Haunted by a Mobster Brother

In a large and storied family from the projects of South Boston, he was the respectable brother: the one who took his priest’s advice and finished high school, college and law school; the one who made sure his nine children studied Latin and classical Greek.

From humble beginnings, William Bulger rose to be president of the state Senate and then to lead the University of Massachusetts system. But now he is under attack.

The offensive grows out of his relationship with one of Boston’s most ruthless and renowned criminals: his older brother James -- better known as “Whitey” -- a mob leader turned FBI informant who has been a fugitive since 1995.

William Bulger’s critics contend that he has had contact with his brother and helped shield him from authorities. As part of an investigation into the use of informants by the Department of Justice, a congressional committee will question William Bulger on Thursday about how much he knew about attempts to apprehend Whitey.

“This is politics, Massachusetts-style,” said Elizabeth Sherman, a University of Massachusetts political science professor who is on leave to write a book. “It is about connections, about loyalty, about region, about ethnicity, about family.”

Bulger repeatedly took the 5th Amendment during congressional questioning in December about his brother, prompting Gov. Mitt Romney to call for his resignation. When that failed, Romney tried to eliminate Bulger’s $358,000-a-year position. The state attorney general also has urged Bulger to resign, contending that the leader for the last 17 years of the state’s preeminent public university is morally unfit for the job. The Boston Globe has joined the clamor, writing in a June 6 editorial that Bulger’s “loyalty as a brother” cannot supersede his “duty as a citizen.”

William Bulger, 69, has received immunity from the House Government Reform Committee for this week’s testimony. He has declined interviews about the controversy. But in a statement issued by his office, Bulger noted that opponents raised questions about his brother as early as 1960, when he first ran for office.

“Let me be clear,” Bulger said. “For 42 years I have made choices. And my choice has always been to pursue my public responsibilities and to work for the public good -- as a state representative, state senator, president of the Massachusetts Senate and as president of the University of Massachusetts.”

Supporters have flocked to defend the man who long helped to install judges, arrange favors and exact political revenge. In a radio interview Wednesday, fellow Democrat Sen. Edward M. Kennedy praised Bulger’s “distinguished career” and called demands for his resignation “absolutely” premature.

University trustees have trumpeted their endorsements for Bulger, and Dr. Matthew J. Bean -- this year’s valedictorian at the University of Massachusetts Medical School -- said in his graduation address that Bulger “is continually greeted at the university with standing ovations.”

Bean added: “Mr. President, Gov. Romney will take you away only over my dead body!”

That entreaty has an unfortunate connotation in a region where Whitey Bulger has been charged in connection with at least 21 murders. The 73-year-old chief of Boston’s notorious Winter Hill gang vanished just before he was indicted on federal racketeering charges.

Federal officials charge that William and Whitey Bulger spoke by telephone soon after the latter disappeared. A safe-deposit box in his name discovered several years ago in London showed William Bulger as a contact, authorities also say.

The brothers share piercing intellect, penetrating blue eyes and pale blond hair.

William Bulger avoids mentioning Whitey in public. But in the statement issued by his office, he said: “Changing the course of my brother’s life is something I tried to effectuate for many years. That I was not successful is a matter of great personal pain. I have done everything one could possibly do to influence the course of another person’s life.”

In underworld business dealings that included controlling much of Boston’s drug trade, Whitey was every bit as careful to keep his brother out of the conversation, said Edward J. MacKenzie Jr. -- known as “Eddie Mac” when he worked as a drug dealer and “enforcer” for Bulger.

“He was adamant about nobody bringing up his brother’s name. He was just always protecting Billy,” said MacKenzie, author of a book about his life with the Boston Irish mob called “Street Soldier.”

MacKenzie said that in a famously clannish political arena, it would be hard to overestimate the prominence of the Bulger brothers.

“They were considered the yin and yang of Massachusetts politics,” he said. “You had one who was president of the Massachusetts Senate, and one who was president of the mob.”

But Michael S. Dukakis, this state’s last Democratic governor, said it is unfair to judge William Bulger by his brother’s reputation.

“Who among us does not have someone in our family tree that has forced us to deal with this kind of problem?” asked Dukakis, now a professor at Northeastern University in Boston and at UCLA.

Dukakis lauded his friend William Bulger for expanding the University of Massachusetts into a five-campus institution with 58,000 students.

“It has turned into a spectacular success, thanks largely to Bulger,” Dukakis said. “I don’t think there is any question that Romney’s actions here have made this a much hotter thing than it would have been otherwise.”

But Harvard Law School professor Alan M. Dershowitz said he had little use for those who defend William Bulger on the basis of brotherly love. His “interconnection” with his mobster brother has never been in doubt, said Dershowitz, a prominent criminal-law expert who is not connected with the case.

“Whitey was going around, making sure that Billy was well-protected,” Dershowitz said. “And the record clearly shows that the ‘good’ brother Billy helped the ‘bad’ brother Whitey elude justice.”

In making his case to oust William Bulger, Romney insisted that the matter was “organizational” and not “personal” as he asserted that the university needed new leadership.

The governor said he questioned Bulger’s ability “to lead our premier [higher education] institution in a way that does not cast a shadow over the institution and its students.” He also faulted Bulger for “placing his own interests above the interests of the institution.”

On Beacon Hill, a predominantly Democratic Legislature shot down Romney’s plan to overhaul the administration at the University of Massachusetts and do away with Bulger’s position.

But MacKenzie, a product of the same tight-knit neighborhood as the Bulger brothers, predicted that Congress may be more of a problem for William Bulger than the governor of Massachusetts is.

“It took them awhile, but they finally realized there was something nasty going on with the FBI in Boston,” he said, referring to a scandal that has sent several of Whitey Bulger’s former mob associates and at least one former FBI agent to prison. The alleged involvement of the Boston FBI office in organized crime here also has prompted a spate of pending civil suits claiming hundreds of million dollars in damages.

When William Bulger takes the stand in Washington, “the whole Bulger world is going to open up,” MacKenzie said. “Look out, because it’s time for the dirty laundry to get cleaned.”

Bulger’s attorney, Thomas R. Kiley, pointed out that in April 2001, his client appeared before a grand jury to answer questions about his brother’s disappearance. Kiley said the current commotion is “obviously political.”

After all, said Kiley, “throughout his public career, he has had to deal with the reality that he has a brother who has a criminal background.”

Bulger will persevere, his lawyer said: “Bill has an incredibly strong moral fiber. He leads an impeccable personal life. He is a family-oriented person. He has nine children and 24 grandchildren. And his life outside of public service is family.”

Bulger has vowed to remain at the helm of the university. His contract -- which includes a generous housing allowance as well as a car and driver -- runs through 2007. “I like to think I have made a contribution and have helped people,” Bulger said in his statement.