This commentary is by Stephen C. Terry of Middlebury. He has known Tom Salmon since 1965 when, as a reporter, he first covered him in the Vermont Legislature. Also later, as managing editor of The Rutland Herald, and at Green Mountain Power when Salmon was chair of the board and Terry a senior officer.
Former Gov. Thomas P. Salmon, who died last week at age 92, was a plainspoken politician, lawyer-businessman and Democrat with a deep-seated aversion toward the left-leaning wing of his party.
Salmon was elected governor in 1972 in a monumental political upset in a state where Republicans ruled. Richard Nixon won big, as did every other GOP statewide candidate. Salmon did not decide to run for governor until the very last moment, after the 1972 Democratic National Convention held in late July. At that convention, Salmon was a George McGovern delegate. But he came home to run a longshot gubernatorial campaign during a time when the state Democratic Party was split into various factions.
Salmon’s 1972 victory was totally unexpected and one of the most surprising in the nation.
During his two gubernatorial terms, amongst his most lasting accomplishments, Salmon created the Vermont Development Authority which makes state loans and grants to businesses and farmers. Salmon also pushed the creation of a new tax on quick land sales arguing that Vermont “was not for sale.” This new law was seen as a very progressive way to slow down the sale of Vermont land to speculators.
Salmon’s pro-business philosophy, while always a champion of the working class, propelled him to become a sought-after Vermonter for several of the state’s most prominent business boards of directors after the governorship, and after an unsuccessful run for U.S. Senate against Republican Sen. Robert T. Stafford.
The most surprising feat, however, was Salmon’s 1991-1997 tenure as president of the University of Vermont. Ironically, the former Democratic governor was promoted for the job by the late Luther “Fred” Hackett of South Burlington to replace the resigned UVM president, George Davis. Hackett, ironically, was the GOP candidate for governor who Salmon defeated in 1972 as one of the most shocking political upsets in state history.
During his early days at UVM Salmon cracked down on protesting students camped out on the UVM Green by having their tents removed in the middle of the night. His position was in sharp contrast to the approach taken by former UVM President Davis who resigned after students locked him out of his office and he used a ladder to attempt entry. The news photo of Davis using a ladder went viral. The day Salmon was named to replace Davis, Salmon held a press conference to announce he “wouldn’t be climbing any ladders.”
At the time, it was a popular move throughout Vermont.
Idiosyncratically, Salmon was renowned for his malapropisms. State house reporters would maintain an ongoing list. One of the often repeated references he made was to “the four legs of a milk stool” (most milk stools have only three legs).
Salmon’s warm-hearted, spirited Irish heritage and love of all sports, especially football and horse racing, was well-known to his friends throughout his long career. For many years Salmon would organize his male friends for trips to the Kentucky Derby and to the Super Bowl. He was also a frequent attender at the annual meet at nearby Saratoga Race Track as well as to Boston College football games, his law school alma mater.
Salmon’s family, announcing their father’s death, made reference to the fact that “he never forgot the common man, nor where he came from.”
From my perspective, it might very well be Salmon’s lasting advice to the current Democratic party in Vermont.
Read the story on VTDigger here: Stephen C. Terry: Recollections of former Gov. Tom Salmon.