Splaine: Memories of U.S. Senator Thomas J. McIntyre

"McIntyre."  That name has become part of local lore that may remain beyond Portsmouth's 500th anniversary in 2123.

Thomas J. McIntyre was born in 1915. After graduating from Dartmouth in 1937, he received a law degree, then served in the U.S. Army during World War II with the rank of major.

Drawn to government, he became Laconia's mayor in 1949. He quickly became interested in national politics and was elected delegate to the 1956 Democratic National Convention. He soon developed a close friendship with John F. Kennedy, then a U.S. senator from Massachusetts.

In 1962, Thomas McIntyre ran for U.S. Senate. He supported President Kennedy's medical care initiatives and federal education funding, both causes in their infancy then. McIntyre earned election at a time when New Hampshire elective offices were mostly won by Republicans.

His focus in Washington was advocating for wilderness preservation, small business development, consumer banking, and defense procurement, serving on committees promoting those issues. He spent a lot of time in Portsmouth getting to know our residents. He fought to fund nuclear submarines, which was important to our Navy Yard, and expanded funding for Pease Air Force Base.

And he supported a new federal building to replace one that was a century old.  Both currently stand. 

His dedication to constituents led him to ask Eileen Foley, who served as New Hampshire state senator and Portsmouth mayor for several terms, to run his local field office. Her daughter, Mary Carey, remembers those years as a very busy, exciting and productive time for her mother. "She was truly devoted to the senator and worked endlessly for his constituents. She was referred to as 'the miracle worker' due to her success at solving problems for anyone who stopped by for the senator's help."

The Vietnam War absorbed much of the time Thomas McIntyre served in Washington, and with our state's first-in-the-nation presidential primary he became deeply embroiled in that era's Democratic Party politics.  For several years McIntyre was among national leaders supporting the war effort. 

In the late 1960s and early '70s, I was N.H. Young Democrats president, and it was on that issue that I and others had clashes with him.  Many people of my generation were seeing body bags of people our age being shipped home.  Eventually he would oppose the Vietnam War and became an important leader in stopping it.

Throughout his career and despite a divisive war, Thomas McIntyre earned respect from many people, even  those who disagreed with him. That reveals much about the quality of his personal skills. Those of us who knew him saw he was direct and passionate in his views  − ready to do battle on behalf of the beliefs he held, yet willing to listen.

Throughout his service, and even after retirement in a book he wrote, he showed his concern for the future of the nation he loved by warning of divisions that were on our horizon. His book wears well in the politics of today, and is still widely available. In that way, he continues to serve the people of New Hampshire and America.

Thomas J. McIntyre died in 1992 at age 77.   

"The Fear Brokers:  Peddling The Hate Politics of the New Right."  This 1979 book is the senator's early warning about the power of the far right-wing in American politics.  "This is not a book about American conservatism, an old and honorable political philosophy I do not share but hold in high esteem. Rather, it is a book about the Radical Right, about people who profess to love America more and understand it better than you or I do but whose words and deeds belie this claim."  − Thomas J. McIntyre, author.  

Today's quotes: "My favorite memory would have to be working the gates of the Navy Yard during campaign season with the senator and my mother by my side."  − Mary Carey Foley

"Although I was a rookie journalist when I met the senator at a press conference he held in 1970, I found him to be pleasant and outgoing." − legendary local journalist Roger Wood, remembering the beginnings of his career over 50 years ago. He currently covers news at InDepthNH.org and can be reached by Googling "Roger Wood At Large."

Next time:  Student Government Day: Hope for Portsmouth's future.

Variously since 1969, Jim Splaine has been Portsmouth assistant mayor, Police Commission member, and School Board member, as well as New Hampshire state senator and representative. He can be reached at jimsplaineportsmouth@gmail.com.

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Splaine: Memories of U.S. Senator Thomas J. McIntyre