Edmund Muskie
Encyclopedia
Edmund Sixtus "Ed" Muskie (March 28, 1914 March 26, 1996) was an American politician from Rumford, Maine. He served as Governor of Maine
from 1955 to 1959, as a member of the United States Senate
from 1959 to 1980, and as Secretary of State
under Jimmy Carter
from 1980 to 1981. Muskie was the Democratic
nominee for Vice President in the 1968 presidential election
, and was a candidate for the Democratic nomination for President in 1972
.
Muskie held the highest office (Secretary of State) held by a Polish American
in U.S. history, and also is the only Polish American ever nominated by a major party for Vice President.
in 1903 and changed his name to Muskie. His mother Josephine (née Czarnecki) was born in Buffalo, New York
to Polish immigrants. His parents, Roman Catholics, had seven children, of whom six survived.
Muskie attended Bates College
in Lewiston, Maine
, where he majored in history and government. While at Bates, Muskie was a successful member of the debating team, participated in several sports, and was elected to student government. He also worked during the school year as a waiter, and during the summers at a hotel in Kennebunk, Maine
, to supplement the scholarship that allowed him to attend the college. He graduated from Bates in 1936, and from Cornell Law School
in 1939.
During World War II, Muskie served in the United States Navy
, rising to the rank of lieutenant. After the war, he opened a private law practice in Waterville, Maine
, and married Jane Gray.
state, notable for being, with Vermont
, one of the only two states that Alf Landon
carried against Franklin D. Roosevelt
in 1936
.
Muskie ran in the 1947 election to become mayor of Waterville, Maine, but was unsuccessful. He served in the Maine House of Representatives
before being elected governor in 1954.
, Muskie won 60 percent of the vote, defeating incumbent Republican Senator Frederick G. Payne
, who received 39 percent of the vote. Muskie was reelected in 1964
, 1970
and 1976
, each time with over 60 percent of the vote. Muskie was one of the first environmentalists to enter the Senate, and was a leading campaigner for new and stronger measures to curb pollution and provide a cleaner environment.
In 1968, Muskie was nominated for Vice President on the Democratic ticket with sitting Vice President Hubert Humphrey
. The Humphrey-Muskie campaign lost the election to Richard Nixon
and Spiro Agnew
. Humphrey and Muskie received 42.72 percent of the popular vote and carried 13 states and 191 electoral votes; Nixon and Agnew won 43.42 of the popular vote and carried 32 states and 301 electoral votes, while the third party
ticket of George Wallace
and Curtis LeMay
, running as candidates of the American Independent Party
, took 13.53 of the popular vote and took five states in the Deep South
and their 46 votes in the electoral college. Because of Agnew's apparent weakness as a candidate relative to Muskie, Humphrey was heard to remark that voters' uncertainties about whom to choose between the two major presidential candidates should be resolved by their attitudes toward the Vice-Presidential candidates.
Continuing his career in the Senate, Muskie served as chairman of the Senate Budget Committee
through the Ninety-third to the Ninety-sixth Congresses in 1973–80.
In 1970, the Maine senator was chosen to articulate the Democratic party's message to congressional voters before the midterm elections. Muskie's national stature was raised as a major candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1972. In 1973, he gave the Democratic response to Nixon's State of the Union address
.
, Muskie was viewed as a front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination. In August 1971 Harris polling amid a growing economic crisis, Muskie came out on top of incumbent Nixon if the election had been held that day. The nation was at war in Vietnam
and President Richard Nixon
's war policies (and foreign policy, more generally) promised to be a major issue in the campaign.
The 1972 Iowa caucuses, however, significantly altered the race for the presidential nomination. Senator George McGovern
from South Dakota
, initially a dark horse
candidate, made a strong showing in the caucuses which gave his campaign national attention. Although Muskie won the Iowa caucuses, McGovern's campaign left Iowa with momentum. Muskie himself had never participated in a primary election campaign, and it is possible that this led to the downfall of his campaign. Although Muskie went on to win the New Hampshire primary
, the victory was only by a small margin, and his campaign faltered.
