- His wife, the former Mary Josephine Hannon (October 31, 1865 - August 8, 1964), was his second cousin. She is the only person to live to see a grandchild become President of the United States, when her grandson John F. Kennedy was inaugurated on January 20, 1961. Sadly, she also became the first grandparent of an American president to see him assassinated.
- Became the first native-born Irish-American Catholic to be elected Mayor of Boston in 1906.
- A Democrat, he was mayor of Boston from 1906 to 1908, when he was defeated by George A. Hibbard, then from 1910-1914, when he was succeeded by fellow Democrat James Michael Curley.
- He served in the U.S. House of Representatives from Massachusetts's 9th congressional district from 1895 to 1901 and as a member from Massachusetts's 10th congressional district from March 14th to October 23rd 1919.
- An enthusiastic baseball fan, he was a member of the Royal Rooters, a fabled group of rabid baseball fans who supported The Hub's two baseball teams, the Boston Braves and the Red Sox. The Royal Rooters became particularly associated with the Red Sox, which was the first baseball dynasty of the 20th Century, winning World Series titles in 1903, 1912, 1915, 1916 and 1918. (The National League's Braves won the 1914 World Series.) Honey Fitz eventually served as chairman of the Royal Rooters, who would attend Red Sox games singing the song "Tessie". As mayor of Boston, he had the honor of throwing out the ceremonial opening pitch at the first game at the then-brand new Fenway Park on April 20, 1912. (He also threw out the first pitch as the 1912 World Series.) One hundred years to the day, his grandson Tom Fitzgerald and his great-granddaughter Caroline Kennedy (the daughter of his grandson and namesake President John F. Kennedy) threw out the first pitch during Fenway Park's 100th anniversary celebration.
- Great-great-grandfather of Katherine Schwarzenegger and Patrick Schwarzenegger.
- Father of Rose Kennedy. Father-in-law of Joseph P. Kennedy.
- Great-Grandfather of Maria Shriver, Tim Shriver, Robert Shriver, Mark Shriver, Anthony Shriver, Rory Kennedy, John Kennedy Jr., Christopher Lawford, Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, Joseph Kennedy, Patrick Joseph Kennedy II, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Kerry Kennedy, Michael LeMoyne Kennedy, Maxwell Kennedy, William Kennedy Smith, Kara Kennedy, Ted Kennedy Jr., and Caroline Kennedy.
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