Joseph E. Brennan
Joseph Edward Brennan 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 from 1987 to 1991. 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. He lived on Kellogg Street, on the third floor of tenement housing on Munjoy Hill. He was raised in a family of eight children, with his parents being Irish immigrants. Brennan graduated from Cheverus High School, Boston College, and the University of Maine School of Law. Brennan served in the United States Army from 1953 to 1955.Government service
Early career
Brennan won election to the Maine House of Representatives in 1964, and served three terms. When first elected to the Maine House he did not own a car and hitchhiked up from Portland. 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. He was elected to the Maine Senate in 1972.Attorney General and Governor of Maine
Brennan ran for governor of Maine in 1974. That year he became the first candidate in the post-Watergate years to call for campaign finance reform. He also voluntarily disclosed his personal finances. Brennan lost the Democratic nomination to George J. Mitchell. The Maine Legislature selected Brennan to be the Maine Attorney General on January 2, 1975. 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. 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. 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, whom Brennan appointed as the first female district attorney in the New England region.United States Representative
In 1986, Brennan ran for the U.S. House in and defeated Republican Rollin Ives 53% to 44%. in 1988 Brennan was reelected to the House by a margin of 63% to 37%.In Congress Brennan opposed President Ronald Reagan Administration’s interventions in Central America and Iran. he also supported the balanced budget amendment as a Congressman.
Later gubernatorial and Senate campaigns
Brennan ran for governor again in 1990, losing to Republican John McKernan by 13,728 votes. He ran again in 1994, losing to Independent Angus King by 7,878 votes, but placing second, ahead of Republican Susan Collins. He faced Collins in another statewide election in 1996, running for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Bill Cohen, which Collins won by 32,196 votes.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. He was re-nominated by President George W. Bush and confirmed for a second term at the FMC in 2004.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.Brennan died of natural causes at his home in the Portland neighborhood of Munjoy Hill, on April 5, 2024, at the age of 89.