The collapse of Muskie's momentum early in the 1972 campaign is also attributed to his response to campaign attacks. Prior to the New Hampshire primary, the so-called "Canuck letter
" was published in the Manchester Union-Leader. The letter claimed that Muskie had made disparaging remarks about French-Canadians
– a remark likely to injure Muskie's support among the French-American population in northern New England
. Subsequently, the paper published an attack on the character of Muskie's wife Jane, reporting that she drank and used off-color
language during the campaign. Muskie made an emotional defense of his wife in a speech outside the newspaper's offices during a snowstorm. Though Muskie later stated that what had appeared to the press as tears were actually melted snowflakes, the press reported that Muskie broke down and cried, shattering the candidate's image as calm and reasoned.
Evidence later came to light during the Watergate scandal
investigation that, during the 1972 presidential campaign, the Nixon campaign committee maintained a "dirty tricks
" unit focused on discrediting Nixon's strongest challengers. Federal Bureau of Investigation
(FBI) investigators revealed that the Canuck Letter was a forged document as part of the dirty-tricks campaign against Democrats orchestrated by the Nixon campaign.
In a 1972 article for Rolling Stone
, Hunter S. Thompson
wrote that it was well known amongst journalists covering Muskie's campaign that Muskie had become addicted to Ibogaine
, an obscure Brazilian painkiller. The rumor reappeared during the campaign on newswires. In a 1977 TV interview for CBC News
, Thompson stated that he invented the story and was surprised when he realized that people were taking it seriously.
to serve as Secretary of State, following the resignation of Cyrus Vance
. Vance had opposed Operation Eagle Claw
, a secret rescue mission intended to rescue American hostages held by Iran
. After that mission failed with the loss of eight U.S. servicemen, Vance resigned.
There was a short-lived "draft
Muskie" movement in the summer of 1980 that was seen as a favorable alternative to a deadlocked convention. One poll showed that Muskie would be a more popular alternative to Carter than Kennedy, implying that the attraction was not so much to Kennedy as to the fact that he was not Carter. Muskie was polling even with Ronald Reagan at the time, while Carter was seven points down. The underground draft campaign failed, but became a political legend.
Muskie attempted to bring the hostages home by diplomatic means, appealing to the United Nations and Iran. Muskie left public office following Carter's loss of the 1980 presidential election to Ronald Reagan
, and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom
by Carter on January 16, 1981.
Muskie died in Washington, D.C. of congestive heart failure in 1996, two days shy of his 82nd birthday. He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery
. Muskie's papers are kept at the Edmund S. Muskie Archives and Special Collections Library at Bates College
in Lewiston, Maine
.
Governor of Maine
The governor of Maine is the chief executive of the State of Maine. Before Maine was admitted to the Union in 1820, Maine was part of Massachusetts and the governor of Massachusetts was chief executive....
from 1955 to 1959, as a member of the United States Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
from 1959 to 1980, and as Secretary of State
United States Secretary of State
The United States Secretary of State is the head of the United States Department of State, concerned with foreign affairs. The Secretary is a member of the Cabinet and the highest-ranking cabinet secretary both in line of succession and order of precedence...
under Jimmy Carter
Jimmy Carter
James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. is an American politician who served as the 39th President of the United States and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, the only U.S. President to have received the Prize after leaving office...
from 1980 to 1981. Muskie was the Democratic
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
nominee for Vice President in the 1968 presidential election
United States presidential election, 1968
The United States presidential election of 1968 was the 46th quadrennial United States presidential election. Coming four years after Democrat Lyndon B. Johnson won in a historic landslide, it saw Johnson forced out of the race and Republican Richard Nixon elected...
, and was a candidate for the Democratic nomination for President in 1972
United States presidential election, 1972
The United States presidential election of 1972 was the 47th quadrennial United States presidential election. It was held on November 7, 1972. The Democratic Party's nomination was eventually won by Senator George McGovern, who ran an anti-war campaign against incumbent Republican President Richard...
.
Muskie held the highest office (Secretary of State) held by a Polish American
Polish American
A Polish American , is a citizen of the United States of Polish descent. There are an estimated 10 million Polish Americans, representing about 3.2% of the population of the United States...
in U.S. history, and also is the only Polish American ever nominated by a major party for Vice President.
