Edward King, hard-charging governor, dies

Edward J. King, whose victory over Governor Michael S. Dukakis in the 1978 state Democratic primary was one of the great upsets in Massachusetts political history and set up a storied rematch, died yesterday. He was 81.

Mr. King died at the Lahey Clinic in Burlington, where he was hospitalized Wednesday after a fall that day at the family home in Middleton and underwent brain surgery. The former governor had three brain surgeries this year, including two in February and March to relieve pressure on his brain after he fell at his Miami Beach home.

His son Timothy of Middleton described Mr. King yesterday as ``a person of impeccable character, truth, and honesty."

``He didn't talk about them; he led by them," his son said.

His father died in the company of family, King said. ``His death went nicely, just like his life." Funeral arrangements had not been completed last night.

Despite two hard-fought primary campaigns, Dukakis, who beat Mr. King in the 1982 primary, said he and Mr. King had a relationship of mutual admiration.

``I have a lot of respect for someone who went out there, got himself elected, and worked hard," Dukakis said.

Mr. King was a Reagan Democrat before the term existed. Indeed, President Ronald Reagan called Mr. King his favorite Democratic governor and offered congratulations when Mr. King switched to the Republican Party in 1985 to reflect his political beliefs.

Mr. King favored capital punishment, opposed abortion, and cut spending on social programs. He strongly promoted economic growth, even at the expense of environmental and social programs. A friend to both labor and management, he saw job creation as the primary engine for social as well as economic progress.

``Governor King served with distinction and dignity," Governor Mitt Romney said in a statement yesterday. ``He changed parties, but never principles. The people of Massachusetts have lost a friend."

``Make It in Massachusetts" became the motto of Mr. King's administration. It reflected a top-down, can-do approach that had earned him considerable success during his 11 years as executive director of the Massachusetts Port Authority. He also made enemies during the aggressive expansion of Logan Airport.

``A growing, vital economy provides new opportunities for fulfilling work," Mr. King said in his inaugural address, ``opens doors for the unskilled and underprivileged, and it closes doors against want and frustration." Those words were emblematic of his philosophy as governor.

Kevin White, the former Boston mayor, said in a statement released on his behalf that Mr. King ``played a crucial role in vastly improving the business climate in Massachusetts.

``Our state -- and Boston's downtown -- would not be the success it is today without the dedication and hard work of Edward King," White said.

``I think he was the best governor that Massachusetts has ever had in my years here," said Barbara Anderson, executive director of Citizens for Limited Taxation, which spearheaded the movement to limit property tax increases, called Proposition 2 1/2. ``He ran similar to the candidates we have today, with a pledge of property-tax relief. But unlike some people I could mention, he meant it."

James Kerasiotes, who served as undersecretary of transportation in the King administration, described the late governor this way: ``Eddie King never put his finger up in the air to figure out which way the wind was blowing. He was the real deal in a business filled with phonies."

William Bulger, former president of the state Senate, echoed that assessment of an uncompromising politician.

``I've always thought of Ed as the Boston College High School lad," said Bulger, referring to the Jesuit high school that Mr. King and he attended. ``He had the old principles, he clung to them, and he never deviated."

Mr. King was tough on crime. He introduced mandatory minimum sentences and signed capital punishment into law in December 1982, following voter approval of a constitutional amendment to restore the death penalty. Two years later, the state's highest court ruled the law unconstitutional.

Before becoming governor, Mr. King worked for the Massachusetts Port Authority from 1959 to 1974, beginning as comptroller. He is credited with helping to expand and modernize Logan International Airport, but did so by evicting families and leveling Wood Island Park in East Boston .

Despite the expansion, which many East Boston residents opposed, he carried the neighborhood in the 1978 primary.

The product of a working-class background, Mr. King enjoyed the trappings of executive status, including big cars, thick steaks, and lobster-salad sandwiches. The latter became a part of local political folklore when The Boston Globe reported in November 1979 that Mr. King had charged the state $932 for takeout lunches consisting of lobster, crabmeat, and seafood salads and sandwiches.

The story illustrated the fractious relationship Mr. King had with the Globe. In a 1981 interview with the paper, he quipped, ``If God is with you, who could be against you, right? Except The Boston Globe." The acrimony came to a head in 1982 when Mr. King filed a libel suit against the paper. (Most of the case was later thrown out by a judge. One count went to trial, and the jury found in 1988 there had been no libel.)

His administration also was dogged by allegations of lower-level nepotism and patronage.

In appearance, Mr. King cut an impressive figure. He had a barrel chest, jutting chin, and thick black hair. ``He looks exactly like a governor," a Hollywood executive told a Globe reporter in 1980. ``My God, call central casting."

Mr. King's formidable appearance was somewhat undercut by a wooden speaking style and awkward personal manner. Far from being a natural politician, he was much happier sitting behind his desk, working 12- to 14-hour days, than meeting voters and pressing the flesh. It was one of the few things he had in common with his great rival, Dukakis.

The two men differed on almost every other level. Mr. King was tall and burly, a former professional football lineman with the Buffalo Bills and Baltimore Colts, lavish in his tastes, conservative and Irish, Boston College and Winthrop. Dukakis was short and slight, a former marathon runner, famously frugal, liberal and Greek, Swarthmore and Brookline.

The two men represented a fundamental cultural clash. If Dukakis personified the state's post-ethnic, suburban-reformer present, then Mr. King seemed a throwback to its clannish, Irish-dominated, deal-making past. Yet, as would be proven two years after he defeated Dukakis, when Reagan carried Massachusetts and voters passed Proposition 2 1/2, Mr. King also presaged a growing national conservatism.

Besides his son Timothy, he leaves another son, Brian of Lynn; two sisters, Helen Kennedy of Mashpee; and Mary, of Wellesley; and five grandchildren.