Keller: Kitty Dukakis courageously challenged stereotypes as a political spouse
The opinions expressed below are Jon Keller's, not those of WBZ, CBS News or Paramount Global.
Being the spouse of a prominent politician isn't easy.
You must smile and wave when those may be the last things you want to do in that moment, pretend you are enjoying situations and people you detest. In the past it has meant you are the ultimate supporting actor, your personality and accomplishments often treated as a sidebar at best to those of your mate. And yet your weaknesses are likely to be highlighted by your spouse's enemies.
But the late Kitty Dukakis, wife of former Massachusetts governor and Democratic presidential nominee Michael Dukakis, lived a life that challenged those stereotypes multiple times.
As first lady of the Commonwealth, she kept an office in the State House and was publicly acknowledged as a key adviser to her husband on both political and policy matters. A dancer from a musical family, she was a high-profile advocate for the arts, but also worked to advance other, more sensitive causes – better care for the homeless, the plight of refugees, and Holocaust education, all in an era where First Ladies more commonly kept lower profiles.
Oprah Winfrey's televised 1987 revelations about the sexual abuse she endured as a child is widely seen as the start of the era of the public confessional, where it has become common for public figures to reveal personal secrets closely guarded in the past as a form of therapy for the confessor and others who might share the same experiences. And a major moment in that social evolution came when Kitty Dukakis published her 1990 memoir, "Now You Know," describing her longtime struggles with depression and alcoholism. Her public accounts of successful Electroconvulsive Therapy helped ease the stigma surrounding that form of depression treatment
That's courage. And while those legacies will live on, her passing last night at age 88 marks the end of a 61-year marriage characterized by great affection and devotion. A favorite anecdote, as described by Time Magazine:
Marching in a chilly St. Patrick's Day parade in Chicago last month, Kitty asked him to push up her collar against the wind. Dukakis, who forgot that he was wearing a microphone that allowed the press to hear his comments, whispered to her as he adjusted her coat, "Tonight if I'm asleep, wake me up. Don't let a moment go by." (Kitty cut in with a sharp, "Your microphone's on.")
Condolences to Governor Dukakis, family and friends. May her memory be a blessing.
