Robert Haskell

Summary

Robert Nance[citation needed] Haskell (August 24, 1903 – December 3, 1987) was a Maine state senator and the 65th Governor of Maine for five days in 1959.

Robert Haskell
65th Governor of Maine
In office
January 2, 1959 – January 7, 1959
Preceded byEdmund Muskie
Succeeded byClinton Clauson
Member of the Maine House of Representatives
In office
1945
Member of the Maine Senate
In office
1947
Personal details
Born
Robert Nance[citation needed] Haskell

(1903-08-24)August 24, 1903
Bangor, Maine
DiedDecember 3, 1987(1987-12-03) (aged 84)
Bangor, Maine
NationalityAmerican
Political partyRepublican
ProfessionBusinessman, University Trustee

Haskell graduated from the University of Maine with an engineering degree in 1925. He became a design engineer with the Bangor Hydro-Electric Company and rose to president of the company in 1958. He was elected as a Republican to the Maine House of Representatives in 1945. After serving one term, he was elected to the Maine Senate in 1947 and served five terms, including two as majority leader and two as president of the Senate. He was nicknamed "Slide Rule Bob" for his mathematical abilities.

On January 2, 1959, outgoing Governor Edmund Muskie resigned before the end of his term to take his seat in the United States Senate. Haskell was sworn in as Governor to fill the five-day period until the inauguration of Clinton Clauson. With Clauson's death later in the year, Haskell was the second of four governors Maine had in 1959.

Haskell then left politics, but continued to lead the Bangor Hydro-Electric Company, as well as serving as a bank board chairman and a trustee of the University of Maine. He died in 1987.

He was not closely related to Nathaniel M. Haskell, who had served a brief term six years before as Maine's Governor due to being Senate President.[1]

References edit

  1. ^ "One year, four governors and a forgotten Republican". July 17, 2009.

External links edit

  • Maine Senate profile
  • National Governors Association profile
  • James V. Horrigan, "Passing the Blaine House baton", Portland Press Herald, October 22, 2006
Political offices
Preceded by Governor of Maine
1959
Succeeded by