Edmund S. Muskie Oral History Collection

Document Type

Oral History

Publication Date

7-20-1998

Interview Number

MOH 031

Abstract

Stanley Tupper was born on January 25, 1921 in Boston Massachusetts. He grew up in Boothbay Harbor, Maine, the oldest of six children. His father, an alum of Boston University, worked as a lawyer. His mother was a housewife; both were Democrats. He attended public schools in Boothbay Harbor, and spent one year at Hebron Academy. He entered Middlebury College in 1939 as an English Literature major. He joined the U.S. Border Patrol in 1942 and attended LaSalle Extension University, in Chicago, Illinois. He served in the United States Navy from September 1944 to March 1946. He returned to Boothbay Harbor and served on the board of selectman in 1948 and as the chairman in 1949. He took a summer refresher course at Portland University School of Law and passed the Maine bar in 1949. He was Gov. Burton Cross’s Lincoln County campaign manager in 1952 and in the Maine House of Representatives in 1953. He served as State Commissioner of Sea and Shore Fisheries from 1953 to 1957, then as assistant State attorney general from 1959 to 1960. He served as a Republican in Congress in Maine’s District 2 from 1961 to 1963 and then in District 1 from 1963 to 1967. He was also a member of the Wednesday Group—liberal Republican members of Congress. Stan Tupper also served as Maine’s representative to the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission. Tupper resumed the practice of law in 1968 and, at the time of the interview, lived in Boothbay Harbor.

Scope and Content Note

The interview includes discussions of: Lincoln County Democrats; Lewiston Democrats versus other Maine Democrats; Boothbay Harbor board of selectmen; early 1950s Maine state politics; Frederick Payne; Burton Cross; Maine Sea and Shore Fisheries; John Donovan; Maine Fishery Associations; Maine fish industry; lobstering and property rights; liberal Republicanism and Rockefeller Republicans; Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission; price-fixing with Maine Lobster Association in late-1950s; Ralph Owen Brewster; Howard Hughes starting the Bangor Commercial newspaper; Payne vs. Brewster for Governor; 1964 congressional election between Tupper and Curtis; Tupper’s campaign against Roy Sinclair; his impression of the U. S. Congress in 1960s; President Dwight Eisenhower; terrorism; Margaret Chase Smith and Bill Lewis; Smith and the rest of the Maine delegation; his impression of Jim Day; Tupper’s first term in Congress; the clash between Smith and Gannett papers; Barry Goldwater and his views; Maine Republicans dislike for Tupper; the Wednesday Group. Muskie running for U.S. Senate versus Frederick Payne; Muskie for Governor versus Burt Cross; Muskie in Maine legislature; his Augusta law practice; losing the bid for mayor; Muskie as Governor, Ronald Green appointment; Muskie and Republicans; Muskie and fishermen; Muskie as a conservationist while Governor; campaigning for John Donovan in Lewiston; Muskie’s reputation in Congress; Muskie and the Maine Development Commission (while Governor); Tupper and Republicans for Muskie in 1970; Muskie and Clean Air and Clean Water Acts; and Muskie never answering mail.

Use Restrictions

Copyright Bates College. This transcript is provided for individual Research Purposes Only; for all other uses, including publication, reproduction and quotation beyond fair use, permission must be obtained in writing from: The Edmund S. Muskie Archives and Special Collections Library, Bates College, 70 Campus Avenue, Lewiston, Maine 04240-6018.

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