Bill Cohen’s 1972 Campaign for Congress

An Oral History of the Walk that Changed Maine Politics

Inbunden, Engelska, 2022

Av Christian P. Potholm, Christian P Potholm

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1972 was a true watershed in Maine politics. Following a hundred years of Republican dominance, Democrats led by Senator Ed Muskie had achieved a string of victories that threatened to sweep Republicans from the board of congressional and gubernatorial offices. On election day only the win by first time Republican congressional candidate Bill Cohen would stop the Democrat shut out. Cohen won by determination and perseverance, charisma, and grit, and by his campaign 650-mile walk across Maine’s expansive second congressional district from Gilead on the New Hampshire border to Ft. Kent on the Canadian border. The Walk, as it became known, was an over-arching feature of that campaign and soon became a staple of the subsequent successful campaigns by congressional, senate, and gubernatorial candidates in the Pine Tree State. On the fiftieth anniversary of a campaign that would change the course of Maine politics and propel Cohen onto the national political stage where he would play prominent roles in the House, Senate, and as secretary of defense, this book captures, in the vivid and often surprising words of the participants, how The Walk came to be.

Produktinformation

Utgivningsdatum2022-09-16
Mått163 x 231 x 22 mm
Vikt572 g
FormatInbunden
SpråkEngelska
Antal sidor272
FörlagBloomsbury Publishing Plc
ISBN9781538170922

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Christian P. Potholm, professor of political science at Bowdoin College and a leading expert on Maine politics, is the author of This Splendid Game: Maine Campaigns and Elections, 1940-2002. He resides in Harpswell, Maine.Jed Lyons was one of Bill Cohen’s advance men during the 1972 walk. He helped organize four counties, including Androscoggin, a Democratic stronghold. Jed worked in Bill’s Washington office in 1973. In 1975, he cofounded the precursor to Rowman & Littlefield, the publisher of this book. He currently serves as its CEO and president. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Affairs.

Preface by Jed LyonsForeword by Christian P. Potholm, IIIntroduction by The Honorable Williams S. CohenChapter 1: Oral History Discussion with Secretary Bill Cohen and Professor Chris PotholmChapter 2: Oral History Discussion with Secretary Bill Cohen and Professor Chris PotholmChapter 3: Oral History Discussion with Secretary Bill Cohen and Professor Chris PotholmChapter 4: Oral History Discussion with Secretary Bill Cohen and Professor Chris PotholmChapter 5: Oral History Discussion with Jim HarringtonChapter 6: Oral History Discussion with Peter WebsterChapter 7: Oral History Discussion with Robert LoebChapter 8: Oral History Discussion with Bill WebsterChapter 9: Oral History Discussion with Rob WitsilChapter 10: Oral History Discussion with Cindy Watson WelchChapter 11: Oral History Discussion with Bob MonksChapter 12: Oral History Discussion with Mike HarkinsChapter 13: Oral History Discussion with Severin BeliveauChapter 14: Oral History Discussion with David EmeryAbout the Contributors Index

Political scientist Potholm (This Splendid Game) and Rowman & Littlefield CEO Lyons revisit a groundbreaking congressional campaign in this amiable oral history. In 1972, 32-year-old Republican candidate Bill Cohen faced an uphill battle for Maine’s second congressional district: Democrats controlled all but one of the state’s major elected political offices, and the Maine Republican Party was viewed as “moribund, old, and out-of-touch.” To help improve Cohen’s visibility and showcase his youth, vigor, and blue-collar background, campaign manager Potholm proposed a 650-mile walk across the largely rural district, which stretches from the New Hampshire border to the Canadian border and “comprises 80 percent of the state’s geography.” Lyons, then an undergraduate at Bowdoin College, served as one of the campaign’s advance men. In digressive conversations with former campaign staffers, Cohen, Potholm, and Lyons discuss the complicated logistics of the walk, which involved spending each night with a different Maine family; share amusing anecdotes about blistered feet, uncooperative horses, and awkward sleeping arrangements; and detail Cohen’s subsequent legislative accomplishments and the campaign’s influence on Maine politics. Niche yet perceptive, this is an illuminating look back at a less polarized political era.