Antique Black and White Postcard, circa 1912. Divided back, unused. Condition: Very Good. Comments: William Henry O'Connell (December 8, 1859 - April 22, 1944) was an American cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. On February 8, 1901, O'Connell was appointed the third Bishop of Portland, Maine, by Pope Leo XIII. Upon his arrival in Maine, he was given an official reception by Governor John F. Hill. He served as Archbishop of Boston from 1907 until his death, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1911. O'Connell wielded immense political and social power in Massachusetts, earning him the nickname, "Number One." For instance, he was responsible for defeating a bill to establish a state lottery in 1935, and for defeating a referendum liberalizing state birth control laws in 1942. The only politician who had anywhere near O'Connell's political clout was Governor (and future U.S. President) Calvin Coolidge, but even Coolidge picked his battles carefully, preferring to ignore the Archbishop whenever possible. In the years leading up to the Second World War O'Connell became a powerful force for the neutralists in trying to keep the United States out of World War II, in the pre-Pearl Harbor era.