WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.020 Welcome to the deep dive. We are we're really 00:00:03.020 --> 00:00:04.580 thrilled to have you with us today. Absolutely. 00:00:05.019 --> 00:00:07.339 Glad to be here and dig into this. Yeah. So usually 00:00:07.339 --> 00:00:09.080 when you think of political thrillers, you know, 00:00:09.099 --> 00:00:11.660 your mind probably goes straight to intense backdoor 00:00:11.660 --> 00:00:14.359 meetings, dramatic betrayals, massive sweeping 00:00:14.359 --> 00:00:16.780 shifts in power. You probably don't think of 00:00:16.780 --> 00:00:20.440 a Wikipedia table, right? A spreadsheet isn't 00:00:20.440 --> 00:00:23.559 exactly a blockbuster movie. Exactly. But our 00:00:23.559 --> 00:00:25.739 mission for this deep dive is to take what looks 00:00:25.739 --> 00:00:29.399 like a completely dry chronological list of United 00:00:29.399 --> 00:00:32.280 States senators from the state of Maine. Just 00:00:32.280 --> 00:00:35.619 rows of names, dates and party affiliations and 00:00:35.619 --> 00:00:38.399 extract the incredible narrative hiding right 00:00:38.399 --> 00:00:40.979 beneath the surface. Which is such a great premise. 00:00:41.179 --> 00:00:43.240 We are going to show you how a simple ledger 00:00:43.240 --> 00:00:45.880 of elected officials can actually reveal fascinating 00:00:45.880 --> 00:00:49.149 stories of raw political ambition. Drastically 00:00:49.149 --> 00:00:52.750 evolving power structures and some truly bizarre 00:00:52.750 --> 00:00:55.189 historical courts. It's entirely too easy to 00:00:55.189 --> 00:00:57.250 look at a data set of politicians and see nothing 00:00:57.250 --> 00:00:59.789 but trivia, just factoids. But if you take a 00:00:59.789 --> 00:01:02.049 step back, a list like this actually serves as 00:01:02.049 --> 00:01:04.310 a mirror. A mirror, yeah. It reflects the broader 00:01:04.310 --> 00:01:06.370 changes in American history over the last two 00:01:06.370 --> 00:01:09.209 centuries. It shows us how the very nature of 00:01:09.209 --> 00:01:11.890 political power has fundamentally shifted from 00:01:11.890 --> 00:01:14.109 the early days of the republic right up to the 00:01:14.109 --> 00:01:17.079 modern era. So to set the stage for you, we have 00:01:17.079 --> 00:01:20.019 to establish our starting line. Maine officially 00:01:20.019 --> 00:01:23.640 became a state on March 15th, 1820. Over 200 00:01:23.640 --> 00:01:26.159 years ago. Right. Over 200 years of political 00:01:26.159 --> 00:01:29.549 history to cover. But to really appreciate how 00:01:29.549 --> 00:01:31.909 far the state's political identity has evolved 00:01:31.909 --> 00:01:34.109 since the 1820s, we actually need to start by 00:01:34.109 --> 00:01:36.689 looking at right now. OK, let's unpack this. 00:01:37.049 --> 00:01:39.569 If you look at the present day political landscape 00:01:39.569 --> 00:01:43.030 of Maine, as of our 2026 data, you see something 00:01:43.030 --> 00:01:45.829 that is incredibly rare in modern American politics. 00:01:45.930 --> 00:01:49.040 Very rare. Maine has a split U .S. Senate delegation. 00:01:49.299 --> 00:01:51.680 That is right. You have Susan Collins, a Republican 00:01:51.680 --> 00:01:54.540 who was first elected in 1996, serving alongside 00:01:54.540 --> 00:01:57.299 Angus King, an Independent who was first elected 00:01:57.299 --> 00:01:59.780 in 2012. And Maine is currently one of only four 00:01:59.780 --> 00:02:01.620 states in the entire country to have a split 00:02:01.620 --> 00:02:05.299 delegation. Just four. Just four out of 50? That 00:02:05.299 --> 00:02:07.299 alone tells you so much about the voting base 00:02:07.299 --> 00:02:10.639 in Maine. It points to a highly independent