Healey tiptoes around Corner Office
Clock is ticking on time to make bold moves
Gov. Maura Healey, with a bold play, ought to hang the portrait of Tom Brady in the governor’s office.
It might be a Hail Mary, but it could work.
That way the new chief executive in one swift move could deal with the question of which portrait of a past governor should, as tradition has it, hang in the governor’s office during the governor’s tenure.
Forget that. Why not Tom?
Besides, Brady, who announced his retirement from the NFL last week, has done more to lift the spirits of the people of Massachusetts during his years with the New England Patriots than the last half dozen governors combined.
It won’t happen, though. Healey is too cautious for that. She would, in the name of equity, need to appoint a committee to rule out any accusations of white supremacy.
Every governor leaves behind a portrait of himself. The portraits of the last six governors traditionally hang in the governor’s reception room, while others are scattered throughout the corridors of the State House.
A new governor gets the opportunity to select a portrait of a past governor to hang in the ornate inner sanctum of the governor’s suite.
Former Gov. Charlie Baker, for instance, chose the portrait of Gov. John A. Volpe, a fellow Republican, who served as U.S. Secretary of Transportation in the Nixon Administration.
Gov. Deval Patrick, a Democrat, who preceded Baker, chose Gov. John A. Andrews, a leader of the abolitionist movement.
The question arises because of Healey’s decision not to select a portrait, but to farm the choice out to a bunch of teenagers. She decided to make an essay contest out of it, asking public school students to research past governors and make recommendations.
Announced on Jan. 9, the deadline for submission was supposed to be Jan. 27. However, the hastily put-together program was so ill-conceived and so badly publicized that submissions were few. So, the deadline was extended to this past Thursday.
Upon announcement of the program, Healey said the contest was “an exciting opportunity for Massachusetts students to learn more about our state’s history and determine for themselves what makes a great leader. We can’t wait to review the submissions.”
What will come a surprise to many school-age parents is Healey’s assumption that U.S. history is even taught in schools anymore, let alone the history of Massachusetts.
With a straight face, Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll, in the same press release said, “Each time we see these portraits, we’ll be reminded of the lessons we learned from these student essays.” Really? Get a grip, Kim.
If Healey were serious, she would have made the decision herself as past governors have done. And she could have chosen a woman.
She could have chosen the portrait of Jane Swift. Although Swift was not elected to the office, she was the first woman as lieutenant governor to occupy the office of acting governor.
She assumed the office following the 1999 resignation and appointment of the late Gov. Paul Cellucci to be U.S. ambassador to Canada.
But Healey probably would have ruled Swift out because she was a Republican.
If not Swift, Healey could have come up with a portrait of Evelyn Murphy. While she never became governor, Murphy, a Democrat, was the first woman elected lieutenant governor, serving with Gov. Mike Dukakis from 1986 to 1990.
While it is much too early to judge what kind of a governor Healey will be, early indications are that she is overly cautious in making decisions.
When asked about the illegal Woburn school teachers’ strike — since settled — Healey said, “I’m not comfortable taking a position on that.”
That was a no-brainer of a question Healey should have hit out of the ballpark, as Gov. Calvin Coolidge did during the famous 1919 Boston police strike.
Coolidge said, “There is no right to strike against the public safety by anybody, anywhere, any time.” It vaulted him to the White House.
Hang his portrait in the governor’s office.