Richard Cardinal Cushing

His Eminence Richard James Cushing
Cardinal, Archbishop emeritus of Boston
See	Boston
Installed	September 25, 1944
Term ended	September 8, 1970
Predecessor	William Henry O'Connell
Successor	Humberto Sousa Medeiros
Other posts	Cardinal-Priest of Santa Susanna
Orders
Ordination	May 26, 1921 by William Henry O'Connell
Consecration	June 29, 1939 by William Henry O'Connell
Created Cardinal	December 15, 1958 by John XXIII
Rank	Cardinal-Priest
Personal details
Birth name	Richard James Cushing
Born	(1895-08-24)August 24, 1895 Boston, Massachusetts
Died	November 2, 1970(1970-11-02) (aged 75) Boston, Massachusetts
Previous post	Auxiliary Bishop of Boston (1939-1944)
Motto	UT COGNOSCANT TE (THAT THEY MAY KNOW THEE)
Coat of arms

Richard James Cushing (August 24, 1895 – November 2, 1970) was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of Boston from 1944 to 1970, and was created a cardinal in 1958. Cushing's main role was as fundraiser and builder of new churches, schools, and institutions. He was on good terms with practically the entire Boston elite, as he softened the traditional confrontation between the Catholic Irish and the Protestant upper-class. Cushing built useful relationships with Jews, Protestants, and institutions outside the usual Catholic community. He helped presidential candidate John F. Kennedy deflect fears of papal interference in American government if a Catholic became president. Cushing's high energy level allowed him to meet with many people all day, often giving lengthy speeches at night. Cushing was not efficient at business affairs, and when expenses built up he counted on his fund-raising skills instead of cost-cutting. Cushing, says Nasaw, was “fun-loving, informal, and outgoing. He looked rather like a tough, handsome, Irish cop and behaved more like a ward politician than a high church cleric.” His major weakness in retrospect was overexpansion, adding new institutions that could not be sustained in the long run and had to be cut back by his successors.

Cushing was born in South Boston on August 24, 1895. The third of five children, he was the son of Patrick and Mary (née Dahill) Cushing. His parents were both Irish immigrants; his father was originally from Glanworth, County Cork, and his mother from Touraneena, County Waterford. His father, who came to the United States in 1880, worked as a blacksmith and earned $18 per week in the trolley repair pits of the Boston Elevated Railway.

Cushing received his early education at Perry Public Grammar School in the City Point section of South Boston, since there was then no parochial school for boys in Gate of Heaven Parish. Cushing dropped out of high school in his freshman year because of his compulsive truancy. He subsequently entered Boston College High School, a Jesuit college preparatory school. His tuition there was paid by his cousin, who was a priest of the Archdiocese of New York. He graduated from high school in 1913, receiving honors for Latin and Greek. Cushing was torn for a time between religion and politics. He originally wanted to be a politician, even earning money by speaking for politicians from the back of wagons. He twice considered joining the Jesuits, but came to the conclusion he "was cut out more for the active life and not the teaching apostolate."