She was one of the most important, most influential, and most respected in her town and state. This woman was so brave that she stood up against powerful men in the United States congress when she knew they were dangerous to our country. She was no other than Margaret Chase Smith.

It all began for Margaret on December 14, 1897 when she was born to Carrie and George Chase. She was the oldest of six. Two of her brothers died at a very young age, leaving her with a brother and two sisters, Wilbur, Evelyn and Laura. The family lived on North Ave. located in downtown Skowhegan and that is where she grew up.

Her father worked at a barbershop making 15 cents a haircut, which meant they didn't have too much money, but that didn't affect her! They all were very thankful for what they had, a roof over their head and food on the table. As a child, Margaret's parents bought their children big clothes because they would last longer and eventually they grew into them.

She had a lot of respect and love for her parents. Margaret helped her parents at home with chores. She would receive no allowance, but sometimes got pennies. Margaret loved to do things with her family. A tradition that she and her brothers and sisters had would be to wake up very early every May 1st and hang May baskets. Every weekend in the summer she and her family would all go horseback riding together. In the winter, they would get all dressed up in warm clothes and go for a day of sledding and ice skating. They would make snowmen in the front of their house. Margaret had great family values which began right at this home.

Margaret attended school in Skowhegan, kindergarten through second grade at Lincoln School. Third grade she went to Garfield School. As a child, Margaret loved to play with her best friend Pauline Bragg. Pauline and she loved to save up all their money and go to the candy store to buy a big box of chocolate coconut marshmallows, which would never last all the way home! They loved to go to the state fair every August.

Margaret started high school in 1912, where she went to Bloomfield Academy (high school) and played on the girls basketball team. She was the captain for the four years she was in high school. Margaret graduated from Bloomfield Academy in 1916. A year after she graduated she would help coach the basketball team every Friday.

She worked as a telephone operator and commercial manager of a telephone company, circulation manager of a weekly newspaper, office manager of a woolen mills and treasurer of a waste process company. Two years after being on the telephone company office staff, Margaret found a better paying job on the Skowhegan weekly newspaper, The Independent Reporter.

 In 1922, Margaret thought that the town of Skowhegan should have a business and professional women's club. She then set out to organize her club and soon she found herself the president. In 1926, she was elected president of the Maine Federation of Business and Professional Women's club.

 Margaret met a man. Although they had a twenty two year difference it didn't seem to matter to them! This man was Clyde Smith. Margaret found herself not going to the movies and dancing, but found herself campaigning. She loved meeting new people and enjoyed what she was doing! Margaret, dressed in a blue laced dress, which was said to have been just about the same color as her eyes! They were married on April 14, 1930.

 Clyde had a heart attack which he survived. He continued to do his everyday things until he had another heart attack. This one was worse, and he didn't make it. Clyde died on April 7th. This is when Margaret started to get into politics!

On January 6, 1941 she entered the House of Representatives. And during that time, in 1947 she met the President which was very exciting. In 1941 also, Margaret made the decision to sign the Selective Service in Training Act, which was a law that young men had to go and fight in war. During that time was also difficult for Margaret's decisions because it was the time period when Adolph Hitler and his Nazi followers began to declare war on the U.S.A. She also sponsored a bill that would improve the status for women in the military. Women would call her an "active leader" because she helped by contributing things and time into the Maine business and professional women's club.

Then in 1948 Margaret took a big step in her political life and ran for Senate. "Don't trade a record for a promise", those were her words for her slogan. After all the debating, she won with over 71% of all the votes!!! It was very exciting. Margaret Chase Smith was the first women to ever be elected for Senate and invited into the House of Representatives. Margaret was very happy.

Well, later on, things got a little difficult. A man named Joe McCarthy who was also in the Senate was acting very harmful to this country. Joe was accusing 200 people of being spies. He gave speeches and went on television and was telling the world that people from different walks of life in the USA were spies against the government because they were communists. He unjustly accused many people and caused them to be black balled or banned from many activities. he was ruining many innocent Americans.

Well Margaret was definitely not going to just let this this thing fly by, so she did something about it. She stood up in the Congress and read her Declaration of Conscience speech and in it she exposed Joseph McCarthy and the other men who were causing great damage to America. The thing that bothered Margaret the most is that McCarthy was taking advantage of his position and immunity as a Senator. Margaret soon found out that all the evidence that he supposedly had against all these people was all made up. But that was not the end of it. Joe tried to retaliate against Margaret by trying to get her removed from the two Senate Committees on which she served. He also supplied money and support for Margaret's opponents in the 1954 Maine Primary Election. But once again, Margaret won. She beat Joe's candidate by a margin of five to one, setting a new record of total votes cast in a primary election!

The spirit and love that Margaret Chase Smith shared with everyone will go on forever and ever. Margaret was the wind, the sun and moon. She was a strong, brave, woman who stood up against negative forces to lead our country in the right direction. So, it doesn't matter if you come from a small town like ours and don't have lots of money, an individual can still go on to be a leader that everyone can admire.

The End