streak, 00:02:10.860 --> 00:02:13.780 a political culture where voters are clearly 00:02:13.780 --> 00:02:16.520 evaluating the individual person rather than 00:02:16.520 --> 00:02:18.639 just checking a single party box down the entire 00:02:18.639 --> 00:02:20.139 ballot. Yeah, they're willing to split their 00:02:20.139 --> 00:02:23.219 tickets. Right. But there is another amazing 00:02:23.219 --> 00:02:26.400 piece of modern political trivia hiding in this 00:02:26.400 --> 00:02:29.080 current delegation. Maine is in a relatively 00:02:29.080 --> 00:02:31.580 small club of states where the senior senator, 00:02:31.740 --> 00:02:33.789 in this case, Susan Collins is actually physically 00:02:33.789 --> 00:02:36.490 younger than the junior senator, Angus King. 00:02:36.710 --> 00:02:38.550 Which always strips people up. It totally does. 00:02:38.629 --> 00:02:40.830 I actually have the list here. Maine is one of 00:02:40.830 --> 00:02:43.270 14 states where this happens. The others are 00:02:43.270 --> 00:02:46.330 California, Colorado, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho. 00:02:46.689 --> 00:02:49.110 It's a surprisingly geographically diverse list. 00:02:49.370 --> 00:02:51.689 Yeah, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, 00:02:51.909 --> 00:02:54.289 Nevada, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, and Utah. 00:02:54.610 --> 00:02:57.110 What's fascinating here is that these modern 00:02:57.110 --> 00:02:59.969 quirks set Maine apart. But they also serve as 00:02:59.969 --> 00:03:02.069 a perfect lesson in how the actual mechanics 00:03:02.069 --> 00:03:04.710 of the Senate operate. These facts demonstrate 00:03:04.710 --> 00:03:07.789 how seniority and age don't always align. And 00:03:07.789 --> 00:03:09.889 it all comes down to the Senate's class one and 00:03:09.889 --> 00:03:12.449 class two electoral cycles. Right. Because people 00:03:12.449 --> 00:03:15.349 hear class one, class two and assume it's some 00:03:15.349 --> 00:03:18.430 sort of hierarchy or ranking system. Like class 00:03:18.430 --> 00:03:21.330 one is the boss. Exactly. And it isn't at all. 00:03:21.370 --> 00:03:23.889 A senator's class has absolutely nothing to do 00:03:23.889 --> 00:03:26.349 with their importance or their power. It purely 00:03:26.349 --> 00:03:29.069 dictates which specific election cycle their 00:03:29.069 --> 00:03:31.669 seat falls into. The founders designed the Senate 00:03:31.669 --> 00:03:33.629 so that only about a third of the chamber is 00:03:33.629 --> 00:03:36.050 up for reelection every two years. Providing 00:03:36.050 --> 00:03:38.949 a buffer against sudden sweeping populist movements. 00:03:39.449 --> 00:03:42.270 So in Maine, Susan Collins holds a class two 00:03:42.270 --> 00:03:44.629 seat and Angus King hold a class one seat. I 00:03:44.629 --> 00:03:46.949 see. Because Collins won her election back in 00:03:46.949 --> 00:03:49.610 1996 and King didn't arrive in the Senate until 00:03:49.610 --> 00:03:52.610 2012, she holds the institutional seniority. 00:03:52.939 --> 00:03:54.699 Completely, regardless of the fact that King 00:03:54.699 --> 00:03:57.039 was born earlier. The Senate calendar only cares 00:03:57.039 --> 00:03:58.780 about when you took the oath of office, not your 00:03:58.780 --> 00:04:01.259 beef year. That modern stability we see with 00:04:01.259 --> 00:04:04.199 Collins and King is fascinating, especially because 00:04:04.199 --> 00:04:07.240 if you rewind to Maine's early days, stability 00:04:07.240 --> 00:04:10.580 is the absolute last word you would use to describe 00:04:10.580 --> 00:04:13.080 its politicians. Oh, without a doubt. It was 00:04:13.080 --> 00:04:16.540 the Wild West. Let's look at the 1820s