the broader public. His administration worked to promote public housing for veterans and prevent alcoholism through treatment and prevention programs. In 1947, he chaired the "Silent Guest" program in which Americans were encouraged to donate the cash equivalent of one setting of Thanksgiving dinner to the starving poor in post-war Europe. He also introduced a master plan for improving the state's roadways, and enacted legislation to greatly expand the state's agricultural school in Amherst, which was renamed University of Massachusetts, Amherst. The funding plan for the highway plan involved the floating of bond, and was rejected by the Democratic-controlled legislature but approved under his successor, Democrat Paul A. Dever. Bradford was defeated in his bid for re-election in 1948 by Dever, a former Massachusetts Attorney General, in a Democratic landslide. After politics After leaving office, Bradford returned to the private practice of law. He was also involved in charitable, philanthropic, and educational organizations, serving as President of Planned Parenthood of Massachusetts, on the boards of Harvard and Simmons Colleges, and on the board of Massachusetts Eye and Ear. 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. Composer Leroy Anderson, who wrote such classics as "Sleigh Ride" and "Blue Tango", wrote a piece entitled "Governor Bradford March". It was premiered on July 6, 1948, in a concert by the Boston Pops Orchestra under the direction of Arthur Fiedler, at which Governor Bradford made a special appearance. He died on March 18, 1983, in Boston, Massachusetts, and was buried at Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, Magnolia Avenue, Lot 3112. 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. References Sources Republican Party governors of Massachusetts 1902 births 1983 deaths American people of English descent Harvard Law School alumni Politicians from Boston District attorneys in Middlesex County, Massachusetts Lieutenant Governors of Massachusetts Buckingham Browne & Nichols School alumni 20th-century American politicians