New Hampshire’s Importance in the Presidential Race

By Mark Okrant

For anyone under the age of 70, it may appear that New Hampshire always played host to thousands of television, radio, and newspaper journalists at the beginning of each presidential election cycle. In truth, the state owes its special status to a man named Richard F. Upton. 

In 1948, Upton, who was Speaker of the New Hampshire House of Representatives, passed a law allowing citizens to vote directly for presidential candidates. According to the terms of that law, any candidate could be placed on the primary ballot by submitting 50 petitions from each of the state’s two Congressional districts. Residents of the state could choose delegates who were pledged to a particular candidate. That system replaced one wherein presidential candidates were selected by party members sequestered in smoke-filled rooms. 

Once the primary system was born, the change had an immediate impact. When Estes Kefauver beat incumbent president, Harry Truman, on the Democratic side of the ballot in 1948, Truman saw the handwriting on the wall and withdrew from the race. History repeated itself in 1968 when a sitting president, Lyndon Johnson, nearly lost to Eugene McCarthy in the New Hampshire Democratic primary. Shortly afterward, Johnson went on television to withdraw from the race, an event that attracted the attention of media throughout the nation. Ultimately, rules established by the McGovern-Fraser Commission removed the selection processes from those smoke-filled rooms in other U.S. states. As primaries increased in importance throughout the nation, New Hampshire’s primary assumed its present status in 1972. 

Outside of the state, members of both parties have complained that New Hampshire, with its small (and overwhelmingly Caucasian) population is assigned a level of importance that is considerably outsized. Meanwhile, people in the state are in no hurry to relinquish its first in the nation status, as Title LXIII, Chapter 653 dictates that the secretary of state shall choose a date seven days or more preceding the time when any other state holds its presidential primary. 

Do citizens of New Hampshire love their first in the nation primary? You bet they do; and why not? Anxious to get a head start on their political rivals, presidential candidates tour the state early and often, sometimes more than a year ahead of the actual primary. While some might say New Hampshire voters have become spoiled by the level of attention they receive from the major political figures, others counter that this state has among the nation’s most knowledgeable voters. Given the opportunity to meet aspirants up close at local restaurants, on the street, at house parties, in college student unions, and other intimate settings, Granite Staters have learned to recognize which candidates are the real deal and those that are all flash and no substance. 

Throughout the years, candidates have made a pitch for the support of new voters by speaking at Plymouth State, St. Anselm’s and other college campuses in the New Hampshire. Some senior faculty members recalled that listening to a Jessie Jackson speech was like attending a church revival, such was the level of energy in the room. One Plymouth State professor walked into a downtown hardware store only to be introduced to a regal looking, white-haired woman. It was Barbara Bush, who was in Plymouth campaigning for George Senior. A number of restaurants frequented by locals have been identified by the candidates’ field operatives. The Red Arrow Diner, with restaurants in Manchester, Concord, and Londonderry, proudly lists the names of the impressive number of candidates who have campaigned there throughout the years. 

Lakes Region residents are not without accounts to share. Pam Clark, President of the Laconia Historical and Museum Society, recalls family stories about a parade through the streets of Laconia during the early 1950s, featuring Dwight Eisenhower. Clark was a junior in high school, in February of 1960, when Richard, Pat, Tricia, and Julie Nixon, accompanied by David Eisenhower, attended a reception at the Laconia Tavern. Approximately two thousand people were attracted, with the most fortunate attendees having the opportunity to shake hands, and leave with a straw hat embossed with the slogan, “Nixon’s the One.”  A portrait of Nixon, created by cartoonist Charles Bureau, and signed by the candidate, has remained in the Clark family for six decades.

Warren Bailey, longtime radio personality at WLNH in Laconia, was a cub reporter working for WFEA in Manchester, in 1972. Warren had the opportunity to be up close to both Nixon and George McGovern. He recalls how the two men were amazingly kind while treating the young reporter with respect. That single experience ignited a passion for politics in Bailey that hasn’t diminished with the passing of time. He still smiles in amazement when considering how men who would be future presidents could be such kind and caring people. Asked to recall his most memorable moment, Bailey said it was the opportunity to talk with Ronald Reagan during his 1976 primary fight against Gerald Ford. Bailey appreciates how Reagan and Bob Dole were excellent listeners who didn’t dodge questions as has become an all-too-popular tactic. Like so many others, he laments that the respect which was evident during the 1990s has been replaced by nastiness and division.

Kathy Fairman Eaton, who, with Dick Eaton, established The Laker in 1984, has met a number of presidential candidates. Both were among those welcoming James Baker and Bob and Elizabeth Dole to Wolfeboro when Baker and the Doles were campaigning on behalf of President Ronald Reagan in his bid for a second term. On July 3, 1999, the Eatons were photographed with Texas Governor George W. Bush during his run for the White House. Bush, an avid boater, rode in their celebrated Millie B during a parade of boats to the Wolfeboro Town Docks. Visits by presidential aspirants to Wolfeboro did not end there. Candidate and Wolfeboro seasonal resident, Mitt Romney chartered the Eatons’ trolley for the Independence Day Parade during the 2012 campaign. U.S. Senator Marco Rubio was also marching in that parade and Dick Eaton suggested to him that a Romney-Rubio ticket would be great. To that suggestion, Rubio retorted, “You’re right, but the other way around.”

Tara Shore is the operations and program manager at Laconia’s historic Belknap Mill. Shore learned that the property was a popular stop for presidential candidates when she discovered photographs of former presidents Clinton and Obama in the archives. Subsequently, she has had the opportunity to meet a number of candidates during her five years at the Belknap Mill. In 2016, at the end of her first year on the job, she experienced the crush of press and attendees who filled the mill building to see both Lindsay Graham and Marco Rubio. During the most recent primary, she assisted in pre-arrival arrangements for a visit by Joe Biden, later walking with him out of the building. Biden was delightfully nostalgic as he compared Laconia to his hometown of Scranton, Pennsylvania, another former mill town.

While the experiences of these four people may be exceptional, thousands of New Hampshire residents have been privileged to meet, greet, or sight candidates for the nation’s highest office. As long as the state retains its first in the nation primary status, future generations will experience the special encounters shared by their parents, grandparents and great grandparents.