In Memoriam

by Emmett Hogan

You have to admire a man who, when critics claimed that his political views came straight from the 19th century, responded "they are wrong … my beliefs are rooted in the values of the 17th century, and I’m proud of it."

Former Governor Meldrim Thomson, a fire-breathing hero to New Hampshire conservatives, was known for such controversial pronouncements. Sadly, he died last week on his maple sugar farm in Orford, NH. Mr. Thomson had battled Parkinson’s disease for years, and survived a stroke and three heart attacks in the past decade.

Born in Pennsylvania in 1912, Mr. Thomson’s was raised in Georgia and Florida, retaining a southern lilt in his voice decades after moving back to the Northeast. Mr. Thomson and his wife, Gale, moved to New Hampshire in the 1950s. While serving on the Orford school board, he gained notoriety when he persuaded the board to refuse federal funds for remedial reading programs. This was New Hampshire’s first glimpse of the fierce independence and the ardent belief in state sovereignty that would characterize him for decades.

Mr. Thomson launched two unsuccessful bids to win the Republican nomination for governor, first in 1968 and again in 1970. For the second of these attempts, since he lost in the Republican primary, he decided to run in the general election as a candidate from Alabama Governor George Wallace’s American Independent Party.

In the gubernatorial election of 1972, however, Mr. Thomson won the Republican primary and went on to defeat the incumbent governor, Roger Crowley, in a three-way race that threatened to split the Republican vote between him and a more moderate challenger. His campaign focused strongly on taxation – a favorite issue of his, and one which would elicit some of his sharpest comments.

Mr. Thomson’s three-term tenure as governor spanned the decade of the 1970s. At times it seemed as though he was in the business of infuriating liberals and libertarians alike. He denounced Martin Luther King, Jr. as "a man of immoral character whose frequent association with leading agents of communism is well established." He proposed arming the state National Guard with nuclear weapons. He habitually lowered the flag on the state capitol building on Good Friday – an act which earned him the scorn of those who argued that he was violating the separation of church and state. President Carter’s grant of amnesty to those who had illegally resisted the Vietnam War elicited a similar response from the Governor. And, having added the state motto ‘Live Free or Die’ to New Hampshire license plates, Mr. Thomson fought an unsuccessful fight against a resident who covered those words up—bringing his fight all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. In general, his style was very acerbic and confrontational, and served both to rally the state’s conservatives and anger its liberals.

Yet, Mr. Thomson remained very popular during his long tenure, in no small part because of his constant crusades against taxes. He vigorously fought off those who proposed a state income tax or sales tax for New Hampshire. Reversing a trend of the 1960s, Mr. Thomson managed to balance the state budget and finish with a surplus every year, despite having to rely on relatively meager sources of revenue, such as property taxes.

His stance on this issue brought him in close allegiance with William Loeb, the equally pugilistic editor of the Manchester Union-Leader. For decades, Mr. Loeb’s paper played a crucial role in shaping public opinion throughout the state. His endorsements (or his excoriations) could make or break a candidate. Mr. Loeb, who died in 1982, initiated ‘the Pledge’, a promise to veto any income tax proposal taken by all successful gubernatorial candidates, until Jeanne Shaheen in her re-election bid last year. His fervent anti-tax stance made Mr. Thomson a natural ally.

The Governor’s brand of conservatism heralded the conservatism of the Reagan years. As did Mr. Reagan, Mr. Thomson fought for gun owner’s rights, social conservative causes, and a muscular foreign policy. Above all, both men expressed disdain for federal interference in local affairs. Echoing the sentiments of Reagan, Mr. Thomson stated in his 1979 autobiography Live Free or Die: "I have fought the holy cause of liberty against the sinister encroachments of the federal government." Such a sentiment would have been fitting had it come from the mouth of Reagan himself.

Mr. Thomson sought an unprecedented fourth term in 1978. However, energy crises in the state led to his fall from favor. His push for the construction of a nuclear power plant at Seabrook on the New Hampshire coastline earned him the scorn of many environmentalists. During the summer of 1977, an environmentalist group called the Clamshell Alliance conducted protests on the grounds of the site. Mr. Thomson sent in the National Guard and had 1,400 of the protesters arrested and detained in the state armory for several days.

Although, by the campaign season, Mr. Thomson had quelled the troubles caused by these protesters, the energy crisis continued to cause headaches for the governor. Sharply rising utility bills were damaging his popularity, and Democratic challenger Hugh Gallen turned the issue against the Governor. But, even in conceding, Mr. Thomson proved headstrong and unapologetic, promising to "return to the fray" before long.

After leaving office, Mr. Thomson accepted a position as a contributor to the Manchester Union-Leader, a position which allowed him to continue voicing his opinion on a wide range of state issues. He also engaged himself in a number of national issues, particularly energy policy and foreign policy toward China and Taiwan.

Retiring to his farm, Mr. Thomson became a dean of conservatives in the state. Republicans aspiring to the presidency were obliged to pay a courtesy call during the state’s primaries. Even as a private citizen, Mr. Thomson continued to wield considerable influence.

The former Governor’s name appeared on a ballot once more in 1982, this time as an independent. Although he did not campaign, Mr. Thomson felt it necessary to have at least one candidate who would take the anti-tax Pledge. The Republican nominee, John Sununu, later agreed to take the pledge. He went on to beat Governor Gallen with 51% to 47%. Mr. Thomson garnered 2%.

Most New Hampshire residents have an opinion on the towering, polarizing figure – some favorable, others less so. But just about everyone can agree: no governor in recent memory has been quite as colorful.

He will be missed.