George Aiken
George Aiken | |
---|---|
Speaker of the Vermont House of Representatives | |
In office January 4, 1933 – January 8, 1935 | |
Preceded by | Edward H. Deavitt |
Succeeded by | Ernest E. Moore |
Member of the Vermont House of Representatives from Putney | |
In office January 7, 1931 – January 7, 1935 | |
Preceded by | Robert Goodyear Loomis |
Succeeded by | William Hinds Darrow |
Personal details | |
Born | George David Aiken August 20, 1892 Dummerston, Vermont, U.S. |
Died | November 19, 1984 Montpelier, Vermont, U.S. | (aged 92)
Resting place | Mount Pleasant Cemetery Putney, Vermont, U.S. |
Political party | Republican |
Spouses | Beatrice Howard
(m. 1914; died 1966)Lola Pierotti (m. 1967) |
Profession | Farmer Horticulturist Author |
George David Aiken (August 20, 1892 – November 19, 1984) was an American politician and horticulturist. A member of the
As governor, Aiken battled the
In the 1960s and 1970s, he steered a middle course on the
Early life
George David Aiken was born in
In 1914, Aiken married Beatrice Howard, to whom he remained married until her death in 1966.[8][9] The couple had three daughters, Dorothy Howard, Marjorie Evelyn (who married Harry Cleverly), and Barbara Marion; and one son, Howard Russell.[7] In 1967 Aiken married his longtime administrative assistant, Lola Pierotti.[8] Lola Aiken remained active in Republican politics until her death in 2014 at age 102.[10][11]
Early political career
Aiken served as a school board member in Putney from 1920 to 1937.
In 1934, Aiken won election as Lieutenant Governor of Vermont.[12] During his 1935 to 1937 term, Democrats had achieved more representation in the Vermont Senate than they had previously, though with only seven senators as compared to 23 Republicans, they were still heavily in the minority.[13] Aiken used his position on the senate's Committee on Committees — the lieutenant governor, President pro tempore of the Vermont Senate, and a senator elected by the rest of the body — to ensure that Democrats were fairly represented on the senate's committees.[13] As a result of Aiken's initiative, Democrats were represented on almost every committee, and constituted a majority on two.[13] In addition, Aiken ensured that Elsie C. Smith, the state senate's only female member, was fairly considered with respect to committee assignments; in fact, Senator Smith was appointed to more committees than any of her peers.[13]
Governor of Vermont
In 1936, Aiken won election as governor, serving from 1937 to 1941.[6] Aiken earned a reputation as a moderate to liberal Republican, supporting many aspects of the New Deal, but opposing its flood control and land policies.[8] In his second term the governor launched attacks on electric utility companies, and sponsored a bill that made the Public Service Commission independent of the utilities for technical advice. To continue the effort to form a consumer-oriented PSC, he named the former head of the Vermont Farm Bureau as its chairman.[14]
When only Vermont and Maine voted Republican in the 1936 presidential election, Aiken thought he was in a good position to exert national leadership in the GOP. He issued manifestos calling for a more liberal approach, and sought national support. He wrote an open letter to the
During his administration, Aiken reduced the state's debt, instituted a "pay-as-you-go" road-building program, and convinced the federal government to abandon its plan to control the Connecticut River Valley flood reduction projects.[6] He also broke the monopolies of many major industries, including banks, railroads, marble companies, and granite companies.[3] He also encouraged suffering farmers in rural Vermont to form co-ops to market their crops and get access to electricity.
He portrayed himself in populist terms as the defender of farmers and "common folk" against the
U.S. Senate
Senator
He was a proponent of many spending programs such as
The role of labor unions, or more exactly the federal role in balancing the rights of labor and management, was a central issue in the 1940s. Aiken stood midway between the pro-union Democrats and the pro-management Republicans. He favored settling labor disputes by negotiation, not in Congress and courts. He voted against the stringent Case labor bill promoted by conservative Republicans. They in turn blocked Aiken's appointment to the Labor and Public Welfare Committee and persuaded conservative leader
Aiken voted in favor of the Civil Rights Acts of 1957,[21] 1964,[22] and 1968,[23] as well as the 24th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution,[24] the Voting Rights Act of 1965,[25] and the confirmation of Thurgood Marshall to the U.S. Supreme Court,[26] while Aiken did not vote on the Civil Rights Act of 1960.[27] At first he supported civil rights but by the 1960s he took a more ambiguous position. He consistently favored civil rights legislation, from the Civil Rights Act of 1957 to the Voting Rights Act of 1965, but usually with important qualifications and amendments. This ambiguity, which some called obstructionism, was criticized by militant civil rights groups and the NAACP.[28]
Aiken took an ambivalent position on the Vietnam war (1965–1975), changing along with the Vermont mood. Neither a hawk nor a dove, he was sometimes called an "owl."[29] He reluctantly supported the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution of 1964, and was more enthusiastic in support of Nixon's program of letting South Vietnam do the fighting using American money.[30] Aiken is widely quoted as saying that the U.S. should declare victory and bring the troops home.[31] His actual statement was:
- "The United States could well declare unilaterally ... that we have 'won' in the sense that our armed forces are in control of most of the field and no potential enemy is in a position to establish its authority over South Vietnam," and that such a declaration "would herald the resumption of political warfare as the dominant theme in Vietnam."
