Edmund S. Muskie Oral History Collection

Authors

Don Nicoll

Document Type

Oral History

Publication Date

2-20-2000

Interview Number

MOH 179

Abstract

Jane Fenderson Cabot was born on April 30, 1943 in Biddeford, Maine. Her parents were Janet (Hazelton) and Charles Fenderson. Her mother was a homemaker, and her father was a store superintendent at the Porteous, Mitchell and Braun Department Store in Portland, Maine. Jane lived in Biddeford until her family moved to Saco, Maine, in the late 1940s. Her family was fairly political, influenced by her uncle Paul Hazelton, who was a Bowdoin College professor, and a campaign manager for Ed Muskie. Cabot graduated from Thornton Academy in 1960. She then attended Mount Holyoke College, graduating in 1964. During her last two summers at Mount Holyoke, she worked as an intern in Ed Muskie’s Senate office. After her graduation from college, she returned to Washington to work in Senator Muskie’s office. Her positions included Secretary, Research Assistant, and Special Assistant. At the time of this interview, she was Executive Vice President of the public issues practice at the M. Booth Company.

Scope and Content Note

Interview includes discussions of: 1964 Democratic Convention in Atlantic City; Civil Rights discussions in the Muskie office; Bobby Kennedy at the 1964 Convention; Hubert Humphrey election at Mount Holyoke; physical description of Paul Hazleton; Paul Hazleton as an academic; Muskie’s Senatorial staff in 1965; descriptions of the Senate offices and procedures; Housing Bill of 1965; interactions between Jane Fenderson and Ed Muskie; Indian issues of the 1960s; Office of Economic Opportunity; New England Senators Council; Campobello Commission; Senate staffs of the 1960s operating within the changes in society; staff sizes; Muskie’s Vietnam dilemma; the Women’s movement in Washington offices; salary structures in Washington, DC; Alaskan Native Claim Settlement; Model Cities; maintaining the office with a limited staff as Muskie gained national attention; Muskie’s relations with other Senators; debates with Henry “Scoop” Jackson over environmental jurisdiction; 1966 elections in Maine; scheduling for the 1966 elections; personal dilemma in sticking with Muskie over Vietnam; relation between Muskie and Margaret Chase Smith; rifts at the 1968 Maine Democratic Convention; King assassination; the DSCC fundraiser on the night of King’s assassination; 1968 Chicago Convention; Mayor Daley at the Chicago Convention; and the mood of the vice presidential nomination.

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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