Dan Winslow (LA '80) claims that he is someone who is "used to adversity." This characterization is fitting considering his position as senior advisor and former chief legal counsel to Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, in which he was responsible for acting as the governor's judicial representative as well as overseeing a unit of 830 lawyers in the executive branch agencies.
Winslow stepped down as chief legal counsel on Sept. 24. Winslow's penchant for contention, however, emerged long before he began working for the governor during his years as an undergrad at Tufts in the late 1970s.
Winslow grew up in Amherst, Mass., which he describes as a liberal college town whose residents possess a high level of social consciousness and activism. In his first few years at Tufts, Winslow registered as an independent, and worked on a number of Democratic campaigns, but eventually he began to gravitate toward a Republican ideology.
"In Massachusetts, the establishment and the status quo was heavily Democratic, and I felt that it wasn't working," Winslow said. "I was drawn to the Republican philosophy, which values individual liberty over the values of society."
Winslow was also attracted to the idea of going against the status quo and "being a contrarian." According to Winslow, to be a conformist in Massachusetts consisted of being a Democrat, whereas "if you wanted to be anti-establishment, you were a Republican."
Winslow became known for challenging the status quo throughout his four years at Tufts. He served as parliamentarian of the TCU Senate, president of the Inter-Dormitory Council, and student representative to the Buildings and Grounds Committee.
His efforts in these posts helped to bring about changes to the Tufts campus that current students continue to enjoy, including the creation of the campus' blue police lights. Winslow also lent his efforts to the student referendum to create a campus center where "uphill" and "downhill" met, which resulted successfully in the construction of the Mayer Campus Center.
As a student leader at Tufts, Winslow was at the forefront of student activism. He was involved in a demonstration against unfair tuition increases that was covered by NBC News and broadcast on national television as the largest college protest since the Vietnam War.
Winslow describes his fellow students as "very politically involved and socially aware," and maintains that he "was very proud of the high level of activism" on the Tufts campus.
Winslow's dynamism, energy and leadership skills carried him to success after he graduated from Tufts in 1980. He most recently served as a district court judge in Wrentham, Mass., as well as an associate justice on the Southern Appellate Division of the District Court Department before resigning his lifetime post to serve as chief legal counsel to the governor.
"I stepped off the bench to join the administration because I felt that I would be able to add energy and make a difference in Massachusetts," he said. "I wanted to show my confidence in the governor's ability as a leader, and I wanted to lend my abilities to the significant challenges that we confronted in our state at the time, including terrorism and a fiscal meltdown."
As chief legal counsel and senior advisor to Romney, Winslow assumed responsibility for a number of issues, including the recent gay marriage controversy. Massachusetts began to extend the legal right of marriage to same-sex couples about a year into Winslow's tenure after a court directive, and he acquired the majority of the responsibility to oversee the implementation of gay marriage, which he describes as "a huge challenge."
"The governor is greatly opposed to gay marriage, but has sworn to uphold the laws of the commonwealth," Winslow said. "The challenge was to keep in mind that people have very strong, heartfelt and passionate views about gay marriage. It was difficult because people would be in tears on both sides of the issue, and I had to remind them that they were serving in public capacities, and they had to follow the law and do their jobs."
Despite the divisive and emotional nature of the issue and "the potential for the discussion to turn hateful," Winslow said he stuck to his objective of following the law. "We were able to make sure that the discussion remained respectful, and we were able to address future issues such as birth certificates for same-sex couples, division of the states on the issues, and specific Massachusetts marriage laws."
Massachusetts is unique as the only state that extends marriage rights to same-sex couples.
Winslow has also published a number of works, including a study of the Massachusetts courts entitled "Justice Delayed," and his most recent work, "Crime and Consequence: The Collateral Effects of Criminal Conduct," which was published early in 2002.
Winslow's decision to publish his ideas was motivated in part by an incident in 1990 when he was involved in town government, in which a strip mall developer bombed Winslow's house in reaction to his revisions of the local zoning code from conventional strip zoning to traditional New England zoning.
Winslow views this incident as "a very telling, stark example of a violent reaction to the power of ideas," which he believes are necessary to bring about meaningful change in society.
"My philosophy about ideas is that they are the means by which we move society forward, and they should never be the end of the debate but rather the beginning of discussion," he said. "I found that writing articles or books was a way to place my ideas into a larger forum, and I feel that if people have ideas of how to eliminate society's ills, they should put them out on the table."
Winslow added that his emphasis on the importance of ideas to create change has been the driving force behind much of the writing that he has done.
"I strongly believe that if decent, hardworking people don't get involved in government, then the government won't be decent, honest and hardworking."
Winslow will be leaving his post as senior advisor in the administration at the end of the year, and he will most likely go to work for a law firm in Massachusetts, although he has not yet solidified his future plans.
While he pledged to maintain his focus on local issues, Winslow expressed confidence in the abilities of the national Republican administration - which may in fact be the new status quo - to lead the country and bring about the kind of meaningful change that he writes about.
"1955 was the last time the Republicans had this kind of sway in all branches of the government, and I think there is a greater confidence in the changing world of terrorist threats to have a Republican hand at the helm," he said. "I believe the potential is there, and I am interested to see if the Republicans seize the mantle and create meaningful positive change."