He added: "It may be a far-fetched proposal, but nothing else has worked."[32]
His base in Vermont was solid; he spent only $17.09 on his last reelection bid. A north–south avenue on the west side of the public lawn at the Vermont State House has been named for him. He left office in 1975, succeeded by the first Democrat to represent Vermont in the Senate, Patrick Leahy. Leahy went on to become the Dean of the Senate, the title Aiken possessed when he left the chamber. Aiken and Leahy held the same Senate seat for more than 80 years combined, making them the back-to-back pair of Senators to hold the same seat for the longest. When Leahy retired at the end of the 117th Congress in January 2023, the two had held Vermont's Class 3 seat for a combined 81 years, 11 months, and 24 days.[33]
Committee assignments
Committee | Congresses | Notes |
---|---|---|
Agriculture and Forestry
|
93rd
|
Ranking Member (81 – 82; 84 – 91); chairman (83)[34] |
Civil Service | 77th – 79th
|
|
Labor and Public Welfare
|
77th – 83rd
|
|
Expenditures in Executive Departments
|
77th – 80th | Ranking Member (79);[35] Chairman (80)[36] |
Pensions | 77th – 79th | Ranking Member (79)[35] |
Senatorial Campaign Expenditures, 1942 (Select) | 77th – 78th
|
[37] |
Foreign Relations | 83rd – 93rd | Appointed January 15, 1954[38] |
Atomic Energy (Joint)
|
86th – 93rd
|
|
Aeronautical and Space Sciences | 89th
|
Resigned from committee January 14, 1966[39] |
Retirement and death
Aiken did not run for reelection in 1974.[40] He resided in Putney until mid-1984, when his health began to fail and he moved to a nursing home in Montpelier.[41] He died in Montpelier on November 19, 1984,[42] and was buried at Mount Pleasant Cemetery in Putney.[43]
Bernie Sanders, who had interviewed Aiken for the Vermont Life magazine in 1973, said of him in 2006: "I can’t say I have based my political work on his, but Aiken has always been a name and a person I’ve respected and admired. What I liked about him and what made him successful was his straightforwardness, his common sense, his down to earth-ness. He was clearly a man of the people.”[44]
References
- ^ Heinrichs, 2001)
- ^ Eleonora W. Schoenebaum, ed., Political Profiles: The Truman Years (1978) p 7
- ^ a b c Krebs, Albin (November 20, 1984). "George Aiken, Longtime Senator And G.O.P. Maverick, Dies at 92". The New York Times.
- ^ Bigelow, Walter J. (1920). Vermont, Its Government. Montpelier, VT: Historical Publishing Company. pp. 124–125.
- ^ About George Aiken Retrieved January 1, 2021
- ^ a b c d e f Current Biography. Vol. 24. H. W. Wilson Company. 1948.
- ^ a b c d e The History of Putney, Vermont, 1753-1953. Fortnightly Club of Putney. 1953.
- ^ a b c d "George D. Aiken". University of Vermont.
- ^ "Beatrice Aiken, Senator's Wife, Dies at 71". Burlington Free Press. Burlington, VT. Associated Press. May 11, 1966. p. 1.
- ^ Garrity, Roger (September 8, 2014). "Lola Aiken, wife of Sen. George Aiken, dies at 102". WCAX-TV. Burlington, VT.
- ^ "Lola Aiken Dies at 102". VT Digger. Montpelier, VT. September 8, 2014.
- ^ a b c "AIKEN, George David, (1892–1984)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
- ^ Newspapers.com.
- ^ Hand (2002) p 157
- ^ D. Gregory Sanford, “You Can't Get There From Here: The Presidential Boomlet for Governor George D. Aiken, 1937–1939," Vermont History 49 (1981): 197–208.
- ^ Heinrichs, (2001) p 273
- ^ Hand (2002) pp 158-9
- ^ Samuel B. Hand, The Star That Set: The Vermont Republican Party, 1854–1974, 2003, page 133
- ^ Kauffman, Bill (2004-09-13) Democracy in Vermont, The American Conservative
- ^ Paul M. Searls, "George Aiken and the Taft-Hartley Act: A Less Undesirable Alternative," Vermont History (1992) 60#3 pp 155–166.
- ^ "HR. 6127. CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1957". GovTrack.us.
- ^ "HR. 7152. PASSAGE".
- ^ "TO PASS H.R. 2516, A BILL TO PROHIBIT DISCRIMINATION IN SALE OR RENTAL OF HOUSING, AND TO PROHIBIT RACIALLY MOTIVATED INTERFERENCE WITH A PERSON EXERCISING HIS CIVIL RIGHTS, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES".
