William Michael Bulger (born February 2, 1934) is an American former Democratic politician, lawyer, and educator from South Boston, Massachusetts.

Bulger was the younger brother of the convicted mob boss James "Whitey" Bulger, who led the Winter Hill Gang, and he received harsh criticism for refusing to distance himself from his brother, who was convicted of participating in 11 murders and sentenced to life in prison, or to cooperate with authorities after he became a fugitive.

After settling in Everett, Massachusetts, James Sr. married Jane Veronica "Jean" McCarthy, a first-generation Irish immigrant.

Bulger's father worked as a union laborer and occasional longshoreman; he lost his arm in an industrial accident and the family was reduced to poverty.

[5] In May 1938, when Bulger was four years old, the family moved to South Boston's Old Harbor Village housing project, soon after it opened.

He served from September 1953 to November 1955, then returned to Boston College, completing his undergraduate degree in English Literature with the help of the G.I.

Like other Massachusetts politicians who were elected leaders of their legislative chambers, Bulger was frequently pilloried in the media, but remained very popular in his district.

[9][10] For many years, Bulger hosted the annual St. Patrick's Day Breakfast in South Boston; it is a "roast" of politicians.

During the 1980s, he advocated funding of public libraries, the expansion of childhood nutrition services and fuel assistance programs.

As Senate president, Bulger led the debate on welfare reform in the early 1990s, with the resulting legislation becoming the model for a national law.

[13] In 1989, a close associate of Bulger, Thomas Finnerty, was accused of extorting $500,000 from a real estate developer, Harold Brown.

William Bulger lived next door to a house owned by one of his brother's associates, "where the gang hatched plots, stored an arsenal of weapons and even committed murder.

Bulger claimed that he did not know that his brother was involved in murder or with narcotics and even denied that he’d ever heard of the Winter Hill Gang.

"[1] At the hearing, Bulger revealed that he went to an arranged location in 1995 to take a call from his fugitive brother, apparently to avoid electronic eavesdropping.

Bulger came under harsh criticism for evasiveness, and Governor Mitt Romney, among others, demanded his resignation as president of the University of Massachusetts.

[20] Months later, the committee report found Bulger's testimony "inconsistent" about whether the FBI had contacted him in the search for his fugitive brother.