William Delahunt

In late May 2017, Delahunt became the acting director of the Harvard Institute of Politics.

In the 110th Congress, Delahunt served as Chairman of the United States House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on International Organizations, Human Rights, and Oversight.

He won re-election six times with at least 32 percentage points. His retirement was confirmed on March 4, 2010, by The Boston Globe. Shortly before the announcement of his retirement, it was discovered that Delahunt, while serving as district attorney for Norfolk County, Massachusetts, had refused to file charges against Amy Bishop for shooting and killing her brother in 1986. On February 12, 2010, Bishop murdered three of her colleagues at the University of Alabama in Huntsville after being denied tenure.

In November 2005, he met with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to arrange an assistance program in which Venezuela would supply winter home heating oil at a 40 percent price reduction to thousands of low-income Massachusetts residents. The program, which has since been expanded to help 500,000 people across the U.S., was carried out via the Venezuelan owned Citgo, and brought accusations that Delahunt was assisting an anti-American leader. Delahunt, however, has sometimes criticized Chavez, such as in a September 2006 letter expressing "profound disgust" at a speech given by Chavez to the United Nations, in which he personally attacked President George W. Bush. In the letter he urged that Chavez express disagreements "in a more constructive manner."

In 1996, Democratic Congressman Gerry Studds decided to retire. Delahunt decided to run for Massachusetts's 10th congressional district. On September 17, 1996, Delahunt won the Democratic primary election with a plurality of 38% of the vote. He won the Plymouth County portion of the district, while losing the Norfolk County portion. He narrowly defeated state legislator Philip W Johnston of Marshfield by just 119 votes after a recount, which was conducted in a handful of contested towns. Following the recount, Delahunt sought judicial review in the Massachusetts Superior Court. After reviewing about 900 ballots, Judge Elizabeth B. Donovan declared Delahunt the victor. The case was appealed to the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, which upheld the lower court ruling. The case is also noteworthy for the issue of "hanging chads" in punch-card voting machines. On November 5, 1996, Delahunt defeated Republican state Representative Edward B. Teague III 54%-42%.

He and his wife, Katharina E. Delahunt, divorced in 1986. They have one daughter, Kristin, and adopted another, Kara Mai (née Nguyen Mai Tai Trang), from Vietnam in 1975. While Congress was in session, Delahunt lived in a rented house with fellow Democratic politicians George Miller, Chuck Schumer, and Richard Durbin.

Born in Quincy, Massachusetts, Delahunt was educated at Thayer Academy, Middlebury College and Boston College Law School and later served as a radarman (RD3) in the United States Coast Guard Reserve. He served a term in the Massachusetts House of Representatives (1973–75) before serving as district attorney of Norfolk County for more than 20 years.

William David Delahunt (born July 18, 1941) is an American lawyer and politician from Massachusetts. He is a former U.S. Representative for Massachusetts's 10th congressional district , serving from 1997 to 2011. He is a member of the Democratic Party. Delahunt did not seek re-election in 2010, and left Congress in January 2011. He was replaced by Norfolk County District Attorney Bill Keating. He is currently an attorney with the firm of Eckert Seamans Cherin & Mellott.