Historic Quote: After his 1984 bid for the Democratic Presidential nomination ended, South Carolina Senator “Fritz” Hollings said “You know, Thomas Wolfe lied. You can come home again. In fact, in my case, the people of New Hampshire insisted on it.”
Over the years, Vermont has had a number of Senators who would often make national headlines. Men like George Aiken, Pat Leahy, and Jim Jeffords. Winston Prouty may never have been a household name outside of Vermont, but he enjoyed a career of distinction in the Senate, and one that ultimately meant many accomplishments for his state and nation.
The most tangible of Prouty’s achievements may be Amtrak, of which Prouty, through shepherding the National Rail Passenger Corporation Act to passage, can claim to be a founding father. He sponsored the Older Americans Assurance Assistance Act, designed to lift up to 30% of seniors out of poverty. The Handicapped Children’s Early Education Assistance Act of 1968 was also his.
Prouty also made a big mark on Civil Rights. In introducing his own desegregation bill in 1963, a year before passage of the bill that ultimately would become law, Prouty made a creative argument for outlawing segregation. He based it on the 13th Amendment, saying it “does not simply abolish involuntary servitude. It also gives Congress to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.”
On most issues, Prouty was fairly centrist. He backed nearly all of the Great Society and in 1968, even supported the Gun Control Act, which is not always the right side of the issue for Vermont’s many hunters. He was one of 13 Senators urging peace in Vietnam through negotiations. But Prouty wasn’t universally liberal. He supported Vietnam to some extent and was not among the Republican Senators to vote for cloture on Abe Fortas’ stalled nomination to the Supreme Court.
And when Nixon assumed office, Prouty lent him backing in surprising ways. While opposing Carswell for the Supreme Court, he did support Haynesworth. And he gave credence to the bombing of Cambodia, calling it “bold and courageous,” and, against expectations, the anti-ballistic missile system. And Nixon reciprocated. The President’s first visit of the 1970 campaign season was in Vermont. And for a time, Prouty needed it.
Prouty’s first two Senate elections were uneventful. As 1970 approached, it seemed that a state that had never before sent a Democrat to the upper chamber would not start at Prouty’s expense. In fact, the New York Times opined that a Democratic Senator from Vermont was as unlikely as “a Protestant Pope.” But Phil Hoff was running, and by becoming the first Democrat in 109 years to win the statehouse, he had already defied the odds once before.
Hoff had an ebullient, energetic style whose campaign was one of “constant motion.” There are signs Prouty recognized the tough hurdle that confronted him early on. The New York Times noted that as 1970 began, he “has begun to travel Vermont regularly for the first time in years.” But business in Washington hampered his ability to return to Vermont often while Hoff, no longer having the responsibilities of being Governor, was free to devote all of his time to campaigning.
Hoff used Prouty’s backing of Nixon policies against him, painting him as “a man with no discernible philosophy.” But he had problems with his own base, particularly those upset at his opposition to Vietnam and subsequently, his support of Gene McCarthy. Polls in early autumn showed the race a dead heat but, by October, Prouty declared he was “well ahead.” As an aide said, “he never made a raving enthusiast of anyone but he never made anyone angry either.” Voters evidently had the same view. Prouty was re-elected 59-41%
Prouty was as much a Vermonter as anyone. An AP report on his death described the “stereotyped Vermonter” as “a thin, quiet man with a flat accent and strong Republican bent. That person was Winston Prouty.” He was called “Mr. Vermont.”
Prouty’s political career began as Mayor of Newport, Vermont in 1937. In 1940, he was elected to the Vermont House, and would go on to serve as Speaker of the body. While he failed in his attempt to become Lieutenant Governor in 1948, voters compensated two yeas later, when he won his first of four terms in the U.S. House of Representatives in 1950. His opportunity to move to the Senate came with the retirement of Republican Ralph Flanders in 1958.
After his 1970 win, Prouty seemed set for another six years in the Senate. But in September 1971, he was hospitalized for severe stomach pain, which had briefly forced him off the campaign trail in ’70. The diagnosis was advanced gastric cancer and within 16 days, he was dead. He was 64.