John Hathaway Reed (January 5, 1921 – October 31, 2012) was an American diplomat and politician who served as the 67th

governor of Maine The governor of Maine is the head of government of the U.S. 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. The current governor of Maine is J ...

, holding office during the 1960s. He was once an

Aroostook County Aroostook County ( ; ) is the northernmost county in the U.S. state of Maine. It is located along the Canada–United States border. As of the 2020 census, the population was 67,105. The county seat is Houlton, with offices in Caribou and Fo ...

potato farmer. Reed was a Republican who took office following the death of Governor

Clinton Clauson Clinton Amos Clauson (March 28, 1895 – December 30, 1959) was an American politician who served as the 66th governor of Maine from January 1959 until his death in December of that year. A Democrat, Clauson previously held office in Waterville ...

Political career

Reed was born in Fort Fairfield, Maine, in 1921. He graduated from the

University of Maine The University of Maine (UMaine) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Orono, Maine, United States. It was established in 1865 as the land-grant college of Maine and is the Flagship universitie ...

in 1942. He served in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

in World War II, first graduating from Harvard's

Navy Supply Corps School The Navy Supply Corps School (NSCS), located in Newport, Rhode Island, comprises a 20-week training "Basic Qualification Course" (BQC) and other courses for newly commissioned and other Supply Corps officers in the US Navy. Those who successf ...

in 1944. After coming home, he was elected to the

Maine House of Representatives The Maine House of Representatives is the lower house of the Maine Legislature. The House consists of 151 voting members and three nonvoting members. The voting members represent an equal number of districts across the state and are elected via ...

in 1954. He served one term before being elected to the

Maine Senate The Maine Senate is the upper house of the Maine Legislature, the state legislature (United States), state legislature of the U.S. state of Maine. The Senate currently consists of 35 members representing an equal number of districts across the st ...

. At the start of his second senate term, he was elected Senate President, an office which in Maine is first in line for the governorship.

Governor of Maine 1959-1967

Upon Clauson's death, Reed became governor and was the fourth Governor Maine had in 1959, after Clauson,

Robert Haskell Robert Nance Haskell (August 24, 1903 – December 3, 1987) was a Maine state senator and the 65th governor of Maine for five days in 1959. Haskell graduated from the University of Maine with an engineering degree in 1925. He became a design en ...

, and

Edmund Muskie Edmund Sixtus Muskie (March 28, 1914March 26, 1996) was an American statesman and political leader who served as the 58th United States Secretary of State under President Jimmy Carter from 1980 to 1981, a United States Senator from Maine from 1 ...

. He was then elected over

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (Cyprus) (DCY) **Democratic Part ...

Frank M. Coffin to finish Clauson's term in

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Janu ...

. He was narrowly reelected over Democrat Maynard C. Dolloff in

1962 The year saw the Cuban Missile Crisis, which is often considered the closest the world came to a Nuclear warfare, nuclear confrontation during the Cold War. Events January * January 1 – Samoa, Western Samoa becomes independent from Ne ...

to serve Maine's first 4-year term as governor. Reed was instrumental in starting educational television in Maine and oversaw the creation of a network of University of Maine colleges, now known as the University of Maine System

in 1965 Reed Offered Lewiston, Maine As the event for the Muhammad Ali Sonny Liston rematch, It remains the only heavyweight title fight held in the state of Maine. In 1966 Maine gubernatorial election, 1966 he lost re-election to Democrat Kenneth Curtis. by a vote of 172,036 (53%) to 151,802 (47%).

After governorship

Reed was a strong supporter of the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

and was close to President

Lyndon Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), also known as LBJ, was the 36th president of the United States, serving from 1963 to 1969. He became president after assassination of John F. Kennedy, the assassination of John F. Ken ...

, a Democrat, who appointed him to the

National Transportation Safety Board The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is an independent U.S. government investigative agency responsible for civil transportation accident investigation. In this role, the NTSB investigates and reports on aviation accidents and inci ...

in 1966. After serving in that post, he was appointed by President

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 until Resignation of Richard Nixon, his resignation in 1974. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican ...

, a Republican, US ambassador to

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

and the

Maldives The Maldives, officially the Republic of Maldives, and historically known as the Maldive Islands, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in South Asia located in the Indian Ocean. The Maldives is southwest of Sri Lanka and India, abou ...

(shared country accreditation by ambassador). Reed was appointed ambassador to Sri Lanka and the Maldives a second time by President Ronald Reagan, a Republican, in 1981. Reed lived in Washington, D.C., after his retirement. He died there on October 31, 2012."Former Maine Gov. John Reed dead at 91"
Bangor ''Daily News'', November 2, 2012.

Marriage and children

On March 24, 1944, Reed married Cora Mitchell Davison at the Newport Naval Chapel. Cora Davison was born on August 13, 1920, in Haverhill,

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

, to John A. Davison and Ruth Hoitt. Cora Davison was a graduate of Haverhill High School in 1938 and from the former McIntosh School of Business in

Lawrence Lawrence may refer to: Education Colleges and universities * Lawrence Technological University, a university in Southfield, Michigan, United States * Lawrence University, a liberal arts university in Appleton, Wisconsin, United States Preparator ...

, in 1940. She worked as a secretary in the office of the Clarence Walker Shoe Factory in Haverhill prior to moving with her family to

Newport Newport most commonly refers to: *Newport, Wales *Newport, Rhode Island, US Newport or New Port may also refer to: Places Asia *Newport City, Metro Manila, a Philippine district in Pasay * Newport (Vietnam), a United States Army and Army of t ...

, where she took a position as executive secretary to the commanding officer of the Newport Naval Supply Depot, during World War II. Here she met her future husband. John and Cora had two daughters. His wife Cora died on November 7, 2004, at Washington Home and Hospice Center after a long illness.

References

, - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Reed, John H. 1921 births 2012 deaths Ambassadors of the United States to Sri Lanka Ambassadors of the United States to the Maldives Chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board Businesspeople from Maine Farmers from Maine Republican Party governors of Maine Republican Party members of the Maine House of Representatives People from Fort Fairfield, Maine Presidents of the Maine Senate Republican Party Maine state senators University of Maine alumni 20th-century American businesspeople United States Navy personnel of World War II 20th-century American diplomats 20th-century members of the Maine Legislature