Robert A. Hall

Robert A. Hall, served five terms in the Massachusetts State Senate.^[1]

Background and military career

Hall was born in Philadelphia, PA in 1946,^[1] graduated from Collingswood High School, Collingswood, NJ^[1] in 1964, and joined the Marine Corps that summer. He served four years from 1964 until 1968, including service in Vietnam as a Radio Relay Team Chief at Khe Sanh in 1967. Hall left the Corps as a Corporal in 1968 to attend college, but rejoined the Marine Reserves while in the Senate, serving from 1977 to 1983 as a radio operator and public information officer. He finally left the Corps in 1983 as a staff sergeant, due to time conflicts with his civilian profession, declining a commission as a Second Lieutenant at that time.

Hall earned an AA degree from Mount Wachusett Community College in Gardner, MA in 1970, where he served as Student Council President. He received a BA degree in Government from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where he was on the student senate, in 1972. While serving in the Massachusetts senate, Hall earned a MEd in History from Fitchburg State College in 1980, attending in the evening.

Political career

He was first elected in 1972, the year he graduated from U-Mass, by a margin of nine votes out of over 60,000 cast. He was the first Republican elected in what was then the Third Worcester District since 1938. The district comprised the cities of Fitchburg, Leominster and Gardner, and ten area towns. Hall lived in Lunenburg, MA when elected, later moving to Fitchburg.

Hall was re-elected in 1974 by a margin of 10,000 votes, carrying every city and town in the heavily Democratic district. In 1976, he was nominated by both parties, winning the Democratic primary on write-in votes against a Leominster City Councilor. He was unopposed in 1978, and easily won reelection in 1980, winning 78% of the vote against a Democrat from Gardner. Hall was appointed Assistant Minority Whip in 1978 and Minority Whip in 1980. Hall worked with members of both parties, and over 60 pieces of legislation he sponsored became law. He retired undefeated in 1982.

Life after politics

After leaving the Senate, Hall managed several trade associations, serving first as Executive Director of the Florida Psychological Association. From 2002 until 2007, Hall was Executive Director of the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry in Madison, WI. AACD is a professional association with 23 staff and 7,800 members in 60 countries. In 2008, he became Executive Director of the American Association of Hip and Knee Surgeons in Rosemont, IL.^[2] He has pulmonary fibrosis, an eventually-terminal lung disease. He retired in 2013.

Hall is active in Scottish activities, has traveled to Scotland over 20 times, and is co-designer of the Leatherneck Tartan for US Marines, a registered Scottish tartan.

Bibliography

A frequently published freelance writer, Hall’s columns, articles, short stories and poetry have appeared in over 50 local and national publications, and his collection of anecdotes about Association Management, the Marines & the Senate, The Good Bits, was published by Author House in 2005 (ISBN 978-1420888942).^[3] His articles on Association Management often appear in professional publications.

Urban Legend

He authored a piece on his blog giving a conservative's point of view about current liberal policies in US Government.^[4] This became a viral email that was falsely attributed to comedian Bill Cosby, who has since published a rebuttal.^[5][6]

References

External links

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