Honor the True New Hampshire Hero - Granite Grok

Honor the True New Hampshire Hero

Gen John Stark Statue NH State House

Last week, in Concord, a hearing took place for HB 119, a bill “establishing the John G. Winant Memorial Commission”.

The primary sponsors of this bill are very liberal Democrats Rep. Steven Shurtleff (House minority leader) and Senator Lou D’Allessandro.

The purpose of this bill is to “oversee the location, design, construction, and maintenance of a John G. Winant memorial”.  The bill also allows the governor to accept contributions and donations (in-kind or otherwise) for the memorial, in the “name of the State”.  By all accounts, no taxpayer money will be involved in this process.

So, what’s the big deal?   Well, for starters, Winant was a Republican.

So, why would two of New Hampshire’s most fervent Democrat leaders be sponsoring such a bill?

And why should ALL House Republicans reject this bill when it comes to the floor?

John G. Winant, a Republican, served three terms as New Hampshire Governor, from 1925-1927 and again from 1931-1935.  During his second stint as governor, taking place during the Great Depression, he “oversaw an emergency credit act which allowed the state to guarantee debt of municipalities”.  He was also instrumental in NH passing a minimum wage act and other “progressive social legislation”.

Winant worked very closely with Franklin D. Roosevelt (who may have called him “Utopian John”) and with the federal government.  The story goes that Winant was so close to FDR that he was on his short list of 1944 Vice-President picks.

John Winant, London

In 1934, FDR appointed Winant to serve on the International Labor Organization, which the United States had just joined.

Winant was recalled from the ILO by FDR, to serve as the first head of the new Social Security board.  After leaving the Social Security agency in 1936, he campaigned for FDR’s New Deal and returned to the ILO again as Assistant-Director, “taking a special interest in the development of world programmes of social security”.

After this, in 1941 during The Blitz period of WWII, Winant was appointed by Roosevelt to be the US ambassador to Britain.  During his period, Winant, who was married, had an affair with Winston Churchill’s actress daughter, Sarah.

After the war, in 1946, Winant was appointed as US Representative to UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization), serving for a very short period of time.

In 1947, retired from his UNESCO position and public service and writing his memoirs, Winant shot himself in the head at his home in Concord, NH – apparently despondent over being passed over for secretary-general of the UN and over his affair with Churchill’s daughter, which “ended badly”.

It can go without saying that Winant, raised upper middle-class on the East Side of New York City, was a liberal, “progressive” Republican; an aristocrat who spent most of his life in academia and politics, believing that cradle-to-grave government, not free markets, entrepreneurship, or charity could solve all of our problems.  He was shaped by the industrial age and the Progressive Party of the early 20th century, having an affinity for “the workers” of society, believing in minimum wages, unearned pension entitlements, big government solutions, globalization, anti-trust, and the heavy regulation of public utilities.

I think we can safely say that Winant was one of the original “RINOs“…

After learning all this, it is not surprising that Shurtleff and D’Allessandro are eager to raise a statue to Winant, a “Republican” they certainly could have related to.  And as you can see here, even Liberal bloggers revere the misguided Winant and his so-called “accomplishments”.  It is also not surprising that the socially-liberal UNH Carsey School of Public Policy has a “non-profit and government agency” intern-fellowship position named for Winant.

A Winant memorial would be a bold, brash testament to progressivism and big government, in the shadow of our “Live Free or Die” State House, where statues of a pantheon of suitable characters lie; Revolutionary War hero, General John Stark, Democrat-turned-Republican abolitionist, John P. Hale, renowned New Hampshire statesman, Daniel Webster, and distinguished Civil War Naval Officer, Commodore George Hamilton Perkins.

John Langson - NH Hero

Instead of erecting a statue to a suicidal, adulterous former governor – who could, at best, be labeled a socialist – we should be applying our efforts to honoring a New Hampshire figure of true character and accomplishment: John Langdon.

A sea captain and trade entrepreneur by the age of 22, Langdon served on the Committee of Correspondence and became involved in the early revolutionary movement.   In December 1774, Langdon led a successful raid on Fort William and Mary, in current New Castle, seizing British powder and hauling down their colors – considered one of the first military strikes of the American Revolution.

A New Hampshire delegate to the Second Continental Congress, Langdon was not a signer of the Declaration of Independence in July, because he chose to return to New Hampshire to finance and assist with the design and fitting of naval vessels (Raleigh, America, Ranger) being constructed in Portsmouth.  He then helped put together and equip an expedition against the British, participated in the Battle of Bennington, and commanded a company of Light Horse Volunteers in John Stark’s Brigade at Saratoga and in Rhode Island.

Aside from his Revolutionary War service, Langdon became New Hampshire’s second Governor, then represented our State at the Constitutional Convention, participating in the debates and signing the Constitution on September 17, 1787.  He would then successfully work for ratification, back home.  He was elected as one of New Hampshire’s first two US Senators (serving twice as President pro tempore), then served as Speaker of the New Hampshire House, followed by additional terms as New Hampshire’s Governor.

Initially a firm supporter of a strong central Federal government (Federalist party), Langdon’s views shifted towards those of the Jefferson and Madison’s Democratic-Republicans.  In 1801, President Thomas Jefferson offered Langdon the position of Secretary of the US Navy, which he declined.  In 1812, due to failing health, he also declined the Vice-Presidential nomination of the Democratic-Republican Party.

Although Langdon spent many years as a politician, his experiences as a sea captain, tradesman, statesman, and selfless Revolutionary War officer speak for themselves, making Langdon, a true Founding Father of the United States, the perfect choice for any subsequent statue and/or memorial to be placed on our State House grounds.

 

>