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Paul William Cronin (March 14, 1938 - April 5, 1997) was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Massachusetts.

Cronin was born in Boston, Massachusetts on March 14, 1938 and graduated from Boston University in 1962 and Harvard Business School in 1969. He served as an Andover, Massachusetts selectman, and member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives from 1967-1969. Before his election to Congress, he was also served as a membef of Rep. F. Bradford Morse's Congressional Staff, and as a delegate to Republican National Conventions in both 1968 and 1972. In 1973, he was elected as a Republican to the Ninety-third Congress, defeating a young future US Senator and Presidential candidate John Kerry, who moved to the district the same year after Rep. Morse's resignation to take a post at the United Nations. Cronin's victory was a huge upset against the anti-war candidate Kerry. He had trailed at one point by more than 20%, and his victory was often accredited to harsh attacks by The Lowell Sun, which attacked Kerry for being an elitist carpetbagger and for his questioning of the patriotism of those who supported the war. Cronin's victory in 1972 would be the last time a Republican would win in the 5th Congressional District. Two year later he would be defeated by another future US Senator from Massachusetts, Paul Tsongas. Cronin later in life would serve a number of positions at MassPort, and in 1992 even tried his chances again to regain his seat against a weak Incumbent Chester G. Atkins. However, Atkins would be defeated in the primary by an up and coming Democratic star, Martin T. Meehan who would handily defeat Cronin in the General Election. At the age of 59 and after a long battle with cancer, Cronin died on on April 5, 1997, at his home in Andover, Massachusetts, and was buried in Spring Grove Cemetery in Andover.

Source:

• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress