Fred Tuttle
Encyclopedia
Farmer
A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, who raises living organisms for food or raw materials, generally including livestock husbandry and growing crops, such as produce and grain...
, film actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
and one-time candidate for the U.S. Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
from the state
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...
of Vermont
Vermont
Vermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state ranks 43rd in land area, , and 45th in total area. Its population according to the 2010 census, 630,337, is the second smallest in the country, larger only than Wyoming. It is the only New England...
. He was born in Tunbridge, Vermont
Tunbridge, Vermont
Tunbridge is a town in Orange County, Vermont, United States. As of the 2000 census, the town population was 1,309. The town consists of three village centers, all situated on Vermont Route 110 in the valley of the first branch of the White River...
, and lived there all his life, except for his service in the United States Army during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
Tuttle left high school in his sophomore year to work on his family's farm. He married his wife Dorothy in 1961, and later retired from farming in 1984. (He should not be confused with Frederick H(arlan) Tuttle of Charlotte, Vermont who was Superintendent of the South Burlington School District from 1971-1992, and after whom the South Burlington middle school was renamed shortly before his death in June of 1992)
After his retirement, he appeared in several movie
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
s directed by Vermont filmmaker John O'Brien
John O'Brien (filmmaker)
John O'Brien is an American film director, sheep farmer, Justice of the Peace and former campaign manager.O'Brien is the director of the Tunbridge Trilogy, three films that focus on the rural life of Tunbridge, Vermont...
, including Nosey Parker
Nosey Parker (film)
Nosey Parker is 2003 film directed by John O'Brien.-Plot:Sick of suburbia, Natalie and Richard Newman move to rural Vermont where they expect the unspoiled setting and intrinsic values to rejuvenate their marriage. Natalie wants to start a family; Richard, who has grown children from a first...
and Man with a Plan
Man with a Plan
Man With A Plan was an independently produced docudrama released in 1996, starring dairy farmer and actor Fred Tuttle. Since its release, it has remained a local cult classic in Vermont.- External links :* *...
. He starred in the latter, playing a retired farmer who decides to run for U.S. Representative from Vermont.
In 1998 Tuttle was persuaded to run in 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...
US Senate primary
Primary election
A primary election is an election in which party members or voters select candidates for a subsequent election. Primary elections are one means by which a political party nominates candidates for the next general election....
. His opponent was Jack McMullen, a multi-millionaire who had lived in Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
for most of his life. McMullen faced opposition from some Vermont Republicans who felt that he was a carpetbagger
Carpetbagger
Carpetbaggers was a pejorative term Southerners gave to Northerners who moved to the South during the Reconstruction era, between 1865 and 1877....
who apparently moved to Vermont for the sole purpose of establishing residency for a Senate run. The Vermont primary structure allows Democrats
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...
and Independents
Independent (politician)
In politics, an independent or non-party politician is an individual not affiliated to any political party. Independents may hold a centrist viewpoint between those of major political parties, a viewpoint more extreme than any major party, or they may have a viewpoint based on issues that they do...
to vote in the Republican primary, and many people foresaw the possibility that Tuttle would beat McMullen by drawing votes across party lines. In addition, some may have hoped that a Tuttle campaign would help to publicize the film Man with a Plan.
The ensuing campaign was remarkable in many ways. Tuttle campaigned on a platform that seemed absurdist
Absurdism
In philosophy, "The Absurd" refers to the conflict between the human tendency to seek value and meaning in life and the human inability to find any...
by the standards of contemporary politics. McMullen and the state Republican Party challenged Tuttle's ballot petition and got 95 of his signatures invalidated. Tuttle needed 23 more to stay on the ballot and he received 2,309 more signatures. McMullen then gave flowers to Tuttle in the hospital while Tuttle was there for knee surgery.
During the radio-broadcast debate, Tuttle asked a series of humorous local knowledge questions rather than political questions. McMullen was unable to correctly pronounce the names of several Vermont towns, or correctly answer Fred's question "How many teats a Holstein
Holstein (cattle)
Holstein cattle is a breed of cattle known today as the world's highest production dairy animal. Originating in Europe, Holsteins were bred in what is now the Netherlands and more specifically in the two northern provinces of North Holland and Friesland...
got?," answering "Six", instead of the correct "Four". In the primary, Tuttle defeated McMullen by ten percentage points. Winning the primary with 55 percent of the vote, Tuttle promptly endorsed the incumbent Democrat, Patrick Leahy
Patrick Leahy
Patrick Joseph Leahy is the senior United States Senator from Vermont and member of the Democratic Party. He is the first and only elected Democratic United States Senator in Vermont's history. He is the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Leahy is the second most senior U.S. Senator,...
.
Tuttle's campaign against Senator Leahy was notable for the continuing publicity Tuttle received and for his endorsement of Leahy. Tuttle commented that he did not really want to win because he would have to move to Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
. Despite his endorsement of his opponent, Tuttle garnered 48,051 votes (22 percent of the vote) in the actual election.
Tuttle was described by Senator Leahy as "the distilled essence of Vermonthood". He was considered by many to be an example of both the "everyman" and of the unique individualist.
Tuttle died of a heart attack
Myocardial infarction
Myocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die...
after a day spent digging potato
Potato
The potato is a starchy, tuberous crop from the perennial Solanum tuberosum of the Solanaceae family . The word potato may refer to the plant itself as well as the edible tuber. In the region of the Andes, there are some other closely related cultivated potato species...
es, at his home in Tunbridge, Vermont
Tunbridge, Vermont
Tunbridge is a town in Orange County, Vermont, United States. As of the 2000 census, the town population was 1,309. The town consists of three village centers, all situated on Vermont Route 110 in the valley of the first branch of the White River...
. He was buried in his overalls, with a pen in his pocket for autograph signing and a can of Moxie
Moxie
Moxie is a carbonated beverage that was one of the first mass-produced soft drinks in the United States. It continues to be regionally popular today....
by his side.