The late U.S. Senator Leverett Saltonstall was born in Newton, Massachusetts on September 1, 1892. He graduated from Harvard College in 1914 and received his law degree from Harvard in 1917. His 46 year political career began in 1920 when he was elected to the Newton Board of Aldermen and continued until 1966, when he retired after serving three six-year terms in the United States Senate. In 1921, he was appointed an assistant district attorney for Middlesex County and in 1922 he won a seat in the Massachusetts House of Representatives. After only three terms there, he was elected Speaker of the House by his fellow Republicans and served four terms as the presiding officer of the House. In 1938, he was elected Governor for the first of three consecutive terms before being elected to the Senate in 1944.

A member of one of New England's oldest families, he nonetheless possessed the common touch and was beloved by his family, friends and constituents. Richard E. Byrd, III is Leverett Saltonstall's grandson. He grew up in a house next door to his grandfather in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Like his grandfather, he is a Harvard graduate; he is a financial advisor in Boston, the father of three grown children, and the Captain and General Manager of the "Former Legends" hockey team. He still lives in Chestnut Hill with his family.