Thomas James McIntyre (February 20, 1915 – August 8, 1992) was an American lawyer and politician. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as a United States Senator from New Hampshire from 1962 to 1979.
Following his military service, McIntyre returned to Laconia and joined the law office of Harold E. Westcott in 1946.[4] He opened his own office after Wescott was made a judge of the New Hampshire Superior Court.[3] He also joined his brother as a partner in McIntyre Properties, a firm that owned and managed rental real estate, and served as president of the Community TV Corporation, which specialized in television antennae.[1] A Democrat, McIntyre served as mayor of Laconia from 1949 to 1951.[2] During his administration, he oversaw the construction of a sewage disposal plant and a municipal bathing beach.[3] He declined a run for Governor of New Hampshire in 1950, and served as city solicitor of Laconia in 1953.[2]
Following the death of Senator Styles Bridges in November 1961, McIntyre ran unopposed for the Democratic nomination to fill Bridges's unexpired term in the United States Senate.[8] His chances for victory were enhanced by a bitter four-way primary in the Republican Party between Maurice J. Murphy, Jr., who had been appointed by Governor Wesley Powell to Bridges's seat; the Senator's widow, Doloris Bridges; and the state's two U.S. Representatives, Perkins Bass and Chester Merrow.[1] Bass ultimately won the nomination, and faced McIntyre in the general election. During the campaign, McIntyre ran on a platform supporting President John F. Kennedy's proposal for federal aid to education and for medical care to the elderly under Social Security.[1] In the special election on November 6, 1962, he defeated Bass by a vote of 117,612 (52%) to 107,199 (48%).[9] He was the first Democratic Senator elected from New Hampshire since Fred H. Brown in 1932,[7] and only the second Democrat to be popularly elected to the Senate from New Hampshire.
McIntyre was officially seated in the Senate on November 13, 1962.[2] During his tenure, he served as chairman of the Armed Services Subcommittee on Research and Development; of the Banking Subcommittee on Financial Institutions; and of the Small Business Subcommittee on Government Regulation.[7] He supported the Kennedy administration on national wilderness preservation, youth employment, and increased area redevelopment aid, but opposed Kennedy's proposal for mass transportation.[8] He supported an amendment by Senator Richard Russell, Jr. to remove funds for the Nike-Zeus antimissile system from a defense procurement bill, and endorsed a motion by Senator Margaret Chase Smith to add $134,000,000 for two additional nuclear submarines to the same bill.[1] He sponsored the law creating share-draft checking accounts for savings institutions.[5]
In 1967, as subcommittee chairman on the Banking Committee, he demonstrated that he could beat the recommendations of stock investors by throwing darts at stock listings.[10]
McIntyre won a full term in 1966, defeating retired pilot Harrison Thyng to become the first Democratic Senator in the state's history to win a second term.[11] Originally a strong supporter of the Vietnam War, he served as co-chairman of President Lyndon B. Johnson's campaign in New Hampshire in the 1968 election and called Johnson's primary opponent, Senator Eugene McCarthy, an "appeaser."[5] However, he later came to oppose the war, saying, "Our nation is tearing itself apart."[5] He was re-elected to a third term in 1972, defeating former Governor Powell by 57%-43%.[12]
McIntyre led an unsuccessful attempt to filibuster George H. W. Bush's confirmation as Director of Central Intelligence in 1976, believing the former chairman of the Republican National Committee would politicize the agency.[5] In 1978, he was narrowly defeated for re-election to a fourth term by Gordon Humphrey, who took advantage of a nationwide conservative movement and McIntyre's tendency to spend more time in Florida than in New Hampshire.
Later life and death
Recognizing the rising power of the New Right in his defeat, McIntyre published The Fear Brokers, in 1979, co-authored with John Obert. In his book, McIntyre described the forces and personalities of the New Right across the nation, focusing particularly on the struggle in his home state.[13] He divided his time between his native Laconia and Tequesta, Florida.[2]
McIntyre died at Good Samaritan Hospital in West Palm Beach, at age 77.[7] He is buried in St. Lambert Cemetery in Laconia.[7]
^ abcdefSquires, James Duane, ed. (1956). The Granite State of the United States: A History of New Hampshire from 1623 to the Present. Vol. 4. American Historical Company.
^McIntyre, Thomas J. with John C. Obert. The Fear Brokers, Pilgrim Press, 1979 (hardcover), Beacon Press, 1979 ASIN: B000OMHUP2 (1st Paperback ed.), Beacon Press, 1981 ISBN0-8070-3247-6ISBN978-0807032473 (2nd paperback ed.)