at the end of the war in 1945. Assignments included command of the Marine Corps contingent at Argentia, Newfoundland and Labrador, and the delivery of election ballots to military posts. After the war, he continued to serve in the military reserve, and was eventually promoted to commander. Governor of Massachusetts Dever lost the 1946 race for lieutenant governor, but two years later he defeated incumbent governor Robert F. Bradford in a Democratic landslide, which saw that party gain complete control of the state for the first time in the 20th century. He was the state's 58th governor, and won election to a second term in 1950, defeating the Republican candidate, former Lieutenant Governor Arthur W. Coolidge. During his tenure, Dever increased state aid to schools and issued an executive order to extend higher education benefits to Korean War veterans. Among his chief concerns were civil defense and resisting domestic communism. He supported legislation requiring school teachers to take loyalty oaths, and he advocated increasing old age and workers compensation insurance. He also introduced a graduated income tax, and introduced measures to improve the care and education of the state's mentally handicapped. A major statewide transportation infrastructure initiative, developed by Governor Bradford, was passed during his term. Under this plan, the state constructed Massachusetts Route 128, the Central Artery, and Storrow Drive. The first bond issue for this work was passed early in his term; it had previously been rejected by the Democratic legislature in Bradford's tenure. This and other major spending initiatives greatly exceeded the amount raised by new tax levies, and marked the start of an extended period of deficit spending by the state. In Dever's second term, transportation spending was further expanded, and he established the Massachusetts Turnpike Commission, which funded construction of the Massachusetts Turnpike through bonds paid off by tolls. Another major initiative undertaken during Dever's period in office was a significant expansion of the state's facilities for the mentally handicapped, which had suffered for many years from overcrowding and understaffing. Among the facilities built was the Myles Standish State School for the Mentally Retarded in Taunton, which was renamed the Paul A. Dever State School in his honor after his death. In 1952, Dever made an unsuccessful bid for the Democratic presidential nomination. Dever was also the keynote speaker at the 1952 Democratic National Convention; his speech, one of the first such speeches to be