Robert Fiske Bradford (December 15, 1902 – March 18, 1983) was an American lawyer and politician who served one term as the 57th governor of Massachusetts, from 1947 to 1949.
Early years
Robert Fiske Bradford was born in Boston, Massachusetts to Edward and Edith (Fiske) Bradford. His father was from an old traditional New England Yankee Brahmin family, a successful physician, and dean of Harvard Medical School, and his mother was the founder of the private Fiske School in Boston. Bradford attended the Browne and Nichols School, and graduated from Harvard College in 1923. While at Harvard, Bradford was on the varsity crew team, and served as editor of The Harvard Crimson. In 1926 he received his law degree from Harvard Law School, was admitted to the bar, and began to practice law in Boston at Ropes & Gray. That same year he married Rebecca Crowninshield Browne; the couple had four children. He later worked on the gubernatorial and senatorial campaigns of Leverett Saltonstall, with whom he formed a close friendship. In 1938, he made his first bid for elective office by challenging Republican incumbent Warren L. Bishop in the race for District Attorney of Middlesex County. He defeated Bishop and served in that position from 1939 to 1945. In this post he gained a reputation for cracking down on corruption; his convictions included mayors of Lowell and Cambridge, and a state public works commissioner. He served as senior warden for the congregation at Boston's King's Chapel. He suffered for many years from Parkinson's disease, but maintained a busy schedule despite its limitations.
Family and legacy
Bradford's daughter, Ann, was the wife of U.S. senator Charles Mathias of Maryland.
In 1996, the John F. Kennedy School of Government began offering the Governor Robert F. Bradford Fellowship, a scholarship to qualified state employees that covers both tuition and salary while the recipient attends the school. Bradford's papers are archived at the Massachusetts Historical Society.