William Tudor Gardiner (courtesy Maine State Museum)
(1892-1953) born in Newton, Massachusetts on June 12, 1892, attended Groton School, Harvard and Harvard Law School. He was admitted to the Bar in 1917 and in the same year enlisted in the First Maine Heavy Artillery.
During World War I he rose to the rank of First Lieutenant and served with the army of occupation in Germany. Returning home he was a State Representative from 1920 to 1926, serving a Speaker of the House in 1925. He had also joined the Portland law firm of Andrews and Nelson.
A Republican candidate for governor, he won handily in the election of 1928 and won reelection in 1930. His administration was unfortunate enough to see the beginning of the Great Depression and the reversal of the once booming Maine economy. Gardiner’s programs focused on streamlining and “reforming” state government, reducing the number of separate departments.
He left office on January 4, 1933 and died on August 3, 1953.
Additional resources
Curtis, Charles P. William Tudor Gardiner. published between 1953 and 1964.
*Kennebec Journal, Augusta, August 3, 1953.
Sobel, Robert, and John Raimo, eds. Biographical Directory of the Governors of the United States, 1789-1978, Vol. 2.
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*Cited in Friends of the Blaine House at http://blainehouse.org/governors(accessed April 25, 2011) (accessed April 25, 2011)