Former Maine Gov. John H. Reed, who died Oct. 31 at age 91, will be remembered as a kind man whose passion for public service transcended political party lines. The Fort Fairfield native’s legacy of working across political party lines for the betterment of people in Maine and the nation proves particularly poignant at a time when pre-election partisan sniping dominates political discourse.
We urge Democrats, Republicans and independents to devote a few minutes to studying Reed’s example of how political leaders can truly put people before party loyalty and adapt to change in ways that make government work.
Reed’s story offers an antidote to the cynicism that pervades political culture today. After graduating from the University of Maine and serving on active duty in the Naval Reserve during World War II, he returned to Aroostook County to work in his family’s potato business.
In 1954, he was elected to a seat in the Maine House of Representatives. Two years later, he won a seat in the state Senate. As Senate president in 1959, Reed, a Republican, was next in line to become governor when Gov. Clinton Clauson, a Democrat, died.
“I was very happy in Fort Fairfield, was in the potato business, and so I had no thought whatsoever of running for higher office, but I succeeded a governor who died in office, and once the opportunity opened up, then I proceeded to make the best of it,” Reed said in a 2009 interview with Maine Ahead magazine.
Reed made the best of being governor from 1959 through 1966 by working across party lines, especially after Democrats in 1964 gained majorities in both chambers of the Maine Legislature. His gentle demeanor and ability to convince disputants to compromise in the best interests of the common good minimized power struggles that might otherwise have arisen when he replaced a Democratic governor or when that party gained control of the Legislature for the first time in more than half a century.
“He really wasn’t a partisan the way that some people are,” said state Rep. John Martin, D-Eagle Lake, who has served in the Legislature since 1964, including as speaker of the House from 1975 to 1994. “He worked collectively with us to get what we and he wanted.”
After losing his bid for re-election in 1966, Reed was appointed to the National Transportation Safety Board by Democratic President Lyndon B. Johnson. The appointment resulted, in part, because Reed resisted pressure from Republican Party insiders to use his position as chairman of the National Governors Association as a launching pad for politically motivated assaults on Johnson’s Vietnam War policy.
Reflecting the enduring respect national political leaders from both parties held for Reed, Republican presidents Gerald Ford and Ronald Reagan later named him to serve as ambassador to Sri Lanka and the Maldives.
It might seem trite and naive at a time when political parties and their surrogates wage multimillion dollar wars for power in Washington and Augusta, but Reed leaves an inspiring legacy because he never forgot that he worked for the people.
Reginald Bowden, who worked as an aide to Reed from 1961 to 1965, told the Bangor Daily News in 2008 that, as governor, Reed met with Maine people daily to stay in touch with the needs and perspectives of his constituents. He shaped his actions as governor by listening to everyday Mainers, not just the voices of his party’s inner circle.
“These are hard-working people, and I wanted to look after their interests,” Reed said in a 2008 interview with the BDN.
The candidates who win on Election Day should second that.
One of the “last” good republicans, this country may never see another “good republican”, I think the Party would rather die than admit it’s wrong…….. it’s nutjobs are so entrenched.
Romney will win Tues.
John H. Reed was governor when I was an underclassman at Maine. I never got to vote for him because I was not old enough to vote then, however I remember both he and Ed Muskie favorably. His name is also remembered because The Lone Ranger’s original name without the mask was John Reed. Interesting that the message from JohnR is so full of HATE while speaking of Republicans.
Why do so many of your readers carry so much hate?
Let me explain it this way, I was in Viet Nam with a platoon full of young democrats…….. Know why I know they were democrats? Well as it turns out the Republicans turned tail and ran from Nam. I saw too many good people die so the likes of Mitt Robme and Ted Nugent could stay here and years later claim they are true Patriots. When I got back home, I got sick of the BS from the cowards that refused to join. Here are some of the quotes that I can remember, “good thing I did not go over there I would have killed more than my share”….., another “if they sent a platoon of guys like me over there we could win in no time”…… “why don’t we just level the effing country and be done with it”……. the only good g_ _ k is a dead g_ _k,”………” if the politicians would just get out of the way our guys could end this thing in a couple weeks”. My favorite was a guy at work that called Jane Fonda a “cowardly traitor”, as he hid behind his deferment to complete his apprenticeship. This one I did not let slide and told him in front of the class he should be careful “because it was obvious that Jane had more ba!!s than he had, she actually had the guts to go to Nam.” This man later became my boss but he never dared to open his big yap again about Nam…………… in front of me. But being a republican I am sure he is still a hero in his circle of republican friends. But he will always be a zero to me. There in a nutshell is why I hate Republicans and always will. They are legends in their own minds…………. only. You would have to understand the time of the late 1960’s to understand where I am coming from.
Sorry, but THAT Republican Party is GONE. You now have the ultra radical TeaFarce Party, and until today’s Rabid Republicans realize they have gone off the deep end and need to return to reality and moderation, they will continue to dwindle and wither on the vine. The world is changing. Demographics are changing. Today’s TeaRabids are stuck WAY in the past and consumed by delusional anger and fear and are being pawned by corporatist billionaires and fear mongers. This is the party whose solid majority buys into the truly delusional idea that our President is not an American citizen and is not a Christian. Just SICKENING. This is the party that believes women should not make their own healthcare and reproductive decisions and that we should go back the 1950’s on these matters. This is the party that actually believes a drug addict college dropout with zero political credentials like HeadRush Limpmind actually has something intelligent or truthful to offer. This is the party that thinks the corporatist LIARS on FAKE-News speak the truth like Moses on the Mountain, when all they do is LIE for the sake of their corporate masters. This is the party that says they love Jesus and in the very next breath demonize the poor, kiss the toenails of their corporate masters, bash the middle class, destroy American jobs and send them overseas at every chance, cut education and healthcare to give endless job killing tax cuts to billionaires, and worship war and guns at every turn, all of which would make Jesus Christ sick to his very stomach. Yes, the GOP of John Reed is GONE. The words “moderate” and “cooperation” and “compromise” have become sinful and unimaginable ideas in the minds of today’s rabid and radical TeaPublicans. They have squarely turned their back on their own legacy, and it is a sad shame, even to the point of entirely reversing themselves on all manner of policies that they always used to support like same-day voter registration, investing in infrastructure, and much much more. SHAME on the rabid and radical TeaPublicans of today, and hopefully after this election cycle when they LOSE, they will learn this lesson once and for all and decide to step out of the the land of self-imposed delusion and return to the land of reason.