in full Lawrence Francis O'Brien, Jr.
born July 7, 1917, Springfield, Mass., U.S.
died Sept. 28, 1990, New York, N.Y.
U.S. political official.
He managed John F. Kennedy 's successful campaigns for the U.S. Senate (1952, 1958) and presidency (1960). He later served as Kennedy's special assistant (1961–65), as U.S. postmaster general (1965–68), as chairman of the Democratic National Committee (1968–69, 1970–73), and as commissioner of the National Basketball Association (1975–84).