Born in New Haven, Connecticut and educated at Yale, Furcolo practiced law before serving in the United States Navy during World War II.

He first won election to Congress in 1948, and served most of two terms, resigning after being appointed Massachusetts Treasurer in 1952 by Governor Paul A. Dever.

He was the author of several books, including a novel set amid events surrounding the World War II Katyn massacre.

During World War II he served in U.S. Navy as a lieutenant (junior grade) aboard USS Kershaw, a transport vessel in the Pacific, which participated in the Invasion of Okinawa.

[9] In 1946 Furcolo stood for election as a Democratic Party candidate for the 2nd Congressional District seat, running against incumbent Charles R. Clason.

[1] He drew national attention when he was the first freshman representative to be invited to the White House by President Harry S. Truman to discuss legislative matters.

[3] He innovatively introduced the idea of a "people's council", composed of individuals from a cross-section of his district's interests, which he could consult to gauge opinion on legislative matters.

[14] His major legislative proposal, introduced early in his first term, was for a scholarship loan program to help needy high school graduates attend college.

[16] In 1951 Furcolo was appointed to a special committee established to investigate reports of mass killings of Polish military officers and intelligentsia by the Soviets during World War II in the Katyn Forest.

[18] The committee concluded that the killings had been perpetrated by the Soviet secret service (NKVD), and sought to bring a case before the International Court of Justice.

[20] On July 5, 1952, Furcolo was appointed by Governor Paul A. Dever to be the Treasurer of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts,[21] to replace John E. Hurley, who had resigned to accept a position as clerk of the Boston Municipal Court.

[3] In November 1952, Furcolo was elected in his own right to the Treasurer's office despite Dever's loss of the governor's seat; he held that position until January 1955.

Furcolo was further characterized by Republicans as a part of the Dever political machine who would be beholden to Boston interests.

This was particularly manifested in his push for a broad-based sales tax, opposition to which had been enshrined in the Democratic Party platform; the proposal went down to bipartisan defeat in the legislature.

[22][33] During his administration, Furcolo established a network of regional community colleges throughout the Commonwealth, and fought for increases in state worker salaries, as well as improvements in workmen's compensation and unemployment benefits.

[32] Furcolo was an influential figure in the development of Boston's Government Center area as a nexus of local, federal and state offices.

He was the first to propose that a federal office building planned for the Back Bay area of the city instead become part of a major redevelopment effort in the declining Scollay Square neighborhood.

Prudential Insurance sought limitations on Boston's tax assessments on the proposed development, and portions of the site were also being considered for use as an extension of the Massachusetts Turnpike.

The Supreme Judicial Court struck down aspects of the deal regarding the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA, now the MBTA), leading to a work stoppage on the project in 1960.

[39] A second major scandal, involving collusion between state public works officials, appraisers and landowners along planned interstate highway routes, took place in the 1950s.

Details of the scams, described by politicians at that time as "the granddaddy" of highway-related malfeasance, were squelched by a Democratic-controlled Congressional investigation until after the 1960 election, apparently to avoid embarrassing Kennedy in his run for president.

The Kennedys wanted the seat to go to younger brother Edward (as it eventually did in the November 1962 special election), but he was ineligible due to age at the time of the appointment.

[51] He was awarded the Order of Polonia Restituta by the government of Poland for his role in the investigation of Katyn, and he also received the Italian Star of Solidarity.