and 1830s. 00:04:17.019 --> 00:04:19.920 First of all, the party affiliations listed for 00:04:19.920 --> 00:04:22.339 these early senators sound like they belong in 00:04:22.339 --> 00:04:25.279 a completely different country. You see names 00:04:25.279 --> 00:04:27.459 attached to the Democratic Republican Party, 00:04:27.639 --> 00:04:29.920 the Jacksonian Party, the National Republican 00:04:29.920 --> 00:04:32.660 Party and the Whig Party. It really highlights 00:04:32.660 --> 00:04:35.459 how fluid the American political system was in 00:04:35.459 --> 00:04:38.339 those early decades. The rigid two party system, 00:04:38.420 --> 00:04:40.759 as you and I know it today, simply had not solidified 00:04:40.759 --> 00:04:42.879 yet. I have to imagine it was incredibly chaotic 00:04:42.879 --> 00:04:44.920 for the voters to keep track of. Oh, absolutely. 00:04:45.160 --> 00:04:46.939 Yeah. You see parties like. the Whigs, who were 00:04:46.939 --> 00:04:49.720 essentially formed as a coalition just to oppose 00:04:49.720 --> 00:04:51.920 Andrew Jackson's expansion of presidential power, 00:04:52.040 --> 00:04:54.839 or the Jacksonians themselves. It was an era 00:04:54.839 --> 00:04:57.420 defined largely by personality politics and regional 00:04:57.420 --> 00:04:59.620 factions rather than the strict comprehensive 00:04:59.620 --> 00:05:02.180 party platforms we expect today. Just constant 00:05:02.180 --> 00:05:04.720 shifting. Constant. It was a time of intense, 00:05:04.959 --> 00:05:07.819 constant political realignment. And it wasn't 00:05:07.819 --> 00:05:09.879 just the party names that were fluid. It was 00:05:09.879 --> 00:05:11.939 the actual jobs the politicians are willing to 00:05:11.939 --> 00:05:14.240 do. I was going through the historical timeline, 00:05:14.360 --> 00:05:17.000 and there is a pattern in the 1820s and 30s that 00:05:17.000 --> 00:05:19.860 absolutely blew my mind. The resignations. Yes. 00:05:20.259 --> 00:05:23.139 These early senators just kept quitting. They 00:05:23.139 --> 00:05:24.920 would get elected to Washington and then walk 00:05:24.920 --> 00:05:28.319 away. Look at Albion Paris. He is elected to 00:05:28.319 --> 00:05:32.360 the U .S. Senate in 1827. By August of 1828, 00:05:32.540 --> 00:05:35.360 barely a year later, he resigns. This packs up 00:05:35.360 --> 00:05:37.980 and leaves. And his reason. He left to become 00:05:37.980 --> 00:05:40.319 a judge on the Maine Supreme Judicial Court. 00:05:40.500 --> 00:05:43.019 And he wasn't a one -off. A few years later, 00:05:43.220 --> 00:05:45.759 Ether Shepley gets elected to the Senate in 1833. 00:05:46.160 --> 00:05:50.100 By 1836, he also resigns. His reason is exactly 00:05:50.100 --> 00:05:52.480 the same, to become a justice of the Maine Supreme 00:05:52.480 --> 00:05:54.800 Judicial Court. If we connect this to the bigger 00:05:54.800 --> 00:05:57.779 picture, it completely flips our modern understanding 00:05:57.779 --> 00:06:00.759 of political ambition upside down. How so? Well, 00:06:00.819 --> 00:06:02.920 today, serving in the United States Senate is 00:06:02.920 --> 00:06:05.360 widely considered the absolute pinnacle of a 00:06:05.360 --> 00:06:07.800 political career. People spend tens of millions 00:06:07.800 --> 00:06:10.579 of dollars and decades of their lives just trying 00:06:10.579 --> 00:06:13.379 to secure a single term. But in the 1820s and 00:06:13.379 --> 00:06:15.660 30s, the federal government was drastically smaller. 00:06:16.110 --> 00:06:17.730 So they were just quitting because Washington 00:06:17.730 --> 00:06:20.449 didn't matter as much? Not necessarily that it 00:06:20.449 --> 00:06:23.230 didn't matter, but you have to consider the immediate 00:06:23.230 --> 00:06:26.189 impact of the roles. Prior to the Civil War, 00:06:26.350 --> 00:06:28.629 the federal government had significantly less 00:06:28.629 --> 00:06:31.370 direct influence on the daily lives of citizens. 