Lee E. Emerson

Lee Earl Emerson
69th Governor of Vermont
In office January 4, 1951 – January 6, 1955
Lieutenant	Joseph B. Johnson
Preceded by	Harold J. Arthur
Succeeded by	Joseph B. Johnson
62nd Lieutenant Governor of Vermont
In office 1945–1949
Governor	Mortimer R. Proctor Ernest W. Gibson, Jr.
Preceded by	Mortimer R. Proctor
Succeeded by	Harold J. Arthur
Member of the Vermont Senate
In office 1943–1945
Member of the Vermont House of Representatives
In office 1938
Personal details
Born	December 19, 1898 Hardwick, Vermont
Died	May 21, 1976 (aged 77) Berlin, Vermont
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Dorcas Ball Emerson
Alma mater	Syracuse University George Washington University Law School
Profession	Attorney
Religion	American Baptist Churches USA

Lee Earl Emerson (December 19, 1898 – May 21, 1976^[1]) was the 69th Governor of Vermont.

Early life

He was born in Hardwick, Vermont, on December 19, 1898, and moved to Barton, Vermont, at the age of 16. He graduated from Barton Academy in 1917, and served in the United States Army during World War I as a member of the Students' Army Training Corps. Emerson received an A.B. from Syracuse University in 1921 and a LL.B. from George Washington University Law School in 1926. He practiced law in Barton.^[2]

Political career

He was elected as a Republican to the Vermont House of Representatives in 1938 and served two terms. He was elected Speaker of the House in his second term, serving from 1941 to 1943.^[3] He was elected to the Vermont Senate in 1942, served from 1943 to 1945, and was elected President Pro Tempore.^[4] He was elected Lieutenant Governor of Vermont in 1944 and 1946, serving from 1945 to 1949.^[5]

Throughout much of Vermont history Governors and Lieutenant Governors had served two one-year terms, and later one two-year term as part of the Republican Party's "Mountain Rule." However, Ernest W. Gibson, Jr. had successfully challenged the established structure to win the governorship in 1946.^[6] Gibson defeated Emerson in the 1948 Republican primary and went on to win reelection to a second term.^[7] Emerson's fellow conservative Harold J. Arthur succeeded Emerson as Lieutenant Governor.^[8] When Arthur unexpectedly became governor in 1950 after Gibson resigned to accept a federal judgeship, Arthur served out Gibson's term but declined to run for a full term himself, clearing the way for Emerson's comeback.^[9] Emerson was elected Governor in 1950 and reelected in 1952, serving from 1951 to 1955.^[10] (Arthur instead ran for the U.S. House and lost the Republican primary to Winston Prouty, who went on to win the general election.)^[11]

As Governor, he recommended that Vermont citizens serving in the Korean War be paid a bonus by the state. He supported studies of the feasibility of building a natural gas pipeline for Vermont and of possible racial discrimination in the state. Also during his administration, legislation known as the Forest Act was passed, providing assistance for municipalities to establish forests.^[12]

Emerson also played a role in "The Novikoff Affair," in which a tenured University of Vermont professor Alex B. Novikoff was dismissed for alleged Communist sympathies that were never substantiated.^[13][14]

Post gubernatorial career

In 1958, he ran unsuccessfully for the United States Senate, losing the Republican nomination to Winston Prouty.^[15]

In 1960 Emerson was an unsuccessful candidate for the Republican nomination for Vermont's lone seat in the United States House of Representatives, losing to incumbent Governor Robert T. Stafford.^[16] Stafford went on to victory in the general election, defeating one term incumbent William H. Meyer, the first Democrat elected statewide in more than 100 years.^[17] (Myer had defeated Harold Arthur in the 1958 general election for the U.S. House seat.)^[18]

Personal

Emerson married Dorcas M. Ball on August 4, 1927. They had two children, Nancy and Cynthia.^[19]

Death and burial

He died in Berlin, Vermont, on May 26, 1976.^[20] He is buried in Barton.^[21]

Footnotes

1. National Governors Association
2. "Lee E. Emerson entry", Current Biography Yearbook, by H. W. Wilson Company, 1954, page 183
3. "Vermont Archives". Speakers of the House. Retrieved December 25, 2006.
4. "Vermont State Legislature". Vermont Senate Presidents Pro Tempore. Retrieved December 25, 2006.
5. "Vermont Secretary of State," Vermont Legislative Directory and State Manual, 1981, page 104
6. "The Vermont Encyclopedia," By John J. Duffy, Samuel B. Hand and Ralph H. Orth, 2003, page 96
7. "Yankee Politics in Rural Vermont," by Frank M. Bryan, 1974, page 91
8. "Harold J. Arthur entry," The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography, by James Terry White, Volume 57, 1977, page 135
9. "The Vermont Political Tradition," by William T. Doyle, 1987, page 288
10. "Vermont Archives", Vermont Governors, Terms of Service
11. "Vermont Archives", Primary Election Results, 1950 Republican Party
12. "National Governor's Association". Vermont Governor Lee E. Emerson. Retrieved December 26, 2006.
13. "Vermont Historical Society," The Case of Alex B. Novikoff
14. "New York Times," Alex B. Novikoff Dies; Professor and Biologist, January 11, 1987
15. "Vermont Archives", Primary Election Results, 1958, Republican Party
16. "Vermont Archives", Primary Election Results, 1960, Republican Party
17. "The Bob Mitchell Years: An Anthology of a Half Century of Editorial Writing," by Robert W. Mitchell, Rutland Herald, 1994, page 447
18. "New York Times", Democrat Fights Vermont Battle; Meyer Believed in Trouble in House Contest Against Gov. Robert T. Stafford, by John H. Fenton, October 20, 1960
19. Burlington Free Press Obituaries 02/2001 « Vermont History and Genealogy
20. "University of Vermont". Lee E. Emerson. Retrieved December 25, 2006.
21. "RootsWeb". Welcome O. Brown Cemetery, Barton, Vt. Retrieved December 26, 2006.

External links

• The Political Graveyard
• Inventory of the Lee E. Emerson Papers, Special Collections, University of Vermont Library