Dick Donahue

Richard King Donahue Donahue would remain a resident of Lowell for much of his life.

Donahue served in the United States Navy, being discharged in 1946. One of Donahue's sons was born with Down syndrome.

Politics and government 1952 John F. Kennedy U.S. Senate campaign

As a young attorney, Donahue was active in Democratic Party politics. In 1952, Donahue met Democratic United States Senate candidate John F. Kennedy in Lowell. After being recruited by Kennedy associates Larry O'Brien and Kenneth O'Donnell, He later referred to O'Brien and O'Donnell as his "godparents in politics".

Massachusetts Democratic Committee Donahue became vice chairman of the Massachusetts Democratic Committee.

1960 John F. Kennedy presidential campaign

By the time of his 1960 presidential campaign, Kennedy had formed an inner-circle that would follow him into the White House. Donahue was a member of that inner circle, often dubbed the "Irish Mafia", which also included Charles U. Daly, Larry O'Brien, Kenneth O'Donnell, David Powers, and Ralph A. Dungan.

In the White House, Donahue served as an assistant/special consultant" to President Kennedy, holding the title "staff assistant to the President" tasked with focusing on "Congress relations" (acting as a liaison between the Kennedy White House and the United States Congress) and patronage appointments.

While working on Kennedy's 1980 presidential campaign, he successfully pursued challenged the ballot petition signatures of competitor Jerry Brown for ballot access in the New York primary. Kennedy had been hesitant to allow his campaign to pursue a signature change against Brown, worrying it would generate bad publicity for his campaign.

Nike, Inc Donahue was involved in the leadership of Nike, Inc., joining its board of directors in 1977 and serving on it for three decades. In his first decade with Nike, Donahue served as its director, playing an active part in decisions that saw the company make an international expansion and position itself as a major competitor in the athletic footwear market. He had been selected for these positions the company's founder, Phil Knight. Phil Knight and Donahue both suggested that this boycott was the underhanded work of competing company Reebok. In an effort to defend Nike against the accusations, Donahue told reporters at a press conference that Nike had. "some Blacks in management", but was unable to name who the highest-ranking Black executive at the company was when pushed on it. Nike would soon after appoint John Thompson Jr., who was a longtime consultant with the company, to become the first Black member of its board of directors. It was announced in February 1994 that he would be stepping down from his roles as president and COO later that year, and that the company's board of directors had voted to appoint him as the board's vice chairman effective June 1, 1994. He was succeeded as president by Tom Clarke, a management team protege that Donahue had groomed as a prospective leader. Donahue remained the board's vice chairman until 2008, when he retired from the board of directors.

Demoulas family case and suspension from the bar In the late 1990s, Donahue was hired to oversee the ongoing legal strategy and public relations for members of the Demoulas family that had just been handed an unfavorable ruling by Massachusetts District Court Judge Maria Lopez in their legal battle with other members of their family for control of the multibillion-dollar Market Basket chain of supermarkets. The following year, he was officially handed a three-year suspension from practicing law.

Philanthropy and non-profit work Donahue, along with his wife, was involved in many Lowell-area non-profits, both by providing support and by serving the boards. In 1984, Donahue became one of the founding board members of the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation, Donahue was involved in the 1989 establishment of the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award, Donahue and his wife were involved in the founding of the Merrimack Repertory Theatre

Donahue headed the Lowell Plan organization in the 1980s.

Death At the age of 88, Donahue died on September 15, 2015, at his residence in Lowell, Massachusetts after a period of declining health.

In September 2018, Middlesex Community College named its arts center after the late Donahue, his wife, and their family, naming it the "Richard and Nancy Donahue Family Academic Arts Center".