Dukakis was born Katharine Dickson in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the daughter of Jane (née Goldberg) and Harry Ellis Dickson.
Her paternal grandparents were Russian Jews; her mother was born to an Irish Catholic father and a Hungarian Jewish mother, and had been adopted by a family of German Jewish descent.
Dukakis' father was a member of the first violin section of the Boston Symphony Orchestra for 49 years and also served as Associate Conductor of the Boston Pops Orchestra.
At age 19, she dropped out of college to marry John Chaffetz.
They had one son, John.
The marriage did not last and she moved to Brookline.
Her former husband later remarried and had a son, Jason Chaffetz, who was a Republican Congressman from Utah.
Dukakis received her B.A. from Lesley College in 1963, the same year she married Michael Dukakis.
She received a M.A. degree from Boston University College of Communication in 1982.

During the 1988 presidential election, a number of false rumors were reported in the media about the Dukakises, including the claim by Idaho Republican Senator Steve Symms that Katharine Dukakis had burned a United States flag to protest the Vietnam War.
Republican strategist Lee Atwater was accused of having initiated these rumors.

In 1989, Dukakis was briefly hospitalized after drinking rubbing alcohol.
In 1991, Dukakis published her memoir, Now You Know, in which she candidly discussed her ongoing battle with alcoholism.
The book also discussed the pressures of being a political wife, and her disappointment over her husband's defeat in the 1988 election.
In the mid-90s,  Dukakis graduated from the Boston University School of Social Work with a master's degree in Social Work, successfully performing her practicum at Charles River Hospital in Wellesley, Massachusetts.
In 2006, she revealed having undergone electroconvulsive therapy treatment beginning in 2001 in order to treat major depression, publishing her experiences in the book Shock.
Dukakis is a leading proponent of using ECT to treat depression.

In 2007, the Lemuel Shattuck Hospital in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts, opened a center for addiction treatment named after Dukakis.

Dukakis appears in the 2008 documentary on Lee Atwater, Boogie Man: The Lee Atwater Story.

As of 2016, Kitty and Michael Dukakis continue to reside primarily in the home that they bought in the early 1970s in Brookline, Massachusetts, but they also spend winters in Los Angeles.
Dukakis was born Katharine Dickson in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the daughter of Jane (née Goldberg) and Harry Ellis Dickson. Her paternal grandparents were Russian Jews; her mother was born to an Irish Catholic father and a Hungarian Jewish mother, and had been adopted by a family of German Jewish descent. Dukakis' father was a member of the first violin section of the Boston Symphony Orchestra for 49 years and also served as Associate Conductor of the Boston Pops Orchestra. At age 19, she dropped out of college to marry John Chaffetz. They had one son, John. The marriage did not last and she moved to Brookline. Her former husband later remarried and had a son, Jason Chaffetz, who was a Republican Congressman from Utah. Dukakis received her B.A. from Lesley College in 1963, the same year she married Michael Dukakis. She received a M.A. degree from Boston University College of Communication in 1982.
During the 1988 presidential election, a number of false rumors were reported in the media about the Dukakises, including the claim by Idaho Republican Senator Steve Symms that Katharine Dukakis had burned a United States flag to protest the Vietnam War. Republican strategist Lee Atwater was accused of having initiated these rumors.
In 1989, Dukakis was briefly hospitalized after drinking rubbing alcohol. In 1991, Dukakis published her memoir, Now You Know, in which she candidly discussed her ongoing battle with alcoholism. The book also discussed the pressures of being a political wife, and her disappointment over her husband's defeat in the 1988 election. In the mid-90s,  Dukakis graduated from the Boston University School of Social Work with a master's degree in Social Work, successfully performing her practicum at Charles River Hospital in Wellesley, Massachusetts. In 2006, she revealed having undergone electroconvulsive therapy treatment beginning in 2001 in order to treat major depression, publishing her experiences in the book Shock. Dukakis is a leading proponent of using ECT to treat depression.
In 2007, the Lemuel Shattuck Hospital in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts, opened a center for addiction treatment named after Dukakis.
Dukakis appears in the 2008 documentary on Lee Atwater, Boogie Man: The Lee Atwater Story.
As of 2016, Kitty and Michael Dukakis continue to reside primarily in the home that they bought in the early 1970s in Brookline, Massachusetts, but they also spend winters in Los Angeles.
Kitty Dukakis