George Aiken: Difference between revisions
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During his administration, Aiken reduced the state's debt, instituted a "[[PAYGO|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.<ref name=current/> He also broke the [[Monopoly|monopolies]] of many major industries, including banks, railroads, marble companies, and [[granite]] companies.<ref name=nytimes/> He also encouraged suffering farmers in rural Vermont to form [[Cooperative|co-ops]] to market their crops and get access to electricity. |
During his administration, Aiken reduced the state's debt, instituted a "[[PAYGO|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.<ref name=current/> He also broke the [[Monopoly|monopolies]] of many major industries, including banks, railroads, marble companies, and [[granite]] companies.<ref name=nytimes/> He also encouraged suffering farmers in rural Vermont to form [[Cooperative|co-ops]] to market their crops and get access to electricity. |
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He portrayed himself in populist terms as the defender of farmers and "common folk" against the state political machine of the Proctor family, the railroad and public utility interests whose sponesman was Ralph Flanders, and the cenralization of power or even dictatorial threats posed by Roosevelt.<ref>Heinrichs, (2001) p 273</ref> |
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==U.S. Senate== |
==U.S. Senate== |
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Revision as of 11:29, 27 February 2014
George Aiken | |
|---|---|
 George David Aiken in his office | |
| United States Senator from Vermont | |
| In office January 10, 1941 – January 3, 1975 | |
| Preceded by | Ernest W. Gibson, Jr. |
| Succeeded by | Patrick Leahy |
| 64th Governor of Vermont | |
| In office January 7, 1937 – January 9, 1941 | |
| Lieutenant | William H. Wills |
| Preceded by | Charles Manley Smith |
| Succeeded by | William H. Wills |
| Personal details | |
| Born | George David Aiken August 20, 1892 Dummerston, Vermont |
| Died | November 19, 1984 (aged 92) Putney, Vermont |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse(s) | Beatrice Howard, Lola Pierotti |
George David Aiken (August 20, 1892 – November 19, 1984) was an American farmer and politician. A member of the Republican Party, he was the 64th Governor of Vermont (1937–1941) before serving in the United States Senate for 34 years, from 1941 to 1975. At the time of his retirement, he was the most senior member of the Senate. As governor he had battled the New Deal over its programs for hydroelectric power and flood control in Vermont left. Aiken was rooted in the state's Progressive traditions, but distrusted any increase in presidential power.[1]
As a liberal Northeastern Republican in the Senate, he was one of four Republican cosponsors of the Full Employment Act of 1945. He sponsored the food allotment bill of 1945, which was a forerunner of the food stamp program. He promoted federal aid to education, and sought to establish a minimum wage of 65 cents in 1947. He was a critic of the Cold War but supported the Truman Doctrine in 1947, and the Marshall Plan in 1948. In the 1960s and 1970s he steered a middle course on the Vietnam war, opposing Johnson's escalation and supporting Nixon's slow withdrawal policies. He was a strong supporter of the small farmer. As acting chairman of the Senate agriculture committee in 1947, he opposed high rigid price supports. He had to compromise however, and the Hope-Aiken act of 1948 introduced a sliding scale of price supports. In 1950 he was one of seven Republican senators who denounced in writing the tactics of Senator Joseph McCarthy, warning against elements in the Republican Party that sought, "victory through the selfish political exploitation of fear, bigotry, ignorance and intolerance."[2]
Early life
George Aiken was born in Dummerston, Vermont, to Edward Webster and Myra (née Cook) Aiken.[3] In 1893, he and his parents moved to Putney, where he received his early education at local public schools and graduated from Brattleboro High School in 1909.[4] Aiken, who developed a strong interest in agriculture at an early age, became a member of the Putney branch of the Grange in 1906.[5] In 1912, he borrowed $100 to plant a patch of raspberries; within five years, the land grew to five hundred acres and included a nursery.[3] In 1926, Aiken became engaged in the commercial cultivation of wildflowers.[6] He published Pioneering With Wildflowers in 1933 and Pioneering With Fruits and Berries in 1936.[6] He also served as president of the Vermont Horticultural Society (1917–1918) and of the Windham County Farm Bureau (1935–1936).[5]
In 1914, Aiken married Beatrice Howard, to whom he remained married until her death in 1966.[7] The couple had three daughters, Dorothy Howard, Marjorie Evelyn (who married Harry Cleverly), and Barbara Marion; and one son, Howard Russell.[6] Following his first wife's death, Aiken married his longtime administrative assistant, Lola Pierotti, in 1967.[7]
Early political career
Aiken served as school director of Putney from 1920 to 1937.[4] A Republican, he unsuccessfully ran for the Vermont General Assembly in 1922.[5] However, eight years later, he was elected to the Vermont House of Representatives, serving from 1931 to 1935.[4] Three preceding generations of his family had also served in the state legislature.[3] As a state representative, he became known for his opposition to the private power companies over the issue of flood control.[7] Aiken was elected as Speaker of the House in 1933, over the opposition of the Republican establishment.[6] As Speaker, he passed the Poor Debtor Law to protect people who could not pay their obligations during the Great Depression.[6]
Governor of Vermont
