Governor of Massachusetts
Curley ran for Governor of Massachusetts in 1934, and this time he won, having lost in 1924. Over the course of his term, Curley's mob associations, graft, extravagant personal spending, expensive vacations, and generally decadent behavior drew criticism and a series of scandals rocked his administration. Curley was fond of call girls and chorus girls, frequented speakeasies and brothels, and in the process of his partying was involved in a number of traffic accidents which left several people injured. These accidents were eventually publicized and tarnished his office. Ultimately, these incidents, as well as his past associations, led to increased vulnerability to mob influence, and he was alleged to have sold pardons to state convicts and appointed poorly qualified individuals, including his brother John, to public offices.
In the late 1930s Curley's political fortunes began to ebb. Denied Roosevelt's endorsement in the 1936 senatorial election, he lost against a moderate Republican, Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr. He was twice defeated, in 1937 and 1940, for the Boston mayoralty by one of his closest former political confidants, Maurice J. Tobin, and in 1938 Leverett Saltonstall turned back Curley's attempt to recapture the Massachusetts governorship. After leaving the office of governor, he squandered a substantial sum of his money in unsuccessful investments in Nevada gold mines; then he lost a civil suit brought by the Suffolk County prosecutor that forced him to forfeit to the city of Boston the $40,000 he received from General Equipment Company for "fixing" a damage claim settlement.
Read more about this topic: James Michael Curley
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