- ^ "S.J. RES. 29. APPROVAL OF RESOLUTION BANNING THE POLL TAX AS PREREQUISITE FOR VOTING IN FEDERAL ELECTIONS". GovTrack.us.
- ^ "TO PASS S. 1564, THE VOTING RIGHTS ACT OF 1965".
- ^ "CONFIRMATION OF NOMINATION OF THURGOOD MARSHALL, THE FIRST NEGRO APPOINTED TO THE SUPREME COURT". GovTrack.us.
- ^ "HR. 8601. PASSAGE OF AMENDED BILL".
- ^ Bruce H. Kalk, "Yankee Party or Southern Strategy? George Aiken and the Republican Party, 1936-1972," Vermont History (1996) 64#4 pp236–250
- ^ Duffy (2002) p 35
- ^ Charles F. O'Brien, "Aiken and Vietnam: A Dialogue with Vermont Voters," Vermont History (1993) 61#1 pp 5-17.
- ^ Mark A. Stoler, "What Did He Really Say? The 'Aiken Formula'for Vietnam Revisited,'" Vermont History (1978) 46#1 pp 100-108.
- ^ Eder, Richard. "Aiken Suggests U.S. Say It Has Won the War." New York Times. October 20, 1966, pp. 1, 16
- ^ Leahy Retirement Puts End Date on US Senate Record by Dr. Eric Ostermeier on Smart Politics
- ^ The United States Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry: 1825–1998 (S. Doc. 105-24). 105th Congress. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office. 1998. Archived from the original on May 2, 2009. Retrieved May 11, 2009.
- ^ a b Official Congressional Directory. 79th Congress
- ^ "Chairmen of Senate Standing Committees 1789 – present" (PDF). Senate Historical Office. June 2008. p. 35. Retrieved May 7, 2009.
- ISBN 1-56802-175-5.
- ^ Committee on Foreign Relations, United States Senate, Millennium Edition, 1816–2000 (S. Doc. 105-28) (PDF). 105th Congress, 2d session. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office. 2000. p. 98.
- .
- ^ "Senate Dean George Aiken Won't Run for Re-Election". Florence Morning News. Florence, SC. Associated Press. February 15, 1974. p. 9.
- ^ Goddard, Kevin (November 19, 1984). "George Aiken: Born Aug. 20, 1892; Retired from U.S. Senate in 1974". United Press International Archives. Washington, DC.
- ^ Krebs, Albin (November 20, 1984). "George Aiken, Longtime Senator and G.O.P. Maverick, Dies at 92". New York Times. new York, NY.
- Newspapers.com.
- ^ The stories about Bernie: Following in someone else’s footsteps; Kevin O'Connor, VTDigger, January 17, 2016
Further reading
- Bryan, Frank M. Yankee politics in rural Vermont (U. Press of New England, 1974)
- Duffy, John J. et al. eds. The Vermont Encyclopedia (2003) excerpt and text search
- Hand, Samuel B., and D. Gregory Sanford. "Carrying Water on Both Shoulders: George D. Aiken's 1936 Gubernatorial Campaign in Vermont," Vermont History (1975) 43: 292-306
- Hand, Samuel B. The Star That Set: The Vermont Republican Party, 1854-1974 (2002); extensive coverage of Aiken based on his diaries
- Hand, Samuel B. and Paul M. Searls. "Transition Politics: Vermont, 1940–1952," Vermont History (1994) 62#1 pp 1–25
- Heinrichs, Jr. Waldo H. "Waldo H. Heinrichs, George D. Aiken, and the Lend Lease Debate of 1941," Vermont History (2001) 69#3 pp 267–83 online
- Johns, Andrew L. "Doves Among Hawks: Republican Opposition to the Vietnam War, 1964–1968." Peace & Change (2006) 31#4 pp: 585–628.
- Judd, Richard Munson. The New Deal in Vermont: Its impact and aftermath (Taylor & Francis, 1979)
- Schoenebaum, Eleonora W. ed., Political Profiles: The Truman Years (1978) pp 6–8
- Schoenebaum, Eleonora W. ed., Political Profiles: The Eisenhower Years (1977) pp 7–8
- Stoler, Mark A. "What Did He Really Say? The 'Aiken Formula'for Vietnam Revisited.”." Vermont History 46 (1978): 100-108.
- Stoler, Mark A. "Aiken, Mansfield, and the Tonkin Gulf Crisis: Notes from the Congressional Leadership Meeting at the White House, August 4, 1964." Vermont History 50: 80–94.
Primary sources
- Aiken, George David. Speaking from Vermont (Frederick A. Stokes Company, 1938)
- Aiken, George D. Senate Diary (Brattleboro, Vt 1976); ISBN 0828902755.
- Gallagher, Connell. "The Senator George D. Aiken Papers: Sources for the Study of Canadian-American Relations, 1930-1974." Archivaria 1#21 (1985) pp 176–79 online.