Margaret Chase Smith: Paved the way for Maine’s women politicians

Former Rep. and Sen. Margaret Chase Smith encouraged many of Maine’s female political leaders during her life, and her legacy continues to inspire women in leadership roles today.

“I think Margaret Chase Smith paved the way for Olympia Snowe and for me to be in the Senate,” U.S. Sen. Susan Collins said in a recent interview. “When I decided to run for the Senate, I did not have to convince Mainers that women could be good senators because Margaret Chase Smith had served so well for so long.”

Born Dec. 14, 1987, in Skowhegan to Carrie Murray and George Emery Chase, Smith tested her hand at many things before succeeding her husband in representing Maine’s 2nd District. She was a teacher, telephone operator, manager of circulation for the Skowhegan newspaper, and held an executive position at a local textile mill before she entered the political world.

Her involvement with women’s organizations began in the 1920s when she helped found the Skowhegan Business and Professional Women’s Club.

In 1930, she married Maine political leader Clyde H. Smith. When her husband died 10 years later, Margaret Chase Smith took his place as Maine’s 2nd District representative. She later was elected to the Senate where she served four terms before being defeated by Rep. William Hathaway.

Smith even ran for president in 1964 and was the first female to be nominated at a major political party’s national convention.

Collins first met Smith when she was in high school and was selected to visit Smith in Washington as part of the Senate youth program.

“Margaret Chase Smith spent nearly two hours talking with me about public service, about her Declaration of Conscience, about her service on the Armed Services Committee, and it astonishes me that she spent so much time with this 18-year-old girl from Caribou, Maine,” Collins said. “When I left her office I was just thrilled with the time I had spent with her and I remember being so proud that she was my senator and I also remember thinking that women could do anything.”

U.S. Sen. Olympia Snowe had similar memories of the senator who helped pave the way for female political leaders.

“This remarkable woman rose from the most humble of beginnings to the highest corridors of power, inspired millions of young girls and became a role model for millions more women across America who never before thought they could aspire to any kind of public office,” Snowe said recently. “She did make an extraordinary difference for women – as I can say firsthand from personal experience.”

Snowe recalled meeting Smith on a visit to Washington, D.C., as a senior in college.

“But even at that point in time, I never would have thought that, because of the doors she opened, she would make it possible for me to one day sit at her very desk on the floor of the United States Senate,” Snowe said. “Whether or not she was ever prepared to admit it, [Smith] has blazed a path many of us have followed, and set a standard many of us have tried to meet.”

Smith’s legacy lives and her name is impressed on buildings and foundations throughout the state, such as the Margaret Chase Smith Center for Public Policy at the University of Maine, the Margaret Chase Smith Federal Building in Bangor, and her namesake library in Skowhegan.

Merton G. Henry, 82, serves on the Margaret Chase Smith Library board and first met the senator when he was a student at Bowdoin College in 1948. Smith was in the midst of her first Senate race and Henry was involved in the Young Republicans movement on campus.

He volunteered to help with Smith’s Senate campaign and became a fixture on her subsequent runs for office.

“She had a very dynamic personality,” Henry said in a phone interview. “She was a very small person in size, but she exuded confidence and she had a wonderful way of dealing with people.”

Her legacy is carried on today by the numerous women who represent Maine in political leadership positions, he said.

“I was always impressed by how much energy and stamina she had in campaigning,” Henry said. “She could go through a place like L.L. Bean or Unum and shake hands with everybody in the building, and then be ready to go on to the next one.”

He also said he believes she ran the best office Maine has ever had for taking care of constituents.

“She was very conscious that she was there to use her own judgment on issues, not just rubber-stamp everything the Republican Party presented,” Henry said.

Smith’s political philosophy is something that drives Maine’s female senators today.

“Throughout my time in the Senate, I’ve often thought what would Senator Smith do on an issue when I’m faced with a particularly tough decision, and I know she would have said to do what I think is right always,” Collins said. “One of her lasting influences was doing what she thought was right and standing for what she believed in regardless of the consequences.”