Raymond Flynn

:Distinguish2|Raymond Flynn, famous house burglar of the "Social Register Gang"Infobox Officeholder


name =Raymond Leo Flynn
imagesize =
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order =52nd
office =Mayor of Boston, Massachusetts
term_start =1984
term_end =1993
predecessor =Kevin H. White
successor =Thomas M. Menino
birth_date =Birth date and age|1939|7|22|mf=y
birth_place =South Boston, Massachusetts
death_date =
death_place =
nationality =
party =Democrat
spouse =
relations =
children =
residence =
alma_mater =Providence College
occupation =
profession =
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website =
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Raymond Leo Flynn (born July 22, 1939), also known as Ray Flynn, was elected Mayor of Boston (1984–1993), appointed American ambassador to the Holy See (1993–1997) by President Bill Clinton.

Early life

Before entering politics, Flynn was an All-American basketball player at Providence College, was selected Most Valuable Player in the 1963 National Invitation Tournament (NIT) during his senior year, and was the last player cut from the then-World Champion Boston Celtics.

Political career

Flynn began his political career as a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives from 1971 to 1979, representing the South Boston neighborhood during the turbulent busing crisis of the early 1970s. He later served on the Boston City Council from 1978 to 1984, before successfully running for mayor. He was reelected in 1988 and 1992. He resigned in the middle of his third term when he was appointed by President Clinton to be American ambassador to the Vatican.

Flynn is a life-long Democrat, he is a pro-life activist and endorsed President Bush in the 2000 presidential election. He was instrumental in drawing the pro-life, Catholic vote to pro-choice Governor Bill Clinton of Arkansas in his 1992 bid for the White House against candidacy for re-election of the pro-life George H.W. Bush. Following his service as ambassador, Flynn ran unsuccessfully in the 8th Congressional District seat that was being vacated by Joseph P. Kennedy II in 1998.

Private life

Flynn played himself in the Cheers episode "The Stork Brings the Crane". In the episode Flynn has his entourage take away Cliff Clavin, who writes Flynn once a week. This was during the era when he was Boston's mayor.

In 1999, Flynn became president of Catholic Alliance, a national lay Catholic political advocacy organization. [http://www.irishecho.com/newspaper/story.cfm?id=18211 Irish Echo Online - News ] ] In this role, while remaining a Democrat, he and Catholic Alliance endorsed George W. Bush for president in 2000 over Al Gore. [http://www.opinionjournal.com/columnists/slipsky/?id=95000579 The Wall Street Journal Online - Dispatch ] ] He became president of another lay Catholic political advocacy organization, Your Catholic Voice. Flynn left this group to start Catholic Citizenship in 2004, where in 2007, he is its National Chairman. [http://www.catholicvote.com/Documents/FlynnBio.pdf Microsoft Word - Flynn Bio.doc ] ]

In 2007, he was named Grand Marshall of the 246th consecutive New York St. Patrick's Day Parade.

He has run 18 times in the New York City Marathon.

Bibliography

Flynn is the co-author of two books:

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External links

* [http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1141/is_21_35/ai_54343091 Catholic Alliance]
* [http://www.democratsforlife.org/Press/pro-life%20dems%20march.htm Ray Flynn's Activism]
* [http://www.yourcatholicvoice.org Your Catholic Voice]
* [http://www.catholicvote.org Catholic Citizenship]

References