O’Brien, Lawrence Francis (1917-1990), served as postmaster general of the United States from 1965 to 1968. He helped modernize the postal system and turn the Post Office Department (later the United States Postal Service) into a semiprivate corporation. From 1961 to 1965, he was a special assistant in charge of congressional relations to Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson. O’Brien served as chairman of the Democratic National Committee in 1968 and 1969, and from 1970 to 1972. O’Brien served as commissioner of the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1975 to 1984. He was born in Springfield, Massachusetts, on July 7, 1917. He died on Sept. 29, 1990.
