Paul Kirk in The New York Times 2010s


On Health Care: Lobbyist for pharmaceutical company in 1990s

In the late 1990s, he did lobbying work for the pharmaceuticals Hoechst Marion Roussel and Aventis, which led critics to question Thursday whether his voting on health care legislation could be a conflict of interest. More recently, Mr. Kirk has served on the board of Hartford Financial Services Group, an insurer, earning more than $250,000 in salary and stock options last year.

"It's going to be a continual public appearance of a conflict of interest," said a spokesperson from Public Citizen, a nonpartisan watchdog group in Washington, "even if Paul Kirk is virtuous enough to not care how it impacts his own finances."

Mr. Kirk said Thursday that he was resigning from the Hartford board immediately, and several ethics lawyers said he would not be violating Senate rules by voting on the health care legislation.

Source: Abby Goodnough in New York Times on 2010 election Sep 25, 2009

On Principles & Values: Worked for Robert Kennedy & Ted Kennedy campaigns

Given the myriad other roles Paul G. Kirk Jr. has played for Senator Edward M. Kennedy--strategist, divorce lawyer, master of ceremonies at the senator's memorial service, executor of his estate--his appointment Thursday as the interim appointee to the Senate seat Mr. Kennedy held was both kismet and deeply pragmatic.

After Harvard and Harvard Law, Mr. Kirk worked for Robert F. Kennedy's presidential campaign in 1968 and almost quit politics after Mr. Kennedy's assassination. But when Edward Kennedy told him "he had a responsibility to fight on," Mr. Kirk went to work for him in 1969, becoming Mr. Kennedy's chief political strategist and one of his most trusted confidants.

Mr. Kirk returned to Boston in 1977 to join the law firm Sullivan & Worcester, but rejoined Mr. Kennedy in 1980, serving as national political director for his unsuccessful presidential campaign. He was elected chairman of the DNC in 1985, with crucial support from Mr. Kennedy and his allies in organized labor

Source: Abby Goodnough in New York Times on 2010 election Sep 25, 2009

On Principles & Values: Chair of DNC from 1985 to 1989

Kirk was elected chairman of the Democratic National Committee in 1985, with crucial support from Mr. Kennedy and his allies in organized labor. Mr. Kirk had a victory in the 1986 midterm elections, when the Democrats recaptured control of the Senate after six years, but he also witnessed the harsh defeat of Michael S. Dukakis to President George Bush in 1988. He chose not to seek a second term, returning instead to private law practice in Boston.
Source: Abby Goodnough in New York Times on 2010 election Sep 25, 2009

The above quotations are from Media coverage of political races in The New York Times, 2010-2019.
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