Edward DeSaulnier

DeSaulnier is from Chelmsford, Massachusetts. He graduated from the College of the Holy Cross. During World War II, DeSaulnier served as a combat pilot in the United States Marine Corps. He served during the Battle of Iwo Jima. After the war, he graduated from the Boston University School of Law.[1]

DeSaulnier served in the Massachusetts House of Representatives from 1949 through 1957, when he took a seat in the Massachusetts Senate.[2][3] Governor Foster Furcolo appointed DeSaulnier to the Massachusetts Superior Court in 1958.[4] In 1962, DeSaulnier was accused of accepting bribes from a criminal defendant. Though the statute of limitations meant he could not be charged, DeSaulnier was disbarred by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court in 1972.[5]

After his disbarment, DeSaulnier worked for a company that sold bulletproof vests.[6] He developed alcoholism, recovered, and then earned a degree from Rutgers University's School of Alcohol Studies and became deputy director of Broward County, Florida's commission on alcoholism.[7] He petitioned the Massachusetts Board of Bar Overseers to reinstate his law license in 1979, but his request was denied in 1980.[1] The New England Patriots hired DeSaulnier in 1981 to consult on issues around substance abuse.[8]

DeSaulnier died in his home in Juno Beach, Florida, in 1989, by a self-inflicted gunshot.[1][9] He had four sons and one daughter,[1] including Mark, a politician who serves in the U.S. House of Representatives.[10]

• Massachusetts legislature: 1949–1950, 1951–1952, 1953–1954, 1955–1956
• Massachusetts Senate's 1st Middlesex district