The party's longtime boss, Meade H. Esposito, was legendary for his ability to influence the upper rungs of city and state government.

He retains the strong backing of his longtime boss, William B. Harrison Jr., Chemical's vice chairman.

Timothy "Big Tim" Sullivan, longtime political boss of Tammany Hall, is committed to a sanitarium.

Houston-based Enron and its longtime boss, Kenneth W. Lay, were top supporters of President Bush.

Franz-Josef Strauss, the longtime boss of Bavaria, was a deeply conservative man, a cold warrior.

In pleading guilty to fraud charges, Mr. Radler, the company's former president, agreed to cooperate with the continuing investigation of Lord Black, his longtime boss.

His longtime boss and the Jets' former coach, Bill Parcells, did not make the trip.

The formerly powerful Philadelphia mob has been in disarray since the killing in 1980 of its longtime boss, Angelo Bruno.

As he nears retirement and grooms his 32-year-old son, Jonathan, to succeed him, the family of his longtime boss is trying to depose him.

Its eroding power base intensified the jockeying within the union to succeed Mr. Zwickel, its longtime boss.