Deval Laurdine Patrick is an American politician, author, businessman, and former civil rights lawyer who served as the 71st governor of Massachusetts from 2007 to 2015. He was the first African-American Governor of Massachusetts and the first Democratic Governor of the state since Michael Dukakis left office in 1991. Patrick served from 1994 to 1997 as the United States Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division under President Bill Clinton. He was briefly a candidate for President of the United States in the 2020 U.S. presidential election.
Official portrait, 2011
Patrick with future Supreme Court associate justice Elena Kagan at the Harvard Law School, in 2008.
Patrick signing into legislation advancing a state compact with the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe (July 2012)
Patrick reading a book to schoolchildren in 2011
Governor of Massachusetts
The governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is the chief executive officer of the government of Massachusetts. The governor is the head of the state cabinet and the commander-in-chief of the commonwealth's military forces.
Governor of Massachusetts
Image: John Hancock 1770 crop
Image: Thomas Cushing, Member of Continental Congress
Image: James Bowdoin II by Feke full length
