormack, who had watched over Whitey during his stint in the federal prison system from 1956 until 1965. Later Billy vehemently opposed Teddy�s pro-busing stand, but Teddy occasionally showed up in Southie on St. Patrick�s Day � in election years, anyway. Usually he and Billy would join in a duo of �Sweet Adeline,� the theme song of Teddy�s grandfather, Honey Fitz, who was mayor of Boston until he was forced to retire in 1915 by Billy�s hero, James Michael Curley.
St. Patrick�s Day 1996, Billy�s last breakfast as host. Sen. John Kerry only appeared in election years, which 1996 was (against Gov. William F. Weld) and he brought with him his older gold-digging second wife, Teresa Heinz. Note the button on Kerry�s lapel: it�s for Billy Bulger Jr., who in a few weeks would lose his campaign to succeed his dad as senator from the First Suffolk District. In earlier years, Kerry had been the butt of many jokes. It was here that Billy first called him �JFK � Just for Kerry,� and said, �He�s only Irish every sixth year.� In 1991, after the end of the First Gulf War, Billy captured his waffling perfectly, saying, �It was touch and go for a while. Sen. Kerry couldn�t decide which side he was on.� In 1987, with Gov. Mike Dukakis running for president, Billy quipped, �Sen. Kerry�s very angry at Dukakis. Kerry thinks he�s running for his job.� As president, he meant.
Billy, with John F. Kennedy, Jr., mid-90�s.
UMass President Billy Bulger in Washington at the hearing of the House Government Reform Committee, June 2003. Two rows back, at left, is Howie Carr of the Boston Herald.
After the breakfast wrapped up shortly before 1 p.m. at the Bayside Club, Billy would march in the annual St. Patrick�s Day parade in Southie. The fact that his older brother was a serial killer kept the heckling to a bare minimum.
Billy Bulger�s �bird book� photo in his first term as a state rep, 1961. When it was taken he hadn�t yet turned 27.
April 1961: Mary gives birth to the first of nine children, Billy Jr. Billy is finishing Boston College Law School.
Billy in the late 60�s, in pre-cell phone days, which were also apparently a pre-power lawn mower era. Check out Billy�s footwear � and you thought Mike Dukakis was the only guy who cut the grass while wearing wingtips.
Videos
From Zip Connolly�s FBI farewell dinner in December 1990
As we told you last week, Billy had put himself through college working as an m.c. at a local club, and he knew how important it was to pick out prominent audience members and needle them and the institutions they worked for.
Although he had a notoriously thin skin, Billy tried to give the impression of someone who could poke fun at himself, and at the hidebound traditions of the State House. Here he uses himself as a foil.
In this one, Billy inquires about master of ceremonies Nick Gianturco, a social and business acquaintance of Whitey who after his retirement as a G-man would join Zip at Boston Edison (now NSTAR).
Billy had put himself through college working as an m.c. at a local club, and he knew how important it was to pick out prominent audience members and needle them, in this case, a banker from South Boston.
Billy also had to acknowledge Zip�s family, including his trophy second-wife, the former Liz Moore, who is 20 years younger than the corrupt G-man. Her sister is married to Arthur, Gianelli, another reputed local mobs, ter who is currently, under indictment, as is his brother-in-law Zip. But the focus on this very special evening was on the underboss of Whitey�s gang, and his bride.