00:06:32.009 --> 00:06:34.670 A seat on a state Supreme Court was viewed as 00:06:34.670 --> 00:06:37.610 an equally, if not more, desirable and powerful 00:06:37.610 --> 00:06:40.050 position than a seat in the U .S. Senate. That 00:06:40.050 --> 00:06:43.170 makes sense. The local power. Exactly. The real, 00:06:43.170 --> 00:06:46.189 tangible power to shape laws, commerce, and daily 00:06:46.189 --> 00:06:48.629 life resided much closer to home at the state 00:06:48.629 --> 00:06:51.250 level. Giving up a Senate seat for a state judgeship 00:06:51.250 --> 00:06:53.970 wasn't a demotion. In many ways, it was a major 00:06:53.970 --> 00:06:56.649 promotion in terms of actual localized influence. 00:06:57.089 --> 00:06:59.110 That is just incredible to think about, given 00:06:59.110 --> 00:07:01.790 how Washington -centric our political media is 00:07:01.790 --> 00:07:05.250 today. But if we are talking about ambition and 00:07:05.250 --> 00:07:08.189 navigating this chaotic early system, there is 00:07:08.189 --> 00:07:11.209 one name in Maine's history that completely steals 00:07:11.209 --> 00:07:14.350 the show. We have to talk about Hannibal Hamlin. 00:07:14.410 --> 00:07:17.490 Oh, yes. Hamlin is a fascinating figure. I was 00:07:17.490 --> 00:07:19.269 looking at his timeline and it looks less like 00:07:19.269 --> 00:07:21.689 a political career and more like a chaotic game 00:07:21.689 --> 00:07:24.689 of musical chairs. His resume is truly something 00:07:24.689 --> 00:07:26.949 to behold. It reflects a relentless level of 00:07:26.949 --> 00:07:29.220 ambition. Here's where it gets really interesting, 00:07:29.420 --> 00:07:31.699 because you almost have to hear his career path 00:07:31.699 --> 00:07:34.519 sequentially to believe it. Hamlin starts out 00:07:34.519 --> 00:07:36.360 his Senate career as a Democrat, getting elected 00:07:36.360 --> 00:07:40.500 in 1848. He serves for a while, but then in 1856, 00:07:40.579 --> 00:07:43.060 he completely changes parties and becomes a Republican. 00:07:43.279 --> 00:07:46.060 A huge shift. Right. So that is already a massive 00:07:46.060 --> 00:07:49.639 move. Then in early 1857, he resigns from the 00:07:49.639 --> 00:07:51.680 U .S. Senate entirely to become the governor 00:07:51.680 --> 00:07:53.740 of Maine. But he doesn't stay in the governor's 00:07:53.740 --> 00:07:56.670 mansion. Just weeks later, in March of 1857, 00:07:56.910 --> 00:07:59.250 he comes right back to the U .S. Senate as a 00:07:59.250 --> 00:08:01.689 Republican. What exactly was happening there? 00:08:01.829 --> 00:08:03.970 To understand Hamlin's maneuvering, you have 00:08:03.970 --> 00:08:06.069 to look at the massive tidal waves sweeping the 00:08:06.069 --> 00:08:09.829 country in 1856. His party switch from Democrat 00:08:09.829 --> 00:08:12.730 to Republican perfectly illustrates the intense 00:08:12.730 --> 00:08:15.009 political realignment happening right before 00:08:15.009 --> 00:08:18.160 the Civil War. It was a chaotic time. Very. The 00:08:18.160 --> 00:08:20.060 Republican Party had just been formed primarily 00:08:20.060 --> 00:08:23.339 as a powerful anti -slavery coalition and was 00:08:23.339 --> 00:08:25.860 rapidly drawing in politicians from various other 00:08:25.860 --> 00:08:28.620 fractured parties in the North. Hamlin's switch 00:08:28.620 --> 00:08:31.420 was a major, highly visible indicator of where 00:08:31.420 --> 00:08:33.419 the political winds were blowing regarding the 00:08:33.419 --> 00:08:36.039 expansion of slavery. So he was riding this massive 00:08:36.039 --> 00:08:38.659 ideological wave and it essentially let him play 00:08:38.659 --> 00:08:41.039 hopscotch with the highest offices in the state. 