John Anthony Volpe (/ˈvoʊlpi/ VOHL-pee; December 8, 1908 – November 11, 1994) was an American businessman, diplomat, and politician from Massachusetts.

[1] As Secretary of Transportation, Volpe was an important figure in the development of the Interstate Highway System at the federal level.

[2] He was the son of Italian immigrants Vito and Filomena (née Benedetto) Volpe, who had come from Pescosansonesco, Abruzzo[3] to Boston's North End on the SS Canopic in 1905; his father was in the construction business.

[3] During World War II, he volunteered to serve stateside as a United States Navy Seabees training officer, enlisting with the rank of lieutenant commander.

In 1962, Volpe was narrowly defeated for reelection, losing to former Governor's Councillor and JFK friend Endicott Peabody.

In 1966, Volpe was elected to the first four-year term in Massachusetts history, defeating former Massachusetts Attorney General Edward J. McCormack, Jr. During his administrations, Volpe signed legislation to ban racial imbalances in education, reorganize the state's Board of Education, liberalize birth control laws, and increase public housing for low-income families.

Governor Volpe also raised revenues, engaging in a long and ultimately successful fight to institute a three percent state sales tax.

[7] On April 1, 1965, a special committee appointed by Massachusetts Education Commissioner Owen Kiernan released its final report finding that more than half of black students enrolled in Boston Public Schools (BPS) attended institutions with enrollments that were at least 80 percent black and that housing segregation in the city had caused the racial imbalance.

[19] In 1968, Volpe stood unsuccessfully as a "favorite son" candidate in the Massachusetts Republican presidential primary.

During his tenure, Volpe abandoned previous positions supportive of unfettered highway construction, instead pushing for a more balanced approach to the nation's transportation infrastructure.

He was notably instrumental in effectively ending attempts to revive Boston's failed Inner Belt project, which he had promoted as highway administrator.