Michael Stanley Dukakis (born November 3, 1933) is a retired American politician and lawyer. After serving in the U.S. Army from 1955 to 1957, he served as governor of Massachusetts from 1975 to 1979 and 1983 to 1991, the second Greek-American to serve as a state governor after Spiro Agnew (of Maryland). He previously served in the Massachusetts House of Representatives from 1963 to 1971.
Dukakis later ran for president in 1988. At the time he was initially seen as a relatively strong candidate (albeit in a weak field of Democratsnote ) due to overseeing the 'Massachusetts Miracle' as Governor. He defeated the likes of Jesse Jackson, future vice president Al Gore, and (more distant) future president Joe Biden to become the Democratic Party's nominee and would go up against Republican opponent George H. W. Bush in the general election.
Although Bush was Vice President to the popular Ronald Reagan, Dukakis enjoyed a significant lead early in the campaign. It started going wrong, however, when the fall came along. Amongst Dukakis' mistakes were appearing in a tank in military gear (which did not suit him, to say the least) and a completely tone-deaf response to a question about the death penalty during a debate. Additionally, the Bush campaign successfully painted him as an out-of-touch (even though Dukakis came from humble origins) liberal who was soft on crime. Dukakis went down to a heavy defeat, although he did run Bush closer than Walter Mondale or Jimmy Carter had managed to do against Reagan in the two previous elections.
He had four children with his wife, Kitty Dukakis, before her death in March 2025. Olympia Dukakis was his cousin. Since Carter's death at the tail end of 2024, Dukakis has been the earliest major-party presidential candidate to be living, and the last one from The '80s.
Media:
Film (Live-Action)
- The Junior Defenders: He makes an uncredited cameo appearance.
Live-Action Television
- Cheers: He's a Politician Guest-Star in one episode.
- Late Line: Appears in an episode.
- Saturday Night Live: Jon Lovitz played him during the 1988 presidential election.
- St. Elsewhere: Appears in an episode while he was still governor.
- Andy Richter Controls the Universe: At some point, Andy begins to question why his coworker is spending to much time at his new church. When Andy sees the knockout girl he's working with, he gets it, as Andy says that he campaigned for Dukakis for the same reason (i.e., he joined a silly cause to pursue a pretty girl).
- Friends: Joey mentions "an uncle who voted for Dukakis" once.
Western Animation
- The Simpsons: In "The Kid Is All Right", Lisa has a nightmare about "losers" in which Dukakis, Walter Mondale and John Kerry appear to her in ghostly forms, referencing that all three were Democrats who lost U.S. presidential elections: Mondale in 1984, Dukakis in 1988 and Kerry in 2004.
- Futurama: In ''A Taste of Freedom'', a fleet of miniature tanks, piloted by smiling clones of Dukakis, participates in the "Freedom Day" parade as "The Fighting Dukaki". The joke parodies an infamous campaign photograph of Dukakis in a tank during his presidential campaign.