00:08:41.279 --> 00:08:44.110 Precisely. And regarding that rapid -fire career 00:08:44.110 --> 00:08:47.309 path in 1857, I invite you to just imagine a 00:08:47.309 --> 00:08:49.590 politician trying to pull that off today. Imagine 00:08:49.590 --> 00:08:52.450 a modern senator switching parties, resigning 00:08:52.450 --> 00:08:54.629 to be governor, and then instantly jumping back 00:08:54.629 --> 00:08:57.090 to the Senate just weeks later. The modern news 00:08:57.090 --> 00:08:58.850 cycle would implode. It would be wall -to -wall 00:08:58.850 --> 00:09:01.750 coverage of just sheer confusion. And he still 00:09:01.750 --> 00:09:04.789 wasn't done. After jumping back into the Senate 00:09:04.789 --> 00:09:08.559 in 1857, he stays until 1861. at which point 00:09:08.559 --> 00:09:11.279 he resigns again. This time, it is to become 00:09:11.279 --> 00:09:13.539 the vice president of the United States under 00:09:13.539 --> 00:09:16.259 Abraham Lincoln. An incredible promotion. And 00:09:16.259 --> 00:09:18.279 after serving as vice president, he eventually 00:09:18.279 --> 00:09:20.740 returns to the U .S. Senate yet again, serving 00:09:20.740 --> 00:09:24.539 from 1869 all the way to 1881. The sheer stamina 00:09:24.539 --> 00:09:27.820 required to manage that kind of career is staggering. 00:09:28.080 --> 00:09:31.379 It really is. It highlights a time when political 00:09:31.379 --> 00:09:33.899 institutions were perhaps a bit more malleable, 00:09:33.919 --> 00:09:36.980 but also a figure who knew exactly how to navigate 00:09:36.980 --> 00:09:39.960 the absolute peak of American political turmoil. 00:09:40.360 --> 00:09:42.379 Hamlin wasn't the only Mainer being headhunted 00:09:42.379 --> 00:09:44.679 for the executive branch either. As we move through 00:09:44.679 --> 00:09:47.340 the 19th and into the 20th century, the historical 00:09:47.340 --> 00:09:50.039 record shows a distinct pattern of upward mobility. 00:09:50.320 --> 00:09:52.620 You have Lott M. Morrill resigning from his Senate 00:09:52.620 --> 00:09:54.899 seat to become the U .S. Secretary of the Treasury. 00:09:55.120 --> 00:09:57.539 A huge role. James G. Blaine resigned to become 00:09:57.539 --> 00:09:59.879 the U .S. Secretary of State. And jumping forward 00:09:59.879 --> 00:10:02.240 quite a bit to 1980, Edmund Muskie also resigned 00:10:02.240 --> 00:10:04.519 to become the U .S. Secretary of State. It shows 00:10:04.519 --> 00:10:07.139 that Maine, despite its relatively small population 00:10:07.139 --> 00:10:09.460 and geographic isolation up in the corner of 00:10:09.460 --> 00:10:11.960 New England, was consistently producing politicians 00:10:11.960 --> 00:10:16.059 who were viewed as national heavyweights. These 00:10:16.059 --> 00:10:18.480 were individuals trusted by presidents to run 00:10:18.480 --> 00:10:21.919 major, complex federal departments. So what does 00:10:21.919 --> 00:10:24.649 this all mean? We see these high profile cabinet 00:10:24.649 --> 00:10:27.450 appointments, this incredible upward mobility 00:10:27.450 --> 00:10:30.529 and national influence. But the historical data 00:10:30.529 --> 00:10:33.590 also reveals a much darker, much more fragile 00:10:33.590 --> 00:10:37.009 side to serving in this era. It does. The contrast 00:10:37.009 --> 00:10:39.629 is actually quite stark. While you have these 00:10:39.629 --> 00:10:41.730 individuals ascending to the highest levels of 00:10:41.730 --> 00:10:44.830 the executive branch, the raw timeline also shows 00:10:44.830 --> 00:10:47.110 a sobering number of