Powers (John) is born in South Boston.

The son of streetcar motorman and his wife, John Powers grows up in South Boston, marries Dorothy Hutton, and, after her death, Alice Pokco, and lives at 158 M Street. He serves in Massachusetts House of Representatives (1939-46), the Massachusetts Senate (1948-64), is elected the first Democratic senate president in 1959,* and serves as clerk of the Supreme Judicial Court (1964-88). Powers runs unsuccessfully for mayor in 1955* and 1959.* He dies in Hyannis on August 1, 1998, and is buried in St. Francis Xavier Cemetery.