[2] Sullivan began his political career in 1934 as an unsuccessful candidate for the Massachusetts House of Representatives.

[3] Sullivan managed Foster Furcolo's campaign in Suffolk County during the 1956 gubernatorial election.

[5] In 1961, CBS aired a program called "Biography of a Bookie Joint", which showed police officers entering and exiting Swartz's Key Shop, an illegal gambling parlor.

[6] After the broadcast, Governor John A. Volpe hired James D. St. Clair to prepare removal proceedings against Sullivan.

[7] After Sullivan refused to resign, Volpe brought him before the Massachusetts Governor's Council's on charges of splitting renovation and repair contracts, failing to advertise contract bids, engaging in the insurance business while serving as commissioner, and neglecting his duty by not ordering an investigation into the officers who were filmed visiting Swartz's Key Shop.