senators who simply died 00:10:47.110 --> 00:10:49.690 in office. Yeah, quite a few. It was a very harsh 00:10:49.690 --> 00:10:51.570 reality of the era. If you read through the historical 00:10:51.570 --> 00:10:54.330 ledger, you see John Fairfield, William P. Fry, 00:10:54.549 --> 00:10:57.129 Edwin C. Burley, and Bert M. Fernald. All four 00:10:57.129 --> 00:10:59.269 of these men passed away while actively serving 00:10:59.269 --> 00:11:01.250 the state of Maine in the Senate. It is a heavy 00:11:01.250 --> 00:11:03.169 reminder that these weren't just names on a page. 00:11:03.350 --> 00:11:05.570 They were real people dealing with the realities 00:11:05.570 --> 00:11:09.559 of life, health. And medicine at the time. Exactly. 00:11:09.620 --> 00:11:12.659 The sheer physical toll of the job was vastly 00:11:12.659 --> 00:11:14.899 different back then. You have to factor in the 00:11:14.899 --> 00:11:17.139 grueling travel conditions between Maine and 00:11:17.139 --> 00:11:19.799 Washington, D .C., before commercial flights, 00:11:19.980 --> 00:11:22.899 the stress of the era, and the limitations of 00:11:22.899 --> 00:11:25.840 19th and early 20th century medicine. Serving 00:11:25.840 --> 00:11:28.100 in Washington was a genuine physical burden. 00:11:28.220 --> 00:11:29.700 But we should definitely highlight one of those 00:11:29.700 --> 00:11:31.659 names you just mentioned, William P. Fry. Even 00:11:31.659 --> 00:11:33.519 though he died in office, if you look at the 00:11:33.519 --> 00:11:36.159 historical record, William P. Fry actually holds 00:11:36.159 --> 00:11:39.340 the title as Maine's longest serving U .S. senator. 00:11:39.659 --> 00:11:42.840 30 years. 30 years. He served for three solid 00:11:42.840 --> 00:11:45.720 decades from 1881 right up until his death in 00:11:45.720 --> 00:11:48.779 1911. Three decades in the chamber. That kind 00:11:48.779 --> 00:11:51.000 of tenure is remarkable, especially given the 00:11:51.000 --> 00:11:54.279 physical toll we just discussed. And Fry's 30 00:11:54.279 --> 00:11:56.240 -year run actually serves as a perfect narrative 00:11:56.240 --> 00:11:58.620 bridge for us. How so? Because as we move into 00:11:58.620 --> 00:12:00.600 the 20th century, we see a massive fundamental 00:12:00.600 --> 00:12:03.700 shift in how politicians treat the job. The constant 00:12:03.700 --> 00:12:06.360 resignations, the party switching, the short 00:12:06.360 --> 00:12:09.360 localized stints we saw in the 1800s with people 00:12:09.360 --> 00:12:11.639 like Paris and all the quitting. Right. All the 00:12:11.639 --> 00:12:14.179 quitting. It begins to completely give way to 00:12:14.179 --> 00:12:17.120 an era of immense stability and long term service. 00:12:17.419 --> 00:12:19.740 You can really see it clearly as you look at 00:12:19.740 --> 00:12:22.320 the modern era in Maine politics. It becomes 00:12:22.320 --> 00:12:24.460 dominated by these absolute heavyweights who 00:12:24.460 --> 00:12:26.460 treat the Senate not as a stepping stone, but 00:12:26.460 --> 00:12:28.940 as a lifelong career. You have Frederick Hale, 00:12:29.039 --> 00:12:32.580 who served from 1917 to 1941. Then there is. 00:12:32.620 --> 00:12:35.399 Margaret Chase Smith, a truly legendary figure 00:12:35.399 --> 00:12:39.419 who served from 1949 to 1973. Incredible tenures. 00:12:39.519 --> 00:12:42.659 William Cohen held his seat from 1979 to 1997. 