Aiken was elected Lieutenant Governor of Vermont in 1934.[4] In 1936 he won election as Governor, serving from 1937 to 1941.[5] Aiken earned a reputation as a moderate to liberal Republican, supporting many aspects of the New Deal.[7]
When only Vermont and Maine voted Republican in 1936, 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 Republican National Committee in 1937 criticizing the party, and claimed Abraham Lincoln "would be ashamed of his party's leadership today" during a 1938 Lincoln Day address.[5] However, the conservative Republicans favored Senator Robert Taft of Ohio, the liberals Republicans were behind New York Governor Tom Dewey, and the media was enthusiastic for Wall Street tycoon Wendell Willkie, so Aiken went nowhere. [8]
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.[5] 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 state political machine of the Proctor family, the railroad and public utility interests whose sponesman was Ralph Flanders, and the cenralization of power or even dictatorial threats posed by Roosevelt.[9]
U.S. Senate
He was elected to the United States Senate on November 5, 1940, to fill the vacancy in the term ending January 3, 1945, caused by the death of Ernest W. Gibson, and was re-elected in 1944, 1950, 1956, 1962, and 1968. During his time in the Senate he served in a number of leadership roles including Chairman of the Committee on Expenditures in Executive Departments in the 80th Congress and in the Committee on Agriculture and Forestry in the 83rd Congress bringing a Vermont-centric voice to Congress emphasizing common sense solutions over party ideology. He was one of the white-haired men during the time of President John F. Kennedy's inaugural statement about the torch passing to a new generation.
He was a proponent of many spending programs such as Food Stamps and public works projects for rural America, such as rural electrification, flood control and crop insurance. He also had a great affection for the natural beauty of his home state, saying "some folks just naturally love the mountains, and like to live up among them where freedom of thought and action is logical and inherent."[10] His views were at odds with those of many Old Guard Republicans in the Senate.
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 Robert Taft to chair it. Aiken spoke out in favor of unions but voted for Taft's Taft Hartley Act of 1947, and for overriding President Truman's veto. He argued that it was a lesser evil than the Case bill.[11]
Aiken always represented the traditional Yankee element in the GOP, and distrusted Southerners. 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 attacked by militant civil rights groups and the NAACP.[12]
Aiken took an ambivalent position on the Vietnam war (1965-75), changing along with the Vermont mood. Neither a hawk nor a dove, he was sometimes called an "owl."[13] 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.[14] Aiken is widely quoted as saying that the U.S. should declare victory and bring the troops home.[15] 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."[16]
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, as well as the state's maple research center at the University of Vermont.
Committee assignments
| Committee | Congresses | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Agriculture and Forestry | 77th – 93rd | Ranking Member (81 – 82; 84 – 91); Chairman (83)[17] |
| Civil Service | 77th – 79th | |
| Education and Labor Labor and Public Welfare |
77th – 80th 81st – 83rd | |
| Expenditures in Executive Departments | 77th – 80th | Ranking Member (79);[18] Chairman (80)[19] |
| Pensions | 77th – 79th | Ranking Member (79)[18] |
| Senatorial Campaign Expenditures, 1942 (Select) | 77th – 78th | [20] |
| Foreign Relations | 83rd – 93rd | Appointed January 15, 1954[21] |
| Atomic Energy (Joint) | 86th – 93rd | |
| Aeronautical and Space Sciences | 89th | Resigned from committee January 14, 1966[22] |
References
- ^ Heinrichs, 2001)
- ^ Eleonora W. Schoenebaum, ed., Political Profiles: The Truman Years (1978) p 7
- ^ a b c d Krebs, Albin (November 20, 1984). "George Aiken, Longtime Senator And G.O.P. Maverick, Dies at 92". The New York Times.
- ^ a b c d "AIKEN, George David, (1892 - 1984)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ Canon, David T. (2002). Committees in the U.S. Congress: 1789–1946. Vol. Vol 4, Select Committees. Washington, DC: CQ Press. ISBN 1-56802-175-5.
{{cite book}}:|volume=has extra text (help); Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help) - ^ 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.
- ^ Committee on Aeronautical and Space Sciences, United States Senate: 1958–1976. 94th Congress, 2nd Session. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office. December 30, 1976. p. 63.
Further reading
- 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)
- 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
- Schoenebaum, Eleonora W. ed., Political Profiles: The Truman Years (1978) pp 6-8
Primary sources
- Aiken, George D. Senate Diary (Brattleboro, Vt 1976); ISBN 0828902755.
External links
- United States Congress. "George Aiken (id: A000062)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
- George D. Aiken papers in Congressional Papers collection, Center for Digital Initiatives, University of Vermont Library
- Inventory of the George D. Aiken Papers, Special Collections, University of Vermont Library
- Oral History Interview with George Aiken, from the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library
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| Expenditures in Executive Departments (1921–1952) | | |
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| Government Operations (1952–1977) | ||
| Governmental Affairs (1977–2005) | ||
| Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs (2005–) | ||
| International | |
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