Muskie, Edmund Sixtus

ENCAENIA, MAY, 1969
EDMUND SIXTUS MUSKIE
to Be Doctor of Laws

Once upon a time Maine marched to war against us but there was a strong element of unreality about it and, indeed, the Maine-New Brunswick border has always seemed something of a fiction. A common inheritance of speech, the tang of the northern woods, the nearness of the sea, have developed common cultural qualities in two peoples of different political allegiance. This eminent man of Maine could easily be mistaken for a New Brunswicker. In physique there is something about him that betokens the craggy coastline of the North Atlantic. In politics his low-key enthusiasms and reliance upon the bitter facts of life as well as the sweet could result in the same degree of success here as he has enjoyed in his native state.

ln less than twenty-five years Edmund Sixtus Muskie has unravelled an astounding career in municipal, state and national politics. The first Democratic governor of Maine in twenty years, the first popularly elected United States Senator of his party in history, he became a national figure in the presidential contest of 1968. It was a general consensus of opinion that of the four candidates he was the only one who created a sensation of novelty and excitement.

Probably because he combines dignity with simplicity in the tradition of the great Lincoln, his admirers have called him Abraham. He is no doctrinaire. In considering possibilities for a better society his words are: "There is only one way -- and that is to care for one another." This good combination of humanitarianism and pragmatism can cause us to believe that he is only now approaching the summit of a great career. As good and near neighbours we shall follow his fortunes with enthusiasm.

From: Honoris Causa - UA Case 70, Box 1