Sumner Sewall

Sumner Sewall (right) with the later US President Harry S. Truman (1942)

Sumner Sewall (born June 17, 1897 in Bath , Maine , †  January 25, 1965 ibid) was an American politician of the Republican Party and governor of the state of Maine.

Early years and political advancement

Sewall dropped out of Harvard University in 1917 to fight for the United States Army in World War I. He initially served in the medical service and in the telecommunications service ; later he became a fighter pilot . He received numerous awards for his commitment, including the Distinguished Service Cross , the Croix de guerre and the Order of the Legion of Honor . After his return from the war, he first finished his education with a degree at Yale University . Then he was employed in the Mexican oil fields, at a Spanish bank and a sugar plantation in Cuba . He also worked for the Ford factory in Detroit for a while . Then he became the manager of the Colonial Air Transport airline, which won the first airmail contract in the United States. He also held a managerial position at United Airlines .

His political career began in 1933 as a councilor in his hometown of Bath. While his grandfather Arthur Sewall had still belonged to the Democratic Party and had been its candidate for vice presidency at the side of William Jennings Bryan in 1896 , Sumner Sewall joined the Republicans, for whom he was elected to the House of Representatives from Maine in 1934 ; Two years later, he was elected to the State Senate , to which he was a member until 1940. Since 1938 he was President of this Chamber of Parliament.

Governor of Maine

In 1940, Sewall was elected governor of Maine; he held this office for two legislative terms. Under his leadership it was possible to uncover scandals in the state government and to enforce a minimum wage law for teachers in the public service. Sewell's tenure as governor was marked by the events of World War II. Since December 7, 1941, the day of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor , the United States had been at war with Japan, and shortly afterwards with Germany and Italy. In Maine, as in the other states, industrial production had to be converted to armaments requirements. On the other hand, young men had to be patterned and sent to the armed forces as soldiers. Because of his background and experience in a wide variety of fields, Sewall was ideally suited for the role of war governor.

Another résumé

After the end of his second term in January 1945, Sewall was president of American Overseas Airlines for a year ; then he took over the post of military governor for Württemberg-Baden in occupied Germany from 1946 to 1947 . Back home, he wanted to run for the vacant Maine seat in the US Senate ; a third place with a clear upward gap in the internal party primaries put these hopes and thus his political career to an end.

Sumner Sewall was married to Helen Ellena Evans since 1929. The couple had a son named David. The ex-governor died on January 25, 1965.

Web links

• Sumner Sewall in the database of Find a Grave (English)
• Sumner Sewall in the National Governors Association (English)