John H. Reed

Ronald Reagan and John H. Reed (1982)

John Hathaway Reed (* 5. January 1921 in Fort Fairfield , Maine , † 31 October 2012 in Washington, DC ) was an American politician of the Republican Party . He was governor of the state of Maine from 1959 to 1967 .

Early years

John Reed first attended the local schools in his home country and then through 1942 the University of Maine . Until 1944 he was at Harvard Naval Supply School . In the final stages of World War II , he served in the US Navy . After the war, he switched to agriculture and joined his father's business, who made his living growing potatoes. He also tried his luck with horse racing.

Political career

In 1953 he served for one year on a commission for the improvement of Maine's drinking water. Between 1955 and 1957 he was a member of the Maine House of Representatives . He then moved to the State Senate , where he soon became its president. In this capacity he fell to his post in accordance with the state constitution after the death of Governor Clinton Clauson in December 1959.

Reed's first task was to end Clauson's current tenure. In 1960 he was confirmed in this office in a special election. Eventually he won the next regular gubernatorial election in 1962. This was the first Maine election to have a four-year governor elected. A corresponding constitutional amendment had only recently been passed. During his tenure as governor, John Reed was a member of many governor's associations, including the National Governors Association , which he chaired in 1965. At the end of his four years he sought another term. But he was defeated in the 1966 elections to Kenneth M. Curtis .

Another résumé

A supporter of President Lyndon B. Johnson and a supporter of the Vietnam War , John Reed was highly favored by the federal government. Johnson appointed him a member of a national committee to improve transportation safety in 1966. In 1976, Reed succeeded Christopher Van Hollen as ambassador of the United States in Sri Lanka and in 1981 in the Maldives . He was married to Cora Mitchell Davison, with whom he had two children. Reed died in Washington, DC on October 31, 2012 at the age of 91.

Web links

• John H. Reed in the nndb (English)
• John Reed in the National Governors Association (English)

Individual evidence

1. ^ John H. Reed, Former Governor of Maine, Dies at 91. In: The New York Times, November 3, 2012 (accessed November 24, 2014).