Historical Note

John Chafee considered running for the United States’ Senate seat for Rhode Island during his career as governor and then as Secretary of the Navy. After he lost the 1968 gubernatorial campaign and accepted the position of Secretary of the Navy, he knew that he could not return to being Rhode Island’s governor again. He would not consider running for the governorship of Rhode Island because the position of Republican candidate had been assumed by his friend and colleague, Herbert DeSimone.

Chafee was careful to keep his career as Secretary of the Navy separate from his putative run for the Senate, but allegations surfaced that he was using federal resources to begin his Senate campaign. Charges were made that Chafee visited Rhode Island many more times than he visited any other state. Chafee made sure, however, that he had resigned as Secretary of the Navy (on May 6, 1972) before he announced his candidacy for the Senate (on May 15, 1972).

Newspaper reports did note a potential conflict of interest in his numerous trips to Rhode Island.  One noted that he had spent “considerable time in Rhode Island–which has a number of major Navy schools, bases and airfield–in recent months, making speeches about the Navy and apparently not neglecting the local civic groups on those same occasions.” Washington Post, April 5, 1972. Chafee hoped to use his knowledge of Navy procedure to help keep the bases in Rhode Island from closing and made the issue a main one in his 1972 campaign. In fact, in April 1973, the bases were closed in Rhode Island, devastating the Rhode Island economy. But as Chafee stated in a statement delivered while he was a US Senate candidate on Oct 20, 1976, “The base closure decisions were made in April 1973, some eleven months after my resignation as Secretary of the Navy, by Secretary of Defense Richardson, who was not even in office when I resigned. … During my tenure as Secretary of the Navy, I did everything in my power, consistent with my responsibilities to preserve and protect the Naval establishment in Rhode Island.”

While a race against an incumbent and popular Democrat in Rhode Island might be seen as a difficult one for a Republican to win, the polls had shown early on that Chafee had a good chance at winning the Senatorial election. A poll conducted by the Providence Journal Company on August 22, 1971, (9 months before he announced his candidacy) showed Chafee to be the favorite in a projected race with Pell (Chafee–46.2 %, Pell–45.1%, with 8.7% undecided). TheProvidence Journal on November 24, 1971 again predicted a win by Chafee (by 2 to 1) over Pell. Chafee prepared extensively for his contest against Pell. Specific files on Pell, newspaper clippings, excepts from the Congressional Register, position papers, lists, and notes were drawn up and kept to prepare for the campaign. In June of 1972, however, the Pell Education Grant was passed by Congress and the popularity of that bill propelled Pell to