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Maine
Gov. Joseph Edward Brennan
- January 3, 1979 - January 7, 1987
- Democratic
- November 2, 1934
- April 5, 2024
- Maine
- Boston College, University of Maine School of Law
- Married Constance Brennan; two children
- Representative
- Army
About
JOSEPH E. BRENNAN was born in Portland, Maine, in 1934. He graduated from Boston College and the University of Maine School of Law. He served in the U.S. Army from 1953 to 1955. In 1964, Brennan was elected to the first of three terms in the Maine House of Representatives, where he served as assistant floor leader during his last two terms. In 1970, he was elected county attorney for Cumberland County. He was elected to the Maine Senate in 1972 and served as the Democratic floor leader. Brennan was elected Maine’s attorney general in 1975 and reelected in 1977. He was elected governor in 1978. In 1982, he chaired the New England Governors’ Conference and in 1982, he co-chaired the New England Governors-Eastern Canadian Premieres. He went on to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives until 1991, and then entered private practice as an attorney in Washington, D.C. In 1999, he was inducted into the Federal Maritime Commission.