Early life
Muskie was born in Rumford, Maine. His father, Stephen Marciszewski (mar-chih-SHEF-ski) immigrated to the United StatesImmigration to the United States
Immigration to the United States has been a major source of population growth and cultural change throughout much of the history of the United States. The economic, social, and political aspects of immigration have caused controversy regarding ethnicity, economic benefits, jobs for non-immigrants,...
in 1903 and changed his name to Muskie. His mother Josephine (née Czarnecki) was born in Buffalo, New York
Buffalo, New York
Buffalo is the second most populous city in the state of New York, after New York City. Located in Western New York on the eastern shores of Lake Erie and at the head of the Niagara River across from Fort Erie, Ontario, Buffalo is the seat of Erie County and the principal city of the...
to Polish immigrants. His parents, Roman Catholics, had seven children, of whom six survived.
Muskie attended Bates College
Bates College
Bates College is a highly selective, private liberal arts college located in Lewiston, Maine, in the United States. and was most recently ranked 21st in the nation in the 2011 US News Best Liberal Arts Colleges rankings. The college was founded in 1855 by abolitionists...
in Lewiston, Maine
Lewiston, Maine
Lewiston is a city in Androscoggin County in Maine, and the second-largest city in the state. The population was 41,592 at the 2010 census. It is one of two principal cities of and included within the Lewiston-Auburn, Maine metropolitan New England city and town area and the Lewiston-Auburn, Maine...
, where he majored in history and government. While at Bates, Muskie was a successful member of the debating team, participated in several sports, and was elected to student government. He also worked during the school year as a waiter, and during the summers at a hotel in Kennebunk, Maine
Kennebunk, Maine
Kennebunk is a town in York County, Maine, United States. The population was 1,075 people at the 2000 census. Including Kennebunkport , the population totals 14,196 people...
, to supplement the scholarship that allowed him to attend the college. He graduated from Bates in 1936, and from Cornell Law School
Cornell Law School
Cornell Law School, located in Ithaca, New York, is a graduate school of Cornell University and one of the five Ivy League law schools. The school confers three law degrees...
in 1939.
During World War II, Muskie served in the United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
, rising to the rank of lieutenant. After the war, he opened a private law practice in Waterville, Maine
Waterville, Maine
Waterville is a city in Kennebec County, Maine, United States, on the west bank of the Kennebec River. The population was 15,722 at the 2010 census. Home to Colby College and Thomas College, Waterville is the regional commercial, medical and cultural center....
, and married Jane Gray.
Career in Maine
After the war, he was instrumental in building up the Democratic Party in Maine. Maine had traditionally been a strongly RepublicanRepublican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
state, notable for being, with Vermont
Vermont
Vermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state ranks 43rd in land area, , and 45th in total area. Its population according to the 2010 census, 630,337, is the second smallest in the country, larger only than Wyoming. It is the only New England...
, one of the only two states that Alf Landon
Alf Landon
Alfred Mossman "Alf" Landon was an American Republican politician, who served as the 26th Governor of Kansas from 1933–1937. He was best known for being the Republican Party's nominee for President of the United States, defeated in a landslide by Franklin D...
carried against Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt , also known by his initials, FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war...
in 1936
United States presidential election, 1936
The United States presidential election of 1936 was the most lopsided presidential election in the history of the United States in terms of electoral votes. In terms of the popular vote, it was the third biggest victory since the election of 1820, which was not seriously contested.The election took...
.
Muskie ran in the 1947 election to become mayor of Waterville, Maine, but was unsuccessful. He served in the Maine House of Representatives
Maine House of Representatives
The Maine House of Representatives is the lower house of the Maine Legislature. The House consists of 151 members representing an equal amount of districts across the state. Each voting member of the House represents around 8,450 citizens of the state...
before being elected governor in 1954.
National career
In the Senate election in 1958United States Senate election, 1958
The U.S. Senate election, 1958 was an election for the United States Senate whichoccurred in the middle of President Dwight D. Eisenhower's second term. As is common in midterm elections, the party in the White House lost seats, but in this year it was on a huge scale, perhaps due to the Recession...
, Muskie won 60 percent of the vote, defeating incumbent Republican Senator Frederick G. Payne
Frederick G. Payne
Frederick George Payne was a Republican politician from the U.S. state of Maine. He was born in Lewiston, Maine....
