When you read about the Maine men and women who have stood at the centers of power in the Pine Tree State and in the United States since 1776, and even in the Revolutionary War itself, you see that our Susan Collins, Olympia Snowe, Mike Michaud and Tom Allen stand at the end of a long line of those who provided distinguished service to the state and the country.

Ultimately, their place in the Maine firmament invites comparisons with those who went before.

There is Gen. Knox, Washington’s chief of artillery and a major factor in his successful campaign to capture and hold Trenton, N.J., during that long winter at Valley Forge. And William King was one of the principal leaders of the separatist movement against Massachusetts, culminating on July 26, 1819, when Maine voted to split off from Massachusetts. He became Maine’s first governor.

One also shouldn’t forget Ester Biggs, who in 1854 declared, “What can women do in the great crusade? Woman can agitate the slavery question.”

Harriett Beecher Stowe did, her “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” galvanizing much of a nation against the evils of slavery. This prompted President Lincoln to supposedly say upon meeting her, “So you’re the little lady who started this big war.”

In Lincoln’s first administration, Maine’s Hannibal Hamlin was vice president during the Civil War, serving the state and the nation both before and after in the U.S. Senate. There was also Sen. William Pitt Fessenden, whose crucial vote saved the presidency of Andrew Johnson. His vote is thought by some to have cost Fessenden his life due to the ensuing stress caused by attacks on him by radical Republicans after that vote.

Maine also provided a number of men who became important generals during that war, including the celebrated Joshua Chamberlain, Adelbert Ames, Israel Washburn and the often-overlooked Oliver Otis Howard. After the war, Howard became head of the newly created Freedman’s Bureau in charge of the freed African-Americans, and he was the founder of Howard University.

And few Mainers loomed larger on the national scene following the American Civil War than James Blaine, editor of the Kennebec Journal and Republican political boss and eventual donor of the future home of Maine governors. Blaine came within a precious few electoral votes of winning the White House in 1884. He also contended for that office in 1876, 1880 and 1888, and had a distinguished career as U.S. Secretary of State.

Another impressive national figure from that era is Thomas Bracket Reed, known as “Czar” Reed when he was speaker of the U.S. House. Reed was the creator of the rules of order of that body, which still prevail today. A person of great integrity, he resigned his position in opposition to the imperialistic effort of the Spanish American War. He was also an early and outspoken champion of women’s rights and civil service reform.

The year 1889 was something of a high tide of influence in Washington with Maine men holding the positions of Chief Justice of the Supreme Court (Melville Fuller), president of the Senate (Eugene Hale), and chairman of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee (Nelson Dingley).

Paul Mills also provides an important nominee for this tradition. He adds Lillian M.N. Stevens, who from 1898 to 1914 was the president of the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union with 500,000 members nationwide. She also worked hard for women’s rights, especially the vote.

Also, Democrat Charles F. Johnson was chosen senator in 1911, the first Democrat to serve in the U.S. Senate since 1857. He later served on the prestigious U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston.

Sumner Sewall, who would become governor from 1941 to 1945, served with distinction in the World War I, becoming an air ace in combat by shooting down seven German planes.

And no list of Maine leaders and visionaries could omit Gov. Percival Baxter, who was governor from 1921 to 1925 and whose legacy includes the environmental essential of Maine, Baxter State Park – a truly enduring legacy.

We certainly can’t forget Lewiston’s own Louis J. Brann, who won two terms as governor in 1932 and 1934 at the height of the Depression. Brann was the only Democratic governor to be elected from 1914 until Edmund S. Muskie in 1954.

After World War II, the cast includes Edmund S. Muskie, of course, and Margaret Chase Smith, who both ushered in the modern period of Maine politics as the leaders against whom subsequent national figures such as Bill Cohen, George Mitchell, Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins, all major national figures in their own right, continue to be measured.

Margaret Chase Smith was also the first woman ever put into nomination for president of the United States (1964).

What do so many of the above all share? They were possessors of great courage, conviction and conscience and foresight. All served the state and all tried to do whatever they could, at whatever the personal cost and sacrifice, to advance the cause of Maine at the national level.

It’s a very impressive heritage.

Let’s hope that those running for office this year live up to that legacy.

Chris Potholm is professor of government at Bowdoin College, president of a national polling company and a writer, analyst and speaker on Maine’s political scene. He can be reached at The Potholm Group, 182 Hildreth Road, Harpswell, Maine 04079 or by e-mail at cpotholm@polar.bowdoin.edu.

Copy the Story Link