Facts: - title: mayor of cambridge , massachusetts - successor: barbara ackermann thomas danehy leonard j. russell alice wolf - death date: 2002 - predecessor: walter sullivan walter j. sullivan francis duehay walter sullivan - term end: 1971 1977 1983 1989 - birth date: 1915 - term start: 1970 1976 1982 1988 - name: alfred vellucci - birth place: somerville , massachusetts Based on these bullet points, write a short biography describing the life of alfred vellucci .
alfred e. vellucci -lrb- 1915 -- 2002 -rrb- was an american politician who served as the mayor of cambridge , massachusetts .he served four non-consecutive terms as mayor , and was known for his often antagonistic relationship with harvard university .vellucci was born in somerville , massachusetts .his father died when vellucci was in sixth grade , and he dropped out of school soon afterwards .he initially worked as a messenger for western union before becoming a candy bar deliveryman .he later opened a sandwich store .he lived in east cambridge for much of his life .in 1951 vellucci was elected to the cambridge school committee .four years later he was elected to the cambridge city council .he served on the city council for 34 years .in 1989 he was re-elected to the cambridge school committee for one term .he was elected to his first two-year term mayor of cambridge in 1971 , and was also elected in 1976 , 1982 , and 1988 .in 1991 he ran for election to the city council but failed to win a seat .he often focused on providing services to his constituents and was skilled at grass roots campaigning .he claimed credit for promoting commercial development , such as the cambridgeside galleria mall .while he was in office , vellucci served as an independent and promoted both liberal and conservative policies .he supported increased public housing and rent control , but also supported corporate tax cuts .he also was openly critical of anti-war protesters during the vietnam war .in addition , he opposed condom distribution in schools .an italian american , vellucci was opposed to the idea that leif ericcson , rather than christopher columbus , discovered america .after a group of scholars from harvard promoted the claim that ericcson discovered america , he proposed a motion to the cambridge city council that officially renamed harvard square to columbus square .he also planted a large tree in front of the harvard lampoon building , claiming that it was an eyesore and arguing that the '' harvard...