PORTLAND, Maine — In its April issue, Down East magazine blows the dust off what may seem like a forgotten piece of history to take a close look at 1972, what it calls “the year that changed Maine.”
Why that year? While discussing potential topics in the early stages of planning the issue, editor in chief Brian Kevin wrote, “it quickly seemed clear that a case could be made for 1972 as a uniquely transformative moment for Maine, a year of briskly shifting ideas about what was valuable and who was in charge and how Mainers saw themselves.”
A key part of the change was a growing desire to preserve and protect the state’s "natural and historic heritage.” No one had done more to clean up Maine’s and the nation’s polluted rivers than Maine native Ed Muskie, who as a U.S. senator skillfully and stubbornly pushed through Congress landmark clean air and water legislation.
As 1972 began, Muskie, who had performed well as the Democratic vice-presidential candidate four years earlier, was widely considered the frontrunner for his party’s presidential nomination. But in New Hampshire, the Muskie campaign ran into trouble. Even though he received the most votes in the state’s primary, his showing was not as strong as expected. He won only one more primary before quitting the race two months later.
Muskie’s presidential ambitions were dashed, but his influence on Maine politics has endured. He brought the Democratic Party to life starting in the 1950s when he was elected governor, turning Maine into a true two-party state. Republicans have never been able to recapture the overwhelming political power they wielded for decades. And as writer David Shribman notes in his article on Muskie, Maine has delivered “all or most of its electoral votes to Democrats in eight straight presidential elections.”
What else happened in Maine in 1972 that still touches our lives? Watch our conversation with Brian Kevin to learn more.