Edmund Muskie was a distinguished American statesman — governor, long-serving senator, vice-presidential nominee, and Secretary of State — admired across party lines for his integrity, his judgment, and his pioneering work on the environment. Born in Rumford, Maine, the son of a Polish immigrant tailor, he worked his way through Bates College and Cornell Law School and practiced law before entering politics.
In 1954 Muskie was elected the first Democratic governor of Maine in two decades, and in 1958 he won a seat in the United States Senate, where he would serve for more than twenty years. There he became the principal Senate author of the landmark environmental laws of the era — the Clean Air Act and the Clean Water Act — earning the nickname "Mr. Clean" and a reputation as the father of modern environmental policy.
In 1968 he was the Democratic nominee for vice president, running on Hubert Humphrey's ticket, and his calm, dignified performance made him an early front-runner for the 1972 presidential nomination.
That campaign faltered amid dirty tricks and a damaging moment before the New Hampshire primary, and the nomination slipped away. In 1980, in the final months of the Carter administration, Muskie was appointed Secretary of State, capping a career marked by seriousness and decency. He died in 1996.