Beliveau, John oral history interview, 1999

File

Identifier: MOH 147

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

Interview includes discussions of: 1954 Maine gubernatorial campaign; 1955-1956 Muskie’s first term as governor; 1968 vice presidential campaign; environmental protection; urban planning and development; Republican Party in Maine Democratic Party in Maine; Model Cities (Lewiston); bullet voting and straight ticket voting; Louis Jalbert, anecdote in which Jalbert tried to muscle Beliveau when he ran for mayor; old Charter and new Charter and its effect on Lewiston politics; finance board mechanics; Aliberti defeated Jalbert; Hal Gosselin; Beliveau beautification program; Central Drug Committee; Youth Commission; Lewiston gun ordinance as a result of Robert F. Kennedy’s assassination; the importance of social clubs in Lewiston; anecdotes of Tom Delahanty’s interaction with Muskie; Frank Coffin; a Public Works strike during his first day as mayor; Phil Isaacson helping as corporation counsel with municipal labor relations act; Housing authority controversy as mayor; Muskie’s effects on the Governor’s Council; feeling that Muskie lost touch with Maine; and Franco-Americans in support of Muskie.

Dates

1999

Access Restrictions

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Biographical / Historical

John Bertrand Beliveau was born February 17, 1937 in Lewiston, Maine. He attended St. Patrick’s elementary and Lewiston High School, class of 1955. He attended Notre Dame and earned his Master’s in Business at New York University and then attended law school at Georgetown. He was a member of the Lewiston Finance Board, county attorney for two years, and served as mayor of Lewiston, 1969-1970. He was a partner at the Marshall, Raymond and Beliveau law firm from 1964-1984. At the time of this interview he was a district court judge in Lewiston, Maine.