00:12:43.419 --> 00:12:47.399 Olympia Snow served from 1995 to 2013. And of 00:12:47.399 --> 00:12:49.139 course, Susan Collins, who has been in office 00:12:49.139 --> 00:12:51.879 since 1997. This raises an important question, 00:12:51.940 --> 00:12:53.720 and it is something I encourage you, the listener, 00:12:53.820 --> 00:12:56.480 to think about regarding modern politics. How 00:12:56.480 --> 00:12:59.460 do these decades -long tenures impact a state's 00:12:59.460 --> 00:13:02.190 influence on the national stage? especially compared 00:13:02.190 --> 00:13:04.629 to the revolving door we saw in the 1800s. It 00:13:04.629 --> 00:13:06.629 has to completely change the math for a smaller 00:13:06.629 --> 00:13:09.090 state, right? Right. Absolutely. In the U .S. 00:13:09.110 --> 00:13:12.450 Senate, power is heavily, almost exclusively, 00:13:12.570 --> 00:13:15.649 tied to seniority. Committee chairmanships, elite 00:13:15.649 --> 00:13:18.210 leadership roles, the ability to steer massive 00:13:18.210 --> 00:13:20.669 amounts of federal funding back home, these things 00:13:20.669 --> 00:13:22.950 usually go to the people. who've been walking 00:13:22.950 --> 00:13:24.889 the halls the longest. So stability literally 00:13:24.889 --> 00:13:28.250 pays off. Exactly. By shifting from politicians 00:13:28.250 --> 00:13:31.009 who constantly quit for state jobs to politicians 00:13:31.009 --> 00:13:33.350 who stayed for 20 or 30 uninterrupted years, 00:13:33.629 --> 00:13:36.370 a relatively small state like Maine was able 00:13:36.370 --> 00:13:38.590 to exponentially increase its footprint and its 00:13:38.590 --> 00:13:41.350 influence in Washington, D .C. They accumulated 00:13:41.350 --> 00:13:44.549 immense institutional power simply by staying 00:13:44.549 --> 00:13:47.159 put. It really is the ultimate long game. And 00:13:47.159 --> 00:13:49.639 before we move off this modern era of stability, 00:13:50.000 --> 00:13:52.440 there is one last great piece of trivia that 00:13:52.440 --> 00:13:54.519 shows how this long game plays out in real time. 00:13:54.679 --> 00:13:56.960 It is about a sort of domino effect of appointments. 00:13:57.200 --> 00:13:59.379 Oh, this is a great one. Remember how we mentioned 00:13:59.379 --> 00:14:02.179 Edmund Muskie resigning in 1980 to become secretary 00:14:02.179 --> 00:14:05.169 of state? Well, when he left, the governor had 00:14:05.169 --> 00:14:07.470 to appoint someone to fill his seat temporarily. 00:14:08.110 --> 00:14:10.769 George J. Mitchell was appointed to finish Muskie's 00:14:10.769 --> 00:14:13.330 term. And Mitchell didn't just keep the seat 00:14:13.330 --> 00:14:16.149 warm. He used that initial appointment as a springboard. 00:14:16.250 --> 00:14:18.850 A massive springboard. Right. He got elected 00:14:18.850 --> 00:14:21.230 to full terms in his own right and ended up serving 00:14:21.230 --> 00:14:24.110 until 1995, eventually becoming the Senate majority 00:14:24.110 --> 00:14:27.429 leader. One resignation essentially birthed another 00:14:27.429 --> 00:14:31.019 15 -year powerhouse career. It is a perfect example 00:14:31.019 --> 00:14:34.139 of how an unexpected vacancy can alter the trajectory 00:14:34.139 --> 00:14:37.019 of a state's political history for decades. And 00:14:37.019 --> 00:14:39.159 that brings us to the end of our timeline today. 00:14:39.360 --> 00:14:42.019 We have covered so much ground just by looking 00:14:42.019 --> 00:14:44.960 closely at one comprehensive list of names and 00:14:44.960 --> 00:14:47.519 dates. We tracked a journey that started with 00:14:47.519 --> 00:14:49.559 the party switching Jacksonians and judicial 00:14:49.559 --> 00:14:52.860 appointees of the 1820s, navigated the chaotic, 00:14:52.960 --> 00:14:55.519 relentless ambition of the Civil War era with 00:14:55.519 --> 00:15:01.620 Hannibal incredibly long -sleeving senators of 00:15:01.620 --> 00:15:03.820 the modern era. It's quite a ride. It really 00:15:03.820 --> 00:15:06.240 proves the point we made at the start. What looks 00:15:06.240 --> 00:15:08.480 like a dry data set actually holds the entire 00:15:08.480 --> 00:15:10.799 narrative arc of American political evolution. 