Joseph E. Brennan

Joseph Edward Brennan (November 2, 1934 – April 5, 2024) was an American lawyer and politician from Maine. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the 70th governor of Maine from 1979 to 1987 and in the United States House of Representatives for Template:Ushr from 1987 to 1991.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Brennan was a commissioner on the Federal Maritime Commission during the Clinton, George W. Bush, and Obama administrations.

Early life

Brennan was born on November 2, 1934, in Portland, Maine.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He lived on Kellogg Street, on the third floor of tenement housing on Munjoy Hill.<ref name="MaineIrish">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=brennan>Template:Cite news</ref> He was raised in a family of eight children, with his parents being Irish immigrants.<ref name=brennan /> Brennan graduated from Cheverus High School,<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Boston College, and the University of Maine School of Law. Brennan served in the United States Army from 1953 to 1955.<ref name=obit/>

Government service

Early career

Brennan in 1973

Brennan won election to the Maine House of Representatives in 1964, and served three terms.<ref name=obit/> When first elected to the Maine House he did not own a car and hitchhiked up from Portland.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 1970, he was elected Cumberland County district attorney. During his service as district attorney, his Munjoy Hill house was shot up, with bullets landing by his infant daughter. This led Brennan to support the ban on assault-style weapons in the United States.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He was elected to the Maine Senate in 1972.<ref name=obit/>

Attorney General and Governor of Maine

Brennan in 1988

Brennan ran for governor of Maine in 1974; he lost the Democratic nomination to George J. Mitchell.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The Maine Legislature selected Brennan to be the Maine Attorney General on January 2, 1975.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> As attorney general, Brennan took part in negotiations with both Wabanaki tribes and the federal government on what became the Maine Indian Land Claims Settlement Act of 1980, a federal law enacted during the presidency of Jimmy Carter.<ref name=brennan /> Brennan ran for governor again in 1978 and won the election, then was reelected by a wider margin in 1982, serving a total of eight years. As governor, Brennan launched education reforms, pressed for tough highway safety measures, and helped to establish the Finance Authority of Maine.<ref name=brennan /> Among the notable people Brennan appointed as governor was future Senate Majority Leader George J. Mitchell, whom Brennan nominated to the US Senate seat formerly occupied by Edmund Muskie upon Muskie's resignation to become Secretary of State, and future Governor of Maine Janet Mills,<ref name=brennan /> whom Brennan appointed as the first female district attorney in the New England region.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=brennan />

United States Representative

In 1986, Brennan ran for the U.S. House in Template:Ushr and defeated Republican Rollin Ives 53% to 44%.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> in 1988 Brennan was reelected to the House by a margin of 63% to 37%.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Later gubernatorial and Senate campaigns

Brennan ran for governor again in 1990, losing to Republican John McKernan by 13,728 votes.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He ran again in 1994, losing to Independent Angus King by 7,878 votes, but placing second, ahead of Republican Susan Collins.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He faced Collins in another statewide election in 1996, running for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Bill Cohen,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> which Collins won by 32,196 votes.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Later career

In 1999, President Bill Clinton nominated Brennan to serve as a commissioner on the Federal Maritime Commission, a small independent agency that regulates shipping between the U.S. and foreign countries.<ref>Template:Cite press release</ref> He was re-nominated by President George W. Bush and confirmed for a second term at the FMC in 2004.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Personal life and death

Brennan married Connie LaPointe in 1994. He had two children: J.B. Brennan, who is a veteran of the United States Secret Service, and Dr. Tara Brennan, who holds a Doctorate of Psychology from LIU Brooklyn.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Brennan died of natural causes at his home in the Portland neighborhood of Munjoy Hill (where he grew up), on April 5, 2024, at the age of 89.<ref name=obit>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

External links

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