Margaret Chase Smith

Margaret Chase Smith
In office June 3, 1940 – January 3, 1949
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Maine's {{{district}}} district
Incumbent
Assumed office  January 3, 1949
Preceded by	Arthur R. Gould
Succeeded by	William Hathaway
Born
Political party	Republican
Spouse	Clyde Smith

Margaret Chase Smith (December 14, 1897–May 29, 1995) was a Republican Senator from Maine, and one of the most successful politicians in Maine history. She was the first woman to be elected to both the U.S. House and the Senate, and the first woman from Maine to serve in either. She was also the first woman to have her name placed in nomination for the U.S. Presidency at a major party's convention (1964 Republican Convention, won by Barry Goldwater). She was a moderate Republican and might be termed a Rockefeller Republican. She was the first (and as yet only) woman chair of the Senate Republican Conference, 1967–1972. Upon leaving office, Smith was the longest serving female senator in United States history. She rose to prominence in a male-dominated political system and in a chamber that in early twenty-first century has only 16 (out of 100) women members. From 1973 until 1978, following her defeat, there was not a single woman in the US Senate. In 1992, there were just two women Senators. She was especially outspoken in criticizing the tactics Joseph McCarthy in his efforts to stamp out communism, which she saw as a threat to people's right to freedom of belief and expression.

Early life

Margaret Chase was born in Skowhegan, Maine, on December 14, 1897, the daughter of Carrie Murray and George Emery Chase. As a young woman she taught school at a one-room schoolhouse, worked as a telephone operator, managed circulation for the Skowhegan Independent Reporter, and served as an executive with a local textile mill. She became involved with local women's organizations and helped found the Skowhegan Business and Professional Women's Club. She never received a college education. In 1930, she married Clyde Smith, a respected political leader in central Maine.

Political career

She first won a seat to the U.S. House of Representatives on June 3, 1940 to fill the vacancy caused by the death of her husband. She served on the House Naval Affairs committee during World War II. As co-chair of a subcommittee that investigated problems encountered by the War Department in rapidly establishing bases across the nation, she was instrumental in resolving conflicts between states, local jurisdictions and the military.

Chase Smith in 1943

She was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1948. This

She served in the Senate from 1949 to 1973. The first women who ever sat in the Senate, Rebecca Latimer Felton did so for two days replacing her deceased husband by appointment of the Governor of Georgia. Considering that no women was elected to the Senate until 1931, even that was a significant appointment. From 1945 until 1947 there was once again no women in the Senate. In her bid for a third term in 1960, the Democratic Party put up Lucia Cormier, the Democratic floor leader of the Maine House of Representatives, making it the first time two women ran against each other for a Senate seat. By the end of her fourth term, the charm she had had for so many years seemed to evaporate. She was defeated for reelection in 1972 by Democrat Bill Hathaway, the only election she ever lost in the state of Maine. In her last election Smith had been plagued by rumors of poor health (she had been using a motor scooter around the Senate). A Republican primary challenger taunted her for being out of touch; she did not have a state office operating in Maine. Also, she alienated liberals with her support for the Vietnam War while turning off conservatives with her votes against Nixon Supreme Court nominees Clement Haynsworth and G. Harrold Carswell.

Personal life

Senator Smith had a professional and personal relationship with staff assistant William Lewis, a lawyer from Oklahoma with a Harvard MBA. He had been assigned to work with the House Naval Affairs committee while with the Naval Reserve. His political and legal savvy combined with his knowledge of military matters augmented her own experience. He remained her political advisor and personal partner until his death in 1982.

Recognition

She received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President George H. W. Bush in 1989 in addition to the U.S. Air Force's top award, the American Spirit Award, in recognition of her contributions as a "great American patriot." She was also presented with a Doctor of Laws honorary degree from Rutgers University in addition to 93 other honorary degrees.

Notability

Senator Smith is prominent not only for her many firsts as a woman, but also for her early principled opposition to the tactics of Senator Joseph McCarthy. On June 1, 1950, she gave her Declaration of Conscience speech on the floor of the Senate, earning McCarthy's permanent ire and the nickname "Moscow Maggie" from his staff. In 1954, when McCarthy attempted to challenge her seat by sponsoring a primary challenger, the Maine voters rejected the effort. In this speech, she argued that no American should lose job or reputation for merely being acquainted with someone whose opinion or beliefs were unpopular. Furthermore, she said, people have "The right tio criticize, the right to hold unpopular beliefs, the right to protest' and 'the right of independent thought'. "Otherwise none of us could call our souls our own", she continued and "thought control would have set in".v

She was the first (and as yet only) woman chair of the Senate Republican Conference, 1967–1972.

Senator Smith appeared as the Mystery Guest on a June 1953 episode of What's My Line?

Janis Benson portrayed Senator Smith in the 1998 miniseries From the Earth to the Moon.

Patricia Neal dramatized Senator Smith's Declaration of Conscience speech in the 1978 television movie Tail Gunner Joe.

References

ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

• Sherman, Janann. No Place for a Woman: A Life of Senator Margaret Chase Smith (2000)

External links

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• Brief biography at the US Senate
• Margaret Chase Smith Library
• Brief biography the University of Maine
• "Declaration of Conscience" ~ Audio clip ~ (PDF)

Preceded by: Clyde H. Smith	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Maine's 2nd congressional district 1940 – 1949	Succeeded by: Charles Pembroke Nelson
Preceded by: Wallace H. White, Jr.	United States Senator (Class 2) from Maine 1949 – 1973	Succeeded by: William Hathaway
Preceded by: Milward L. Simpson	Oldest living U.S. Senator June 10, 1993 – May 29, 1995	Succeeded by: Jennings Randolph

Template:USSenME

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