00:15:11.139 --> 00:15:13.360 It absolutely does. The history is all there 00:15:13.360 --> 00:15:15.240 if you know how to read between the lines. Yeah. 00:15:15.320 --> 00:15:17.320 But before we wrap up, I want to leave you with 00:15:17.320 --> 00:15:20.320 a final lingering thought. There's one hidden 00:15:20.320 --> 00:15:22.679 detail in this timeline that we haven't discussed 00:15:22.679 --> 00:15:25.940 yet, and it is arguably the most bizarre entry 00:15:25.940 --> 00:15:28.799 on the entire page. What did we miss? If you 00:15:28.799 --> 00:15:31.240 look closely at Maine's Class II Senate seat 00:15:31.240 --> 00:15:33.480 right in the middle of the 19th century, there 00:15:33.480 --> 00:15:37.440 is a glaring gap. From March 4, 1853, all the 00:15:37.440 --> 00:15:40.539 way to February 10, 1854, the seat sat completely 00:15:40.539 --> 00:15:42.899 empty. It was vacant for almost a full year. 00:15:43.100 --> 00:15:45.740 An entire year in the middle of the 1850s. What 00:15:45.740 --> 00:15:48.039 caused that? The official reason listed in the 00:15:48.039 --> 00:15:50.539 historical record is remarkably brief. It simply 00:15:50.539 --> 00:15:53.299 says, legislature failed to elect. To understand 00:15:53.299 --> 00:15:56.120 this, you have to remember that before the 17th 00:15:56.120 --> 00:15:59.269 Amendment was ratified in 1913, Everyday citizens 00:15:59.269 --> 00:16:02.610 did not vote for their U .S. senators. Your local 00:16:02.610 --> 00:16:04.710 state representatives held the power to choose 00:16:04.710 --> 00:16:08.210 them. So in 1853, the Maine state legislature 00:16:08.210 --> 00:16:11.350 was so bitterly divided by internal factions, 00:16:11.649 --> 00:16:14.129 arguments over slavery, prohibition, and regional 00:16:14.129 --> 00:16:16.590 power, that they literally could not agree on 00:16:16.590 --> 00:16:18.950 a single candidate for an entire year. They were 00:16:18.950 --> 00:16:21.309 so stubborn, they just left the seat empty. Exactly. 00:16:21.309 --> 00:16:24.090 I want you to mull this over. We complain endlessly 00:16:24.090 --> 00:16:26.690 today about modern political gridlock in Washington. 00:16:27.159 --> 00:16:29.759 But imagine the sheer behind -the -scenes dysfunction, 00:16:30.100 --> 00:16:32.960 the intense, unyielding stubbornness it must 00:16:32.960 --> 00:16:35.299 have taken for a state legislature to simply 00:16:35.299 --> 00:16:37.720 fail to elect a representative. It's almost unimaginable 00:16:37.720 --> 00:16:40.100 today. At a pure partisan spite in gridlock, 00:16:40.259 --> 00:16:42.559 they willingly left their own state with only 00:16:42.559 --> 00:16:44.899 half a voice in the United States Senate for 00:16:44.899 --> 00:16:48.059 nearly an entire year. It makes you wonder, are 00:16:48.059 --> 00:16:50.580 we really any worse off today? Or is intense 00:16:50.580 --> 00:16:52.919 political gridlock just a feature of the system 00:16:52.919 --> 00:16:55.620 that has been there all along? Imagine how a 00:16:55.620 --> 00:16:58.779 year -long vacancy due to pure legislative stubbornness 00:16:58.779 --> 00:17:01.320 would be received by the public today. Half a 00:17:01.320 --> 00:17:03.500 voice for a whole year. That is an incredible 00:17:03.500 --> 00:17:05.900 image and a fascinating bit of perspective to 00:17:05.900 --> 00:17:08.180 end on. Thank you so much for joining us on this 00:17:08.180 --> 00:17:10.359 deep dive. We hope you've enjoyed unpacking the 00:17:10.359 --> 00:17:12.339 hidden histories of the U .S. Senate with us, 00:17:12.339 --> 00:17:13.720 and we will catch you next time.