Katharine D. Dukakis
Encyclopedia
Katharine Dickson Dukakis (born December 26, 1936), known as Kitty Dukakis, is the wife of former Massachusetts
governor and U.S. presidential
candidate Michael Dukakis
.
, Massachusetts
, the daughter of Jane (née Goldberg) and Harry Ellis Dickson. Her paternal grandparents were Russian Jews; her mother was born to an Irish Catholic
father and a Hungarian Jewish mother, and had been adopted by a family of German Jewish descent. Dukakis' father was a member of the first violin section of the Boston Symphony Orchestra
for 49 years and also served as Associate Conductor of the Boston Pops Orchestra
. Dukakis received her B.A. from Lesley College
in 1963 and her M.A. from Boston University
School of Communication in 1982.
During the 1988 presidential election
, a number of false rumors were reported in the media about the Dukakises, including the claim by Idaho
Republican
Senator Steve Symms
that Katharine Dukakis had burned a Flag of the United States
to protest the Vietnam War
. Republican strategist Lee Atwater
was accused of having initiated these rumors.
In 1989, Dukakis was briefly hospitalized after drinking rubbing alcohol
. In 1991, Dukakis published her memoir, Now You Know, in which she candidly discussed her ongoing battle with alcoholism
. The book also discussed the pressures of being a political wife, and her disappointment over her husband's defeat in the 1988 election
. In 2006, she revealed having undergone electroconvulsive therapy
treatment beginning in 2001 in order to treat major depression, publishing her experiences in the book Shock.
In 2007, the Lemuel Shattuck Hospital in Jamaica Plain
, Massachusetts
opened a center for addiction treatment named after Dukakis.
In June 2008, Jason Chaffetz
defeated U.S. Representative Chris Cannon
in the Republican primary for Utah's 3rd congressional district
. Chaffetz's father was briefly married to Kitty Dukakis and so Jason has an older half brother, John Dukakis
.
Dukakis would have become the nation's first Jewish First Lady
had her husband been elected president.
Dukakis appears in the 2008 award-winning documentary on Lee Atwater, Boogie Man: The Lee Atwater Story
.
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
governor and U.S. presidential
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
candidate Michael Dukakis
Michael Dukakis
Michael Stanley Dukakis served as the 65th and 67th Governor of Massachusetts from 1975–1979 and from 1983–1991, and was the Democratic presidential nominee in 1988. He was born to Greek immigrants in Brookline, Massachusetts, also the birthplace of John F. Kennedy, and was the longest serving...
.
Life and career
Dukakis was born Katharine Dickson in CambridgeCambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England, an important center of the Puritan theology embraced by the town's founders. Cambridge is home to two of the world's most prominent...
, Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
, the daughter of Jane (née Goldberg) and Harry Ellis Dickson. Her paternal grandparents were Russian Jews; her mother was born to an Irish Catholic
Irish Catholic
Irish Catholic is a term used to describe people who are both Roman Catholic and Irish .Note: the term is not used to describe a variant of Catholicism. More particularly, it is not a separate creed or sect in the sense that "Anglo-Catholic", "Old Catholic", "Eastern Orthodox Catholic" might be...
father and a Hungarian Jewish mother, and had been adopted by a family of German Jewish descent. Dukakis' father was a member of the first violin section of the Boston Symphony Orchestra
Boston Symphony Orchestra
The Boston Symphony Orchestra is an orchestra based in Boston, Massachusetts. It is one of the five American orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five". Founded in 1881, the BSO plays most of its concerts at Boston's Symphony Hall and in the summer performs at the Tanglewood Music Center...
for 49 years and also served as Associate Conductor of the Boston Pops Orchestra
Boston Pops Orchestra
The Boston Pops Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Boston, Massachusetts, that specializes in playing light classical and popular music....
. Dukakis received her B.A. from Lesley College
Lesley College
Lesley College is the undergraduate section, and founding institution of, Lesley University.The college was founded in 1909 by Edith Lesley as The Lesley School, a women's college which focused on early childhood education as a part of the international kindergarten movement established by...
in 1963 and her M.A. from Boston University
Boston University
Boston University is a private research university located in Boston, Massachusetts. With more than 4,000 faculty members and more than 31,000 students, Boston University is one of the largest private universities in the United States and one of Boston's largest employers...
School of Communication in 1982.
During the 1988 presidential election
United States presidential election, 1988
The United States presidential election of 1988 featured no incumbent president, as President Ronald Reagan was unable to seek re-election after serving the maximum two terms allowed by the Twenty-second Amendment. Reagan's Vice President, George H. W. Bush, won the Republican nomination, while the...
, a number of false rumors were reported in the media about the Dukakises, including the claim by Idaho
Idaho
Idaho is a state in the Rocky Mountain area of the United States. The state's largest city and capital is Boise. Residents are called "Idahoans". Idaho was admitted to the Union on July 3, 1890, as the 43rd state....
Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
Senator Steve Symms
Steve Symms
Steven Douglas Symms was a four-term congressman and two-term U.S. senator from Idaho. He was among the most conservative members of the Republican Party...
that Katharine Dukakis had burned a Flag of the United States
Flag of the United States
The national flag of the United States of America consists of thirteen equal horizontal stripes of red alternating with white, with a blue rectangle in the canton bearing fifty small, white, five-pointed stars arranged in nine offset horizontal rows of six stars alternating with rows...
to protest the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
. Republican strategist Lee Atwater
Lee Atwater
Harvey LeRoy "Lee" Atwater was an American political consultant and strategist to the Republican Party. He was an advisor of U.S. Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush and Chairman of the Republican National Committee.-Childhood and early life:...
was accused of having initiated these rumors.
In 1989, Dukakis was briefly hospitalized after drinking rubbing alcohol
Rubbing alcohol
Rubbing alcohol, USP / B.P. is a liquid prepared and used primarily for topical application. It is prepared from a special denatured alcohol solution and contains 97.5-100% by volume of pure, concentrated ethanol or isopropyl alcohol...
. In 1991, Dukakis published her memoir, Now You Know, in which she candidly discussed her ongoing battle with alcoholism
Alcoholism
Alcoholism is a broad term for problems with alcohol, and is generally used to mean compulsive and uncontrolled consumption of alcoholic beverages, usually to the detriment of the drinker's health, personal relationships, and social standing...
. The book also discussed the pressures of being a political wife, and her disappointment over her husband's defeat in the 1988 election
United States presidential election, 1988
The United States presidential election of 1988 featured no incumbent president, as President Ronald Reagan was unable to seek re-election after serving the maximum two terms allowed by the Twenty-second Amendment. Reagan's Vice President, George H. W. Bush, won the Republican nomination, while the...
. In 2006, she revealed having undergone electroconvulsive therapy
Electroconvulsive therapy
Electroconvulsive therapy , formerly known as electroshock, is a psychiatric treatment in which seizures are electrically induced in anesthetized patients for therapeutic effect. Its mode of action is unknown...
treatment beginning in 2001 in order to treat major depression, publishing her experiences in the book Shock.
In 2007, the Lemuel Shattuck Hospital in Jamaica Plain
Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts
Jamaica Plain is a historic neighborhood of in Boston, Massachusetts. Founded by Boston Puritans seeking farm land to the south, it was originally part of the city of Roxbury...
, Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
opened a center for addiction treatment named after Dukakis.
In June 2008, Jason Chaffetz
Jason Chaffetz
Jason E. Chaffetz is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 2009. He is a member of the Republican Party. The district is based in Provo and includes large portions of central and west-central Utah.-Early life, education and career:...
defeated U.S. Representative Chris Cannon
Chris Cannon
Christopher Black "Chris" Cannon was a member of the United States House of Representatives, for the Republican Party, representing the third district of Utah from 1997 - 2009....
in the Republican primary for Utah's 3rd congressional district
Utah's 3rd congressional district
Utah's 3rd congressional district is a congressional district in the United States House of Representatives. It currently covers nearly all of Utah County and the west side of Salt Lake County, in central and west central Utah....
. Chaffetz's father was briefly married to Kitty Dukakis and so Jason has an older half brother, John Dukakis
John Dukakis
John Dukakis has had a varied career in politics and entertainment.-Early life and acting career:Dukakis was born John A. Chaffetz in San Jose, California but reared in the Boston area...
.
Dukakis would have become the nation's first Jewish First Lady
First Lady of the United States
First Lady of the United States is the title of the hostess of the White House. Because this position is traditionally filled by the wife of the president of the United States, the title is most often applied to the wife of a sitting president. The current first lady is Michelle Obama.-Current:The...
had her husband been elected president.
Dukakis appears in the 2008 award-winning documentary on Lee Atwater, Boogie Man: The Lee Atwater Story
Boogie Man: The Lee Atwater Story
Boogie Man: The Lee Atwater Story is a 2008 U.S. documentary on the campaign tactics used by Lee Atwater while working on the George H.W. Bush 1988 presidential campaign, and how those tactics have transformed presidential campaigns in the United States....
.
Public service
Dukakis has served on the President's Commission on the Holocaust, on the United States Holocaust Memorial Council, on the board of the Refugee Policy Center, and on the Task Force on Cambodian Children.External links
- "Appointment of Katharine D. Dukakis as a Member of the United States Holocaust Memorial Council 1989-12-19", George Bush Presidential Library and Museum, College Station, Texas. A short profile of her education and career
- Dukakis, Kitty; Tye, Larry, 'I Feel Good, I Feel Alive', Newsweek magazine, September 18, 2006. An article in which she discusses her treatment with electroconvulsive therapy for depression
- http://www.boogiemanfilm.comKitty Dukakis appears in the Lee Atwater documentary Boogie Man: The Lee Atwater StoryBoogie Man: The Lee Atwater StoryBoogie Man: The Lee Atwater Story is a 2008 U.S. documentary on the campaign tactics used by Lee Atwater while working on the George H.W. Bush 1988 presidential campaign, and how those tactics have transformed presidential campaigns in the United States....
]