George Aiken

Infobox Governor
name= George David Aiken


imagesize = 209px
caption = George David Aiken in his office
order= 64^th
office= Governor of Vermont
term_start=January 7 1937
term_end= January 9 1941
lieutenant= William H. Wills
predecessor= Charles Manley Smith
successor=William H. Wills
jr/sr2=United States Senator
state2=Vermont
term_start2=January 10, 1941
term_end2=January 3, 1975
predecessor2=Ernest W. Gibson, Jr.
successor2=Patrick Leahy
birth_date= birth date|1892|8|20|mf=y
birth_place= Dummerston
death_date= death date and age|1984|11|19|1892|08|20
death_place= Putney, Vermont
spouse= Beatrice Howard, Lola Pierotti
profession=
party= Republican
footnotes=:"For the playwright, see George Aiken (playwright)."

George David Aiken (August 20, 1892 – November 19, 1984) was an American politician from Vermont. As a member of the Republican Party, he served as Governor of Vermont from 1937 to 1941 and as a U.S. Senator from 1941 to 1975. At the time of his retirement, Aiken was the most senior member of the Senate.

Aiken was born in Dummerston in Windham County, Vermont, and graduated from Brattleboro High School while living in Putney, Vermont in 1909. A Republican, he was elected to the Vermont House of Representatives in 1931 and served as Speaker of the House from 1933 to 1935. He was lieutenant governor of Vermont from 1935 to 1937 and subsequently served two terms as governor, being first elected in 1936 and re-elected in 1938.

As governor of Vermont, he broke the monopolies of many major industries, including banks, railroads, marble companies, and granite companies. He also encouraged suffering farmers in rural Vermont to form co-ops to market their crops and get access to electricity.

He was elected to the United States Senate on November 5, 1940, to fill the vacancy in the term ending January 3, 1945, caused by the death of Ernest W. Gibson, and was re-elected in 1944, 1950, 1956, 1962, and 1968. During his time in the Senate he served in a number of leadership roles including Chairman of the Committee on Expenditures in Executive Departments in the 80th Congress and in the Committee on Agriculture and Forestry in the 83rd Congress bringing a Vermont-centric voice to Congress emphasizing common sense solutions over party ideology. He was one of the white-haired men during the time of President John Fitzgerald Kennedy's inaugural statement about the torch passing to a new generation. During the Vietnam war, he said the U.S. should declare victory and bring the troops home.

He was a proponent of many progressive programs such as Food Stamps and public works projects for rural America, such as rural electrification, flood control and crop insurance. His views were at odds with those of many Old Guard Republicans in the Senate. Exasperated members of his party often called him a communist. Vermonters, in their contrarian way paid these comments little heed, showing Aiken such respect and affection that he reportedly spent only $17.09 on his last reelection bid. A north-south avenue on the west side of the public lawn at the Vermont State House has been named for him, as well as the state's maple research center at the University of Vermont.

He married Beatrice Howard and had four children by her: Dorothy, Marjorie, Howard, and Barbara. He married his second wife, Lola Pierotti, on June 30, 1967.

External links

* [http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=A000062 Congressional biography]