Hugh Gallen

Hugh J. Gallen (born July 30, 1924 in Portland , Oregon , † December 29, 1982 in Boston , Massachusetts ) was an American politician and governor of the state of New Hampshire from 1979 to 1982 .

Early years

In 1930, Gallen and his family came from Oregon to Medford , Massachusetts. There he attended high school. After finishing school, he began a career as a professional baseball player . This failed early on due to an arm injury. In 1948 he began working as a car salesman in Littleton and in 1964 he founded Hugh Gallen, Inc.

Political rise

Gallen was a member of the Democratic Party . Between 1962 and 1965 he was a member of the Littleton Ward Planning Committee. In 1967 he was a member of the National Advisory Council of the Small Business Administration . In 1969, Gallen became chairman of the New Hampshire-Vermont Development Committee. He held this office until 1972. At the same time, he became chairman of the board of directors of the Bank of Littleton. Between 1967 and 1970, Gallen was also director of White Mountain Community Services , a non-profit organization to improve medical care for people with nervous disorders.

From 1971 to 1972 Gallen was then chairman of his party in New Hampshire and he was a 1972 delegate to the Democratic National Convention . In 1973 he was elected the first Democratic MP from Littleton to the New Hampshire House of Representatives, and in 1978 he won the gubernatorial election as his party's candidate. He owed his election to a dispute within the Republican Party . There the incumbent Meldrim Thomson and the former governor Wesley Powell ran for governorship and took votes from each other.

New Hampshire Governor

Hugh Gallen took up his new office on January 4, 1979. In 1979 he used the National Guard to protect a nuclear power plant against demonstrators. This was honored by the electorate when he was re-elected in 1980 against the former Governor Thomson. But then he came under pressure from wage demands in the public service. Gallen was ready to agree to a salary increase of 9%. The Republican-dominated legislature did not want to approve more than 6%. At the same time, the governor vetoed the budget introduced by the legislature. Since he also refused to raise taxes, it was impossible for him to pay the collective agreement. That cost him the desired re-election in 1982. He was defeated by the Republican candidate John Sununu .

Shortly after the election, but before the end of his term in office, Gallen contracted a rare blood infection. The illness made it impossible for him to continue the office until the regular end of his term of office. For this reason, on December 1, 1982, the President of the State Senate , Vesta M. Roy , was appointed acting governor until John Sununu took office. Gallen itself did not live to see the official end of his term of office in early January 1983. He died on December 29, 1982. Hugh Gallen was married to Irene Carbonneau.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME	Gallen, Hugh
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Gallen, Hugh J.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	American politician
DATE OF BIRTH	July 30, 1924
PLACE OF BIRTH	Portland , Oregon
DATE OF DEATH	December 29, 1982
Place of death	Boston , Massachusetts