Whitey Bulger, the notorious Irish Gangster from South Boston was a Reagan Democrat. Who’d a thunk it. Here’s a funny quote about that:

Whitey bemoans the decline of unions, forgetting that his hero President Reagan played no small role in that.

But it didn’t really matter which side of the political spectrum you were on. If you opposed his political powerhouse brother Billy, you were the enemy. I mean that in terms of politics and street war.

And no political figure or family was beyond harassment:

Whitey liked the Kennedys, until he ­realized they were patrons of Arthur ­Garrity, the judge who foisted busing on Southie. Ted Kennedy’s defense of both busing and Garrity was the final straw. Whitey firebombed JFK’s birthplace in ­retaliation, spraypainting “Bus Teddy” on the sidewalk.

Note: Apologies, this article is behind a paywall! If I find the story syndicated elsewhere I’ll link it. Otherwise, feel free to click the link below, if you’ve never visited bostonglobe.com before, you’ll likely get the see the article.

Very interesting and short article, worth the read: Whitey: A Reagan Democrat - Metro - the Boston Globe