Guide to the Edmund S. Muskie papers, 1826-2005A rich collection of monumental legislation for the environment, the Edmund S. Muskie Papers include his personal papers, office files, audiovisual materials, photographs, artifacts, and memorabilia.
In the 1970s he was the founder and first chair of the Senate Committee on the Budget, co-chaired the National Study Commission on Water Pollution, chaired the Legislative Review Committee of the Democratic Policy Committee, and was a member of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. In these positions, he sponsored landmark federal environmental protection laws, including the Clean Air Act of 1970 and the Clean Water Act of 1972.
The collection documents his youth in Rumford, Maine; his years as a student at Bates College; his personal and family life; his service in the U.S. Navy during World War II; his law practice and other professional, public service and political activities in Waterville, Maine; his terms as a member of the Maine House of Representatives (1947-1951), director of the Maine District of the U.S. Office of Price Stabilization (1951-1952), governor of Maine (1955-1959), U.S. Senator (1959-1980), and U.S. Secretary of State (May 1980 to January 1981); his election campaigns including his 1968 vice presidential race and his bid for the 1972 Democratic nomination for the presidency; and his activities after retiring from the federal government.
