Frederick G. Payne
| Frederick George Payne | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| |||
| Former U.S. Senator from Maine From: January 3, 1953 – January 3, 1959 | |||
| Predecessor | Ralph Owen Brewster | ||
| Successor | Edmund Muskie | ||
| Former Governor of Maine From: January 5, 1949 – December 24, 1952 | |||
| Predecessor | Horace Hildreth | ||
| Successor | Burton M. Cross | ||
| Information | |||
| Party | Republican | ||
| Spouse(s) | Gretchen J. Putnam (div.) Ella Ruth Hodgdon | ||
| Religion | Congregationalist[1] | ||
| Military Service | |||
| Allegiance | United States | ||
| Service/branch | United States Army Air Forces | ||
| Service Years | 1942–1945 | ||
| Rank | Lieutenant Colonel | ||
| Battles/wars | World War II | ||
Frederick George Payne (July 24, 1904 – June 15, 1978) was a Maine businessman and Republican who served as the state's U.s. senator for one term in the 1950s, previously being the governor for just under four years. He was largely associated with the Moderate Republican wing of the GOP, which included his fellow senatorial colleague Margaret Chase Smith.[2]
The elections of Payne and Smith to the Senate marked a turn in Maine Republican politics from its traditional conservatism to a more liberal Northeastern style. Previously in the 1930s, the state's U.S. senators Frederick Hale and Wallace H. White were considered conservatives who battled the Roosevelt Administration's policies.
Political career
Governor of Maine
After a narrow failed bid in the 1940 GOP gubernatorial primary,[3] Payne was successfully elected in 1948,[4] and re-elected the following election cycle along with the state's three GOP U.S. representatives[5] during the 1950 Midterms with a sweep of every single county.[6]
During his two-term tenure, Payne sanctioned a 2% sales tax, eliminated a bonded deficit, and ensured a state treasury surplus.[7] He also expanded the Maine Development Commission and increased the use of executive actions over state agencies, in addition to developing a safety program for highways which reduced deaths.[8]
Payne faced accusations pertaining to a monopoly scandal surrounding liquor, of which he was alleged to have been susceptible to bribery.[8] However, a grand jury cleared him.
U.S. Senate
Payne ran for Senate in the 1952 elections against incumbent Republican Ralph Owen Brewster, formerly a governor as he was. Brewster's reputation had been damaged by the support he received from the Maine Ku Klux Klan in his previous campaigns, which he did not embrace yet did not openly repudiate.[9] After a bitter campaign,[8] Payne narrowly won the primary[10][11] and easily emerged victorious in the general election against Democrat Roger P. Dube.[12]
Payne emerged in the Senate as an advocate of small businesses from foreign competition as well as additional aid for the blind and elderly.[8] In 1954, he accomplished a record all-time efficiency in passing legislation, managing to gavel through a hundred bills in merely ten minutes.[13] Payne was offered that year by President Dwight Eisenhower a job post as Controller General, which ultimately he came to reject.[14]
During the 83rd and 84th Congress, Payne hardly missed a roll call vote.[15] However, he missed a large number during the 85th congressional session, bringing his average percentage of missed roll calls up to 18.5%. Payne notably missed the vote on the final Senate passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1957.[16]
Payne was among the twenty-two GOP senators in December 1954 who voted in the affirmative on the Senate censure of Wisconsin Republican Joseph McCarthy,[17] who exposed communist infiltration of the State Department and the United States Army.
Payne announced in 1956 that he would not re-election in 1958.[18] However, he did so anyways, and won the party nomination easily.[19][20] In the general election, Payne was defeated in a landslide by liberal Democrat Edmund Muskie,[21] signaling the sharp decline of the GOP's firm political control over Maine.[22]
References
- ↑ Payne to Payrow. The Political Graveyard. Retrieved August 21, 2021.
- ↑ June 18, 1952. PAYNE HAS STOOD AS A PROGRESSIVE; Identified With Mrs. Smith's Wing of Maine Party While Brewster Is Old Guard. The New York Times. Retrieved August 21, 2021.
- ↑ ME Governor - R Primary Race - Jun 17, 1940. Our Campaigns. Retrieved August 21, 2021.
- ↑ ME Governor Race - Sep 13, 1948. Our Campaigns. Retrieved August 21, 2021.
- ↑ September 12, 1950. REPUBLICAN SWEEP RECORDED IN MAINE; Party Wins All Top Offices for the Eighth Time in Row, Improves Off-Year Ratio. The New York Times. Retrieved August 21, 2021.
- ↑ ME Governor Race - Sep 11, 1950. Our Campaigns. Retrieved August 21, 2021.
- ↑ Gov. Frederick George Payne. National Governors Association. Retrieved August 21, 2021.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 June 16, 1978. EX‐SENATOR PAYNE OF MAINE DIES AT 73. The New York Times. Retrieved August 21, 2021.
- ↑ Burnham, Emily (July 6, 2020). This Maine governor never publicly embraced the Klan, but he never disavowed its support. Bangor Daily News. Retrieved August 21, 2021.
- ↑ ME US Senate - R Primary Race - Jun 16, 1952. Our Campaigns. Retrieved August 21, 2021.
- ↑ Fenton, John H. (June 17, 1952). Brewster Defeated by Gov. Payne For the Senate in Maine Primary; BREWSTER LOSES IN MAINE PRIMARY. The New York Times. Retrieved August 21, 2021.
- ↑ ME US Senate Race - Sep 08, 1952. Our Campaigns. Retrieved August 21, 2021.
- ↑ August 13, 1954. Payne Gavels Through 100 Bills in 10 Minutes. The New York Times. Retrieved August 21, 2021.
- ↑ November 7, 1954. SENATOR REJECTS EISENHOWER OFFER; Payne Decides Not to Take Job of Controller General to Stay in Congress. The New York Times. Retrieved August 21, 2021.
- ↑ Sen. Frederick Payne. GovTrack.us. Retrieved August 21, 2021.
- ↑ HR. 6127. CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1957.. GovTrack.us. Retrieved August 21, 2021.
- ↑ S. RES. 301. PASSAGE.. GovTrack.us. Retrieved August 21, 2021.
- ↑ November 18, 1956. MUSKIE PROPOSED AS MAINE SENATOR; Governor Noncommittal as Payne Surprises State by Getting Out of '58 Race. The New York Times. Retrieved August 21, 2021.
- ↑ Fenton, John H. (June 17, 1958). ME US Senate - R Primary Race - Jun 16, 1958. Our Campaigns. Retrieved August 21, 2021.
- ↑ PAYNE IS VICTOR IN MAINE PRIMARY; Opposes Muskie for Senate in the Fall -- Democratic Governor Race Close. The New York Times. Retrieved August 21, 2021.
- ↑ ME Us Senate Race - Sep 08, 1958. Our Campaigns. Retrieved August 21, 2021.
- ↑ FascinatingPolitics (September 23, 2018). How the Northeast Became Democratic, Part IV: Maine (Sort of). Mad Politics: The Bizarre, Fascinating, and Unknown of American Political History. Retrieved August 21, 2021.
