Thomas Paul Salmon (August 19, 1932 – January 14, 2025) was an American Democratic Party politician who served as the 75th governor of Vermont from 1973 to 1977.

Early life

Thomas P. Salmon was born in

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–United States border, Canada–U.S. maritime border ...

, on August 19, 1932, the son of Thomas A. Salmon and Lucy M. (Conlon) Salmon. He was raised in Stow, Massachusetts, attended Stow High School, and graduated in 1950 from Hudson High School in

Hudson, Massachusetts Hudson is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, with a total population of 20,092 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Before its incorporation as a town in 1866, Hudson was a ne ...

. He earned his undergraduate degree in history and government from

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private university, private Catholic Jesuits, Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1863 by the Society of Jesus, a Catholic Religious order (Catholic), religious order, t ...

in 1954, and earned a J.D. from

Boston College Law School Boston College Law School (BC Law) is the law school of Boston College, a private Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. It is situated on a campus in Newton, Massachusetts, about from the university's main campus in Chestn ...

in 1957. He earned an LL.M. degree in taxation from

New York University Law School The New York University School of Law (NYU Law) is the law school of New York University, a private research university in New York City. Established in 1835, it was the first law school established in New York City and is the oldest survivin ...

in 1958. After admission to the bar, he settled in

Rockingham, Vermont Rockingham is a New England town, town along the Connecticut River in Windham County, Vermont, Windham County, Vermont, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population was 4,832. Rockingham includes the incorporated ...

, where he practiced law as a partner in the firm of Salmon and Nostrand. Salmon was active in the Catholic church and belonged to the

Knights of Columbus The Knights of Columbus (K of C) is a global Catholic Church, Catholic Fraternal and service organizations, fraternal service order founded by Michael J. McGivney, Blessed Michael J. McGivney. Membership is limited to practicing Catholic men. ...

. His other memberships included the

American Bar Association The American Bar Association (ABA) is a voluntary association, voluntary bar association of lawyers and law students in the United States; national in scope, it is not specific to any single jurisdiction. Founded in 1878, the ABA's stated acti ...

, Vermont Bar Association, and Windham County Bar Association. His fraternal memberships included the

Elks The Embeddable Linux Kernel Subset (ELKS), formerly known as Linux-8086, is a Linux-like operating system kernel. It is a subset of the Linux kernel, intended for 16-bit computers with limited processor and memory resources such as machines pow ...

and

Moose The moose (: 'moose'; used in North America) or elk (: 'elk' or 'elks'; used in Eurasia) (''Alces alces'') is the world's tallest, largest and heaviest extant species of deer and the only species in the genus ''Alces''. It is also the tal ...

. Among Salmon's civic affiliations were Historic Windsor, Inc., Bellows Falls Area Development Corporation, Green Mountain Council of

Boy Scouts of America Scouting America is the largest scouting organization and one of the largest List of youth organizations, youth organizations in the United States, with over 1 million youth, including nearly 200,000 female participants. Founded as the Boy Sco ...

, Northeast Economic Action Council, and

Rotary Club Rotary International is one of the largest Service club, service organizations in the world. The self-declared mission of Rotary, as stated on its website, is to "provide service to others, promote integrity, and advance world understanding, go ...

. He was a member of the

and served as chairman of the Windham County Democratic Committee.

Family

In August 1958, Salmon married Madeleine Gabrielle Savaria. They were the parents of four children: Anne Marie, Marguerite, Thomas M., and Caroline. Thomas M. Salmon served as Vermont State Auditor from 2007 to 2013. Thomas and Madeleine Salmon divorced in 1983, and in 1984 he married Susan June Bisson.

Career

In 1960, Salmon became town counsel for

, and he served until 1972. From 1963 to 1965, he served as judge of the Bellows Falls municipal court. He was a member of the

Vermont House of Representatives The Vermont House of Representatives is the lower house of the Vermont General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Vermont. The House comprises 150 members, with each member representing around 4,100 citizens. Representatives a ...

from Rockingham in 1965, and from District 13-1 for 1966, from 1967 to 1968 and from 1969 to 1971. During his last term, he was House Minority Leader. In 1970, he was the unsuccessful Democratic nominee for

Vermont Attorney General The Vermont attorney general is a statewide elected executive official in the U.S. state of Vermont who is elected every two years. It was created by an act of the Vermont General Assembly in 1790, repealed in 1797, and revived in 1904. The office ...

Governor

In 1972, Salmon won an upset victory in the election for governor; he entered the race only a month before the September primary and only three months before the

general election A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from By-election, by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. Gener ...

. During the campaign, Salmon capitalized on the widespread perception that out-of-state investors were overdeveloping the state's land with the slogan "Vermont Is Not For Sale." Republicans won every other statewide office, but Salmon convincingly won the governorship. In office, he shepherded passage of a land gains tax that was credited with slowing land speculation in Vermont. He won reelection in 1974, chaired the New England Governors' Conference for two years, and was a member of the

National Governors Association The National Governors Association (NGA) is an American Politics of the United States, political organization founded in 1908. The association's members are the governors of the 55 U.S. state, states, Territories of the United States, territories ...

's Executive Committee. Salmon was an unsuccessful candidate for U.S. Senator from

Vermont Vermont () is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, New York (state), New York to the west, and the Provinces and territories of Ca ...

in the 1976 election, losing to the incumbent Robert Stafford.

Later career

After leaving office, Salmon resumed practicing law. In 1991, Salmon was appointed interim president of the

University of Vermont The University of Vermont and State Agricultural College, commonly referred to as the University of Vermont (UVM), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Burlington, Vermont, United States. Foun ...

and served as the university's permanent president from 1993 to 1998. Upon retiring from UVM, he practiced law in Bellows Falls, Vermont. He also served as chairman of the board for Green Mountain Power from 1983 to 2002. Salmon died in

Brattleboro, Vermont Brattleboro (), originally Brattleborough, is a New England town, town in Windham County, Vermont, United States, located about north of the Massachusetts state line at the confluence of Vermont's West River (Vermont), West River and the Connec ...

, on January 14, 2025.

References

External links

Thomas P. Salmon
at Vermont Folk Life Center
Thomas P. Salmon
at National Governors Association

at The Political Graveyard , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Salmon, Thomas P. 1932 births 2025 deaths 20th-century members of the Vermont General Assembly Boston College Law School alumni Catholic politicians from Massachusetts Catholic politicians from Vermont Democratic Party governors of Vermont Democratic Party members of the Vermont House of Representatives Lawyers from Cleveland New York University School of Law alumni People from Bellows Falls, Vermont People from Hudson, Massachusetts People from Stow, Massachusetts Politicians from Cleveland Presidents of the University of Vermont Vermont state court judges Vermont lawyers