John M. Quinlan

John Michael "Jack" Quinlan was an American politician who served as a member of the Massachusetts Senate from 1965 to 1975.

Early life Quinlan was born on July 11, 1935, in Natick, Massachusetts. He attended public school in Dover, Massachusetts, and Sacred Heart School. He graduated from Harvard College in 1957 and taught at Franklin High School for four years.

Political career

State senate Quinlan began his political career as an assistant to U.S. Senator Leverett Saltonstall.

In 1968, Quinlan served as the state chairman for United Citizens for Nixon-Agnew.

In 1972, Quinlan ran for the United States House of Representatives seat in the Massachusetts's 9th congressional district held by Louise Day Hicks. He was favored to win the primary, but dropped out of the race, with his disenchantment with the state Republican party and the unattractive situation of having Richard Nixon on the top of the GOP ticket given as reasons for Quinlan not seeing the campaign as worthwhile.

In 1974, Quinlan was the Republican nominee for Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. He lost to Democrat Paul Guzzi 64% to 36%.

Post-legislative career After leaving the state senate, Quinlan served as an aide to United States Secretary of Health and Human Services Margaret Heckler, was campaign director for Jim Rappaport's campaign for the United States Senate in 1990, and was a spokesperson for the Central Artery/Tunnel Project (better known as the Big Dig) from 1991 to 2007.