Clinton Amos Clauson was a Democratic Party

Democratic Party (United States)

The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

 politician

Politician

A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...

 and the 66th Governor

Governor of Maine

The governor of Maine is the chief executive of the State of Maine. Before Maine was admitted to the Union in 1820, Maine was part of Massachusetts and the governor of Massachusetts was chief executive....

 of Maine.

He grew up in Iowa

Iowa

Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...

 and served in World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

 in early adulthood. He later became a member of many organizations including Freemasonry

Freemasonry

Freemasonry is a fraternal organisation that arose from obscure origins in the late 16th to early 17th century. Freemasonry now exists in various forms all over the world, with a membership estimated at around six million, including approximately 150,000 under the jurisdictions of the Grand Lodge...

, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows

Independent Order of Odd Fellows

The Independent Order of Odd Fellows , also known as the Three Link Fraternity, is an altruistic and benevolent fraternal organization derived from the similar British Oddfellows service organizations which came into being during the 18th century, at a time when altruistic and charitable acts were...

, and the Newcomen Society of the United States

Newcomen Society of the United States

The Newcomen Society of the United States was a non-profit educational foundation for "the study and recognition of achievement in American business and the society it serves." It was responsible for more than 1,600 individual histories of organizations, from corporations to colleges, which were...

. In 1919 he graduated from the Palmer College of Chiropractic

Palmer College of Chiropractic

Palmer College of Chiropractic is a chiropractic school located in Davenport, Iowa. It was established in 1897 by Daniel David Palmer and is considered "The Fountainhead" as it was the first school of chiropractic in the world. For many years, Palmer College of Chiropractic was the world's largest...

 and later set up a practice in Waterville, Maine

Waterville, Maine

Waterville is a city in Kennebec County, Maine, United States, on the west bank of the Kennebec River. The population was 15,722 at the 2010 census. Home to Colby College and Thomas College, Waterville is the regional commercial, medical and cultural center....

. He entered politics in 1928 as a member of the Democratic State Committee. After that he rose in Waterville's politics and in 1956 became mayor. He served for a year as mayor before being elected Governor dying while in office in 1959.

As a politician he was deemed to be a conservative Democrat. His election victory surprised many in Maine as Edmund Muskie

Edmund Muskie

Edmund Sixtus "Ed" Muskie was an American politician from Rumford, Maine. He served as Governor of Maine from 1955 to 1959, as a member of the United States Senate from 1959 to 1980, and as Secretary of State under Jimmy Carter from 1980 to 1981...

's favorite had been expected to win and the Republican

Republican Party (United States)

The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

 challenger was the better known Horace A. Hildreth

Horace A. Hildreth

Horace Augustus Hildreth was born on December 2, 1902 in Gardiner, Maine, the son of an attorney. Hildreth attended local schools before graduating from Bowdoin College in the class of 1925 and receiving his LL.B...

. In an obituary his career had been termed "unorthodox." This is because he immigrated to Maine from Iowa as a young man, rose from obscurity to win the 1958 Democratic gubernatorial nomination as a conservative Democrat over the favorite of Maine liberals led by Governor Edmund Muskie, and went on to defeat a Republican opponent who was a heavy favorite. His death led to State Senate President John H. Reed

John H. Reed

John Hathaway Reed was the 67th Governor of Maine. He was once an Aroostook County potato farmer. Reed is a Republican, who took office following the death of Governor Clinton Clauson....

, a Republican, becoming governor.

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