, who received 39 percent of the vote. Muskie was reelected in 1964
United States Senate election, 1964
The United States Senate election in 1964 coincided with the election of President Lyndon B. Johnson by an overwhelming majority. His Democratic Party picked up a net two seats from the Republicans...
, 1970
United States Senate election, 1970
The 1970 United States Senate election was an election for the United States Senate which was a midterm election in the term of President Richard Nixon. Nixon's "Southern strategy" was effective at taking several seats from the Democrats, in spite of this being a midterm election...
and 1976
United States Senate election, 1976
The United States Senate election, 1976 was an election for the United States Senate that coincided with Democratic Jimmy Carter's election to the presidency as well as the United States Bicentennial celebration...
, each time with over 60 percent of the vote. Muskie was one of the first environmentalists to enter the Senate, and was a leading campaigner for new and stronger measures to curb pollution and provide a cleaner environment.
In 1968, Muskie was nominated for Vice President on the Democratic ticket with sitting Vice President Hubert Humphrey
Hubert Humphrey
Hubert Horatio Humphrey, Jr. , served under President Lyndon B. Johnson as the 38th Vice President of the United States. Humphrey twice served as a United States Senator from Minnesota, and served as Democratic Majority Whip. He was a founder of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party and...
. The Humphrey-Muskie campaign lost the election to Richard Nixon
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
and Spiro Agnew
Spiro Agnew
Spiro Theodore Agnew was the 39th Vice President of the United States , serving under President Richard Nixon, and the 55th Governor of Maryland...
. Humphrey and Muskie received 42.72 percent of the popular vote and carried 13 states and 191 electoral votes; Nixon and Agnew won 43.42 of the popular vote and carried 32 states and 301 electoral votes, while the third party
Third party (United States)
The term third party is used in the United States for any and all political parties in the United States other than one of the two major parties . The term can also refer to independent politicians not affiliated with any party at all and to write-in candidates.The United States has had a...
ticket of George Wallace
George Wallace
George Corley Wallace, Jr. was the 45th Governor of Alabama, serving four terms: 1963–1967, 1971–1979 and 1983–1987. "The most influential loser" in 20th-century U.S. politics, according to biographers Dan T. Carter and Stephan Lesher, he ran for U.S...
and Curtis LeMay
Curtis LeMay
Curtis Emerson LeMay was a general in the United States Air Force and the vice presidential running mate of American Independent Party candidate George Wallace in 1968....
, running as candidates of the American Independent Party
American Independent Party
The American Independent Party is a right-wing political party of the United States that was established in 1967 by Bill and Eileen Shearer. In 1968, the American Independent Party nominated George C. Wallace as its presidential candidate and retired Air Force General Curtis E. LeMay as the vice...
, took 13.53 of the popular vote and took five states in the Deep South
Deep South
The Deep South is a descriptive category of the cultural and geographic subregions in the American South. Historically, it is differentiated from the "Upper South" as being the states which were most dependent on plantation type agriculture during the pre-Civil War period...
and their 46 votes in the electoral college. Because of Agnew's apparent weakness as a candidate relative to Muskie, Humphrey was heard to remark that voters' uncertainties about whom to choose between the two major presidential candidates should be resolved by their attitudes toward the Vice-Presidential candidates.
Continuing his career in the Senate, Muskie served as chairman of the Senate Budget Committee
United States Senate Committee on the Budget
The United States Senate Committee on Budget was established by the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974. It is responsible for drafting Congress's annual budget plan and monitoring action on the budget for the Federal Government. The committee has jurisdiction over the...
through the Ninety-third to the Ninety-sixth Congresses in 1973–80.
In 1970, the Maine senator was chosen to articulate the Democratic party's message to congressional voters before the midterm elections. Muskie's national stature was raised as a major candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1972. In 1973, he gave the Democratic response to Nixon's State of the Union address
State of the Union Address
The State of the Union is an annual address presented by the President of the United States to the United States Congress. The address not only reports on the condition of the nation but also allows the president to outline his legislative agenda and his national priorities.The practice arises...
.
Presidential candidate
Before the 1972 electionUnited States presidential election, 1972
The United States presidential election of 1972 was the 47th quadrennial United States presidential election. It was held on November 7, 1972. The Democratic Party's nomination was eventually won by Senator George McGovern, who ran an anti-war campaign against incumbent Republican President Richard...
, Muskie was viewed as a front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination. In August 1971 Harris polling amid a growing economic crisis, Muskie came out on top of incumbent Nixon if the election had been held that day. The nation was at war in Vietnam
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
and President Richard Nixon
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
's war policies (and foreign policy, more generally) promised to be a major issue in the campaign.
The 1972 Iowa caucuses, however, significantly altered the race for the presidential nomination. Senator George McGovern
George McGovern
George Stanley McGovern is an historian, author, and former U.S. Representative, U.S. Senator, and the Democratic Party nominee in the 1972 presidential election....
from South Dakota
South Dakota
South Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux American Indian tribes. Once a part of Dakota Territory, South Dakota became a state on November 2, 1889. The state has an area of and an estimated population of just over...
, initially a dark horse
Dark horse
Dark horse is a term used to describe a little-known person or thing that emerges to prominence, especially in a competition of some sort.-Origin:The term began as horse racing parlance...
candidate, made a strong showing in the caucuses which gave his campaign national attention. Although Muskie won the Iowa caucuses, McGovern's campaign left Iowa with momentum. Muskie himself had never participated in a primary election campaign, and it is possible that this led to the downfall of his campaign. Although Muskie went on to win the New Hampshire primary
New Hampshire primary
The New Hampshire primary is the first in a series of nationwide political party primary elections held in the United States every four years , as part of the process of choosing the Democratic and Republican nominees for the presidential elections to be held the subsequent November.Although only a...
, the victory was only by a small margin, and his campaign faltered.
The collapse of Muskie's momentum early in the 1972 campaign is also attributed to his response to campaign attacks. Prior to the New Hampshire primary, the so-called "Canuck letter
Canuck Letter
The Canuck letter was a forged letter to the editor of the Manchester Union Leader, published February 24, 1972, two weeks before the New Hampshire primary of the 1972 United States presidential election. It implied that Senator Edmund Muskie, a candidate for the Democratic Party's presidential...
" was published in the Manchester Union-Leader. The letter claimed that Muskie had made disparaging remarks about French-Canadians
French Canadian
French Canadian or Francophone Canadian, , generally refers to the descendents of French colonists who arrived in New France in the 17th and 18th centuries...
– a remark likely to injure Muskie's support among the French-American population in northern New England
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
. Subsequently, the paper published an attack on the character of Muskie's wife Jane, reporting that she drank and used off-color
Off-color humor
The term off-color humor is an Americanism used to describe jokes, prose, poems, black comedy, blue comedy, insult comedy, cringe comedy and skits that deal with topics that are considered to be in poor taste or overly vulgar by the prevailing morality of a culture...
language during the campaign. Muskie made an emotional defense of his wife in a speech outside the newspaper's offices during a snowstorm. Though Muskie later stated that what had appeared to the press as tears were actually melted snowflakes, the press reported that Muskie broke down and cried, shattering the candidate's image as calm and reasoned.
Evidence later came to light during the Watergate scandal
Watergate scandal
The Watergate scandal was a political scandal during the 1970s in the United States resulting from the break-in of the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate office complex in Washington, D.C., and the Nixon administration's attempted cover-up of its involvement...
investigation that, during the 1972 presidential campaign, the Nixon campaign committee maintained a "dirty tricks
Dirty tricks
Dirty tricks are unethical, duplicitous, slanderous or illegal tactics employed to destroy or diminish the effectiveness of political or business opponents...
" unit focused on discrediting Nixon's strongest challengers. Federal Bureau of Investigation
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...
(FBI) investigators revealed that the Canuck Letter was a forged document as part of the dirty-tricks campaign against Democrats orchestrated by the Nixon campaign.
In a 1972 article for Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
, Hunter S. Thompson
Hunter S. Thompson
Hunter Stockton Thompson was an American journalist and author who wrote The Rum Diary , Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72 .He is credited as the creator of Gonzo journalism, a style of reporting where reporters involve themselves in the action to...
wrote that it was well known amongst journalists covering Muskie's campaign that Muskie had become addicted to Ibogaine
Ibogaine
Ibogaine is a naturally occurring psychoactive substance found in a number of plants, principally in a member of the Apocynaceae family known as Iboga . A hallucinogen with both psychedelic and dissociative properties, the substance is banned in some countries; in other countries it is being used...
, an obscure Brazilian painkiller. The rumor reappeared during the campaign on newswires. In a 1977 TV interview for CBC News
CBC News
CBC News is the department within the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the news gathering and production of news programs on CBC television, radio and online services...
, Thompson stated that he invented the story and was surprised when he realized that people were taking it seriously.
Secretary of State
Muskie returned to serve in the Senate, where he served as the first chairman of the new Senate Budget Committee starting in 1974. In 1980, he was tapped by President Jimmy CarterJimmy Carter
James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. is an American politician who served as the 39th President of the United States and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, the only U.S. President to have received the Prize after leaving office...
to serve as Secretary of State, following the resignation of Cyrus Vance
Cyrus Vance
Cyrus Roberts Vance was an American lawyer and United States Secretary of State under President Jimmy Carter from 1977 to 1980...
. Vance had opposed Operation Eagle Claw
Operation Eagle Claw
Operation Eagle Claw was an American military operation ordered by President Jimmy Carter to attempt to put an end to the Iran hostage crisis by rescuing 52 Americans held captive at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, Iran on 24 April 1980...
, a secret rescue mission intended to rescue American hostages held by Iran
Iran hostage crisis
The Iran hostage crisis was a diplomatic crisis between Iran and the United States where 52 Americans were held hostage for 444 days from November 4, 1979 to January 20, 1981, after a group of Islamist students and militants took over the American Embassy in Tehran in support of the Iranian...
. After that mission failed with the loss of eight U.S. servicemen, Vance resigned.
There was a short-lived "draft
Draft (politics)
In elections in the United States, political drafts are used to encourage or pressure a certain person to enter a political race, by demonstrating a significant groundswell of support for the candidate. A write-in campaign may also be considered a draft campaign.-The movement to draft Dwight D....
Muskie" movement in the summer of 1980 that was seen as a favorable alternative to a deadlocked convention. One poll showed that Muskie would be a more popular alternative to Carter than Kennedy, implying that the attraction was not so much to Kennedy as to the fact that he was not Carter. Muskie was polling even with Ronald Reagan at the time, while Carter was seven points down. The underground draft campaign failed, but became a political legend.
Muskie attempted to bring the hostages home by diplomatic means, appealing to the United Nations and Iran. Muskie left public office following Carter's loss of the 1980 presidential election to Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
, and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom
Presidential Medal of Freedom
The Presidential Medal of Freedom is an award bestowed by the President of the United States and is—along with thecomparable Congressional Gold Medal bestowed by an act of U.S. Congress—the highest civilian award in the United States...
by Carter on January 16, 1981.
Retirement and death
Muskie retired to his home in Washington, D.C. in 1981. He continued to work as a lawyer for some years. In 1987, as an elder statesman, Muskie was appointed a member of the President's Special Review Board known as the "Tower Commission" to investigate President Ronald Reagan's administration's role in the Iran-Contra scandal.Muskie died in Washington, D.C. of congestive heart failure in 1996, two days shy of his 82nd birthday. He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery
Arlington National Cemetery
Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington County, Virginia, is a military cemetery in the United States of America, established during the American Civil War on the grounds of Arlington House, formerly the estate of the family of Confederate general Robert E. Lee's wife Mary Anna Lee, a great...
. Muskie's papers are kept at the Edmund S. Muskie Archives and Special Collections Library at Bates College
Bates College
Bates College is a highly selective, private liberal arts college located in Lewiston, Maine, in the United States. and was most recently ranked 21st in the nation in the 2011 US News Best Liberal Arts Colleges rankings. The college was founded in 1855 by abolitionists...
in Lewiston, Maine
Lewiston, Maine
Lewiston is a city in Androscoggin County in Maine, and the second-largest city in the state. The population was 41,592 at the 2010 census. It is one of two principal cities of and included within the Lewiston-Auburn, Maine metropolitan New England city and town area and the Lewiston-Auburn, Maine...
.
See also
- List of U.S. political appointments that crossed party lines
- Edmund S. Muskie Graduate Fellowship ProgramEdmund S. Muskie Graduate Fellowship ProgramEdmund S. Muskie Graduate Fellowship Program is a program of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the United States Department of State....
, a fellowship which bears his name.