Alum Picked for U.S. Attorney

A conservative Boston lawyer and Harvard alumnus is expected to receive Attorney General Edwin Meese III's nomination for U.S. Attorney in Massachusetts.

Frank L. McNamara '69, a former Navy officer and Pentagon intelligence officer, will be formally nominated in the next few days, the Boston Globe reported Thursday. He faces Senate confirmation before assuming the office.

He would replace U.S. Attorney William Weld, who was recently promoted to head of the Federal justice system's criminal division. The Massachusetts U.S. Attorney coordinates all prosecution for Federal law, including investigations on charges such as racketeering. The position is considered a valuable political foothold.

The 38-year-old lawyer's varied career includes Vietnam, service as a social aide to President Nixon, and the Massachusetts chairmanship of Citizens for America, a national conservative political action committee.

His views, similar to those of the President, became visible during his bid to unseat possibly the most popular incumbent Congressman in the state, Thomas P. "Tip" O'Neill. One observer suggested that this politically risky move had won him points with the national Republican leadership.

After graduation from the University of Virginia Law School in 1976, McNamara has worked as a lawyer for the Boston Gas Company and became a founding partner of a firm after his 1982 run for Congress.

James Shannon, the former Democratic Congressman who is given a strong chance to become the next Attorney General, released a statement hoping for "the same kind of working relationship enjoyed by Frank Bellotti and Bill Weld," supposing that he and McNamara became the successors to Attorney General Francis X. Belloti and U.S. Attorney William Weld.

Like many others asked to comment on the appointment, he did not criticize McNamara's views directly, nor did he discuss their possible impact on the office.

Attorney and Democratic party activist Lawrence DiCara '71 expressed respect for the nominee, although he said, "I know Frank, and we disagree on all the important issues." DiCara, who has known him for ten years, said, "every U.S. attorney brings a personality to the office," but he said he doubted McNamara's views would alienate either liberal colleagues or former rivals for the office.

He said Bellotti and Weld had maintained their productive relationship despite the fact that Weld opposed Bellotti for his seat in 1978, winning only two small towns in the Commonwealth.

Law Professor Alan M. Dershowitz commented that although McNamara could have an "enormous" impact on the traditionally liberal state through his position, he believed the office would retain a tradition of high quality and would see few ideological changes. "If you have high standards, you can't push it either way politically," he said.

Political consultant Jack Flannery, a former aide to Republican Governor Francis Sargent, called the impending appointment less a victory for the state's Republicans than "a victory for Massachusetts Reaganites."

The dwindling moderate contingent within the state's lagging second party, including party chief Andrew S. Natsios, had reportedly favored another candidate for the office--former Massachusetts Bar Association President Wayne A. Budd. Two other candidates were Robert S. Mueller Jr., now the state's first assistant U.S. attorney, and Jeremiah T. O'Sullivan, who heads the Justice Department's Organized Strike Force.