Edmund Muskie (28 March 1914 – 26 March 1996) was US Secretary of State from 8 May 1980 to 20 January 1981, succeeding Cyrus Vance and preceding Alexander Haig; he previously served as a member of the US Senate from Maine (D) from 3 January 1959 to 7 May 1980 (succeeding Frederick G. Payne and preceding George J. Mitchell) and Governor of Maine from 5 January 1955 to 2 January 1959, succeeding Burton M. Cross and preceding Robert Haskell. Muskie was Democratic Party presidential nominee Hubert Humphrey's running mate during the United States presidential election, 1968.
Biography[]
Edmund Muskie was born in Rumford, Maine on 28 March 1914, and he graduated from Bates College in 1936 and Cornell University in 1939 before beginning a short stint in law practice. Muskie served in the US Navy during World War II, rising to the rank of lieutenant. Upon his return from the war, he returned to practicing law and expanding the Democratic Party in a Republican Maine. He served in the State House of Representatives from 1946 to 1951, and he served as Governor from 1955 to 1959 and a member of the US Senate from 1959 to 1980. He introduced numerous laws regarding environmental protection, campaign finance, lobbying, civil rights, and state affairs, and he was Hubert Humphrey's running mate during the United States presidential election, 1968. In 1972, he lost the Democratic primary to George McGovern. In 1980, Muskie was made Secretary of State by Jimmy Carter, and he negotiated an end to the Iran hostage crisis. He left office in 1980, having borne the distinction of being the first Polish-American vice presidential candidate, and the highest-ranking Polish-American in US politics.