Volpe, John A.

John Anthony Volpe, born the son of Italian immigrants in 1908, was a successful Massachusetts businessman and accomplished public servant. He served as Commissioner of Public Works in Massachusetts in 1953, was appointed Federal Highway Commissioner under Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1957, was elected Governor of Massachusetts three times (in 1960, 1964, and 1966), was appointed Secretary of Transportation under Richard Nixon in 1969, and was appointed Ambassador to Italy in 1972. While Governor of Massachusetts, he established Massachusetts' first sales tax and helped pass legislation that extended the governor's term from two years to four. As Federal Highway Commissioner and then as Secretary of Transportation, he championed traffic safety and the Federal Interstate Highway System, and was instrumental in the creation of AMTRAK. John Volpe died in 1994, survived by his wife and two children.