Deval Patrick Biography Quotes 5 Report mistakes

Early Life and Family

Deval Laurdine Patrick was born on July 31, 1956, in Chicago, Illinois, and grew up on the South Side, much of it in the Robert Taylor Homes. His mother, Emily Mae Wintersmith, held the family together through tight budgets and long hours, while his father, Laurdine "Pat" Patrick Jr., was a jazz saxophonist best known for his work with Sun Ra and the Arkestra. His parents separation left a lasting imprint, but Patrick later reconciled with his father. Extended family, neighborhood teachers, and church mentors helped steady him during a childhood that combined hardship with possibility.

Education and Legal Training

Patrick earned a scholarship through A Better Chance that brought him from Chicago to Milton Academy in Massachusetts, where he thrived academically and learned to navigate unfamiliar social worlds. He went on to Harvard College, graduating in 1978, and then to Harvard Law School, earning his J.D. in 1982. After law school he clerked for Judge Stephen Reinhardt on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, an experience that sharpened his interest in constitutional rights and appellate practice. He then joined the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund as a staff attorney, litigating voting rights, housing, and capital cases, and later practiced at the Boston firm Hill & Barlow, where he built a reputation as a skilled trial lawyer.

Civil Rights Leadership in the Clinton Administration

In 1994 President Bill Clinton appointed Patrick Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, where he served under Attorney General Janet Reno. He led teams enforcing federal laws on employment discrimination, voting rights, fair housing, disability access, and police misconduct. During his tenure the division responded to a wave of arsons against Black churches across the South, coordinated multi-agency investigations, and pursued prosecutions to deter hate crimes. Patrick emphasized both vigorous enforcement and collaborative remedies with local officials and business leaders.

Corporate and Civic Leadership

After leaving the Justice Department in 1997, Patrick took senior legal roles in the private sector, including at Texaco, where he helped the company address a high-profile discrimination case and expand diversity efforts, and later at The Coca-Cola Company as executive vice president and general counsel. He served on corporate and nonprofit boards and advised civic organizations on governance and inclusion. The arc of his work in business and civil rights gave him fluency in both the public and private sectors, a theme that later shaped his approach to economic development and regulatory policy.

Campaign for Governor and Political Rise

In 2006 Patrick launched an underdog campaign for governor of Massachusetts. Guided by organizer John Walsh and a volunteer-driven strategy, he won the Democratic primary over Attorney General Tom Reilly and businessman Chris Gabrieli, then defeated Republican nominee Kerry Healey in the general election. He ran on a message of opportunity, community investment, and pragmatic reform. His running mate, Worcester Mayor Tim Murray, joined him on a ticket that stressed transportation, education, and innovation as pillars of statewide growth.

Governor of Massachusetts

Sworn in on January 4, 2007, Patrick became Massachusetts first Black governor and the second African American elected governor in U.S. history, following L. Douglas Wilder of Virginia. Early in his term he worked with legislative leaders, including Senate President Therese Murray and later House Speaker Robert DeLeo, to pass a $1 billion life sciences initiative aimed at solidifying the Commonwealths research leadership. He signed clean energy and climate legislation that helped make Massachusetts a national leader in energy efficiency and renewables, while launching workforce development and education reforms to link residents to emerging industries.

His administration reorganized transportation agencies into a unified Massachusetts Department of Transportation to improve governance and accountability. He navigated the fiscal shock of the 2008 financial crisis with budget cuts, targeted investments, and efforts to protect core services. In 2011 he signed the Expanded Gaming Act, authorizing resort casinos and a slots facility as part of a broader economic strategy. In 2012 he signed health care cost containment legislation that sought to slow spending growth while preserving the states near-universal coverage framework.

Patrick won reelection in 2010, defeating Republican Charlie Baker, Independent Tim Cahill, and Green-Rainbow candidate Jill Stein. Throughout his two terms he emphasized inclusive economic growth, civil rights, and education, while maintaining relationships with municipal leaders and university and hospital executives central to the states economy. He left office in January 2015, succeeded by Charlie Baker.

Crises, Appointments, and National Profile

Patrick confronted crises that tested state and regional resilience. After U.S. Senator Edward M. Ted Kennedy died in 2009, Patrick appointed Paul G. Kirk as interim senator until a special election. When John Kerry became U.S. Secretary of State in 2013, Patrick appointed longtime aide and attorney William "Mo" Cowan as interim senator pending another special election. During the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, he coordinated closely with Boston Mayor Thomas Menino, state and local law enforcement including Police Commissioner Edward Davis and the Massachusetts State Police, and federal partners. He addressed the state alongside President Barack Obama at interfaith remembrances, urging unity and resolve.

Writing, Later Career, and 2020 Presidential Bid

Patrick published a memoir, A Reason to Believe: Lessons from an Improbable Life, in 2011, reflecting on family, faith, public service, and the distance he traveled from Chicagos public housing to the governors office. After leaving office he joined Bain Capital to launch and lead Bain Capital Double Impact, an impact-investing fund focused on measurable social and environmental outcomes alongside financial returns. He later returned to Harvard as a professor of practice and co-director of the Center for Public Leadership, mentoring students on leadership across sectors.

In late 2019 he entered the Democratic primary for president, mounting a late-start campaign that emphasized opportunity, community, and pragmatic progress. Concentrating on early states, he struggled to gain traction against better-funded rivals and ended his campaign after the New Hampshire primary in 2020. He continued to support Democratic candidates and voting access efforts while speaking and writing on inclusive growth and civic renewal.

Personal Life and Legacy

Patrick married attorney Diane Bemus Patrick in 1984. As First Lady of Massachusetts, Diane Patrick, a respected labor and employment lawyer, used her platform to advocate for mental health awareness, sharing her own experience and reducing stigma. The couple raised two daughters, Sarah and Katherine, and remained active in civic and charitable work. Patrick has often credited the guidance of teachers, the support of sponsors through A Better Chance, and the example of his mother and grandmother for shaping his resilience and empathy.

Deval Patricks legacy blends civil rights enforcement, executive governance, and private-sector experience, with a focus on opening pathways to education, health care, and economic opportunity. The leaders and collaborators around him, from Bill Clinton and Janet Reno to Tim Murray, Therese Murray, Robert DeLeo, Paul Kirk, Mo Cowan, Thomas Menino, and Barack Obama, reflect the breadth of his public life. His journey from Chicagos South Side to the governors office, and onward to business and teaching, has made him a prominent voice for pragmatic idealism in American public affairs.