Editor’s note: This commentary is by Steve Terry, of Middlebury, who served as legislative assistant for Sen. George Aiken from 1969 to 1975. He is working on a book focusing on Aiken’s Vietnam record from 1954 to 1975. Terry is on the board of the Vermont Journalism Trust, the umbrella organization for VTDigger. This piece was first published in the Rutland Herald.
One hundred twenty-three years ago, on Aug. 20, 1892, in Dummerston, George David Aiken was born the fourth child of Edward and Myra Cook Aiken.
At age 3, he and his family left Dummerston and moved to West Hill in Putney, where the family home still stands.
The Putney nurseryman, who developed a mail-order business selling wildflowers and fruit trees, is best known as a political icon in Vermont.
A Progressive Republican and a pro-labor, anti-big business candidate, Aiken got his start in state politics in 1931 when he was elected to the Vermont House of Representatives. His rise was swift: In 1933 he was elected Vermont House speaker, in 1934 lieutenant governor of Vermont, and in 1936 he was elected governor, serving two terms from 1937 to 1941.
After winning a spirited primary in 1940 for the Republican U.S. Senate nomination, Aiken was re-elected in 1944, 1950, 1956, 1962, and then in 1968 he ran unopposed and was elected to his final term.
His contributions to Vermont and the nation for supporting welfare and education, agriculture, rural development and pushing for the end of the war in Vietnam are the stuff of political legend in Vermont.
Perhaps less known was Aiken’s deep aversion to political money. In fact, in 1938, there was a brief Aiken-for-president boomlet as the GOP alternative to President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and his New Deal policies.
1968 — No contributions (many offered but Aiken declined them, and all offers by name are noted in Aiken files). Primary expense $17.09 for postage and petitions. General Election (unopposed) no expenses.
Aiken shut down the budding campaign once he was informed that professional politicians and consultants with links to Republican money sources would run his campaign and he wouldn’t have to worry about the financing.
That alone was enough to scare away George Aiken from any national political future. His aversion to political money and its corrosive influence continued throughout his career.
I came across some notes in my Aiken papers recently that drove home his record. The notes show the following for Aiken’s primary and general election campaigns for the U.S. Senate:
“1944 campaigns — No contribution and no expenses.
“1950 campaigns — No contributions and no expenses.
“1956 campaigns — Senatorial Campaign Committee $5,000 contribution for General Election; primary expenses $1.08 for postage and petitions. The $5,000 contribution from the Senate campaign committee was turned over to the Vermont State Committee to help pay off debts for work in the state and in Rutland County in particular.
“1962 campaign — No contributions. Primary election expenses $4.48 for postage and petitions. General Election expense — $14.73 for personal gasoline.
“1968 — No contributions (many offered but Aiken declined them, and all offers by name are noted in Aiken files). Primary expense $17.09 for postage and petitions. General Election (unopposed) no expenses.”
Yes, this Aiken record is before the Citizens United U.S. Supreme Court decision, which opened the floodgates to dark money in U.S. politics. And the Aiken campaign record stands in stark contrast to recent million-dollar campaigns for governor of Vermont and the U.S. Senate and House races in the state.
The question remains: Could a George D. Aiken now be elected in Vermont by shunning campaign contributions?
