Former Gov. Reed has praise for Bush

PORTLAND – Former Maine Gov. John Reed, who was ambassador to Sri Lanka in the 1970s and ’80s, praised President Bush for dramatically increasing aid to the Asian region that was ravaged by tsunamis.

Reed, who lives in Washington, D.C., and remains active in Sri Lankan affairs, said Wednesday that the initial aid offer of $35 million was “minuscule for the dimension of the loss.”

Reed said he was relieved by the president’s first comments on the disaster, saying the words showed Bush’s personal concern for the victims and made it clear that the United States will help fund the long-term recovery effort in the region.

“The president came out as a major donor,” Reed said.

Reed, 83, was appointed ambassador by President Ford and served in Sri Lanka from 1976 to 1977. He returned in 1981 under President Reagan.

Sri Lanka, an island nation of 20 million people off the tip of southern India, was one of the hardest-hit countries in last weekend’s tsunami.

“We are very concerned about the enormous devastation of the country and the cost of rebuilding,” he said. “It is a terrible tragedy of unbelievable proportions.”

Reed, a native of Aroostook County and the son of a prominent potato farmer, was Maine’s governor from 1959 to 1966. A Republican, Reed became friends with President Lyndon Johnson, who later brought him to Washington. Reed said he and Johnson, who also was raised on a farm, had a lot in common.

Reed was a staunch supporter of Johnson’s Vietnam policy. In 1967, Johnson appointed Reed to the National Transportation Safety Board. Reed later served as the board’s chairman.

Reed said he comes to Maine every summer to stay at his cottage on North Pond in Smithfield and visit his sister in his hometown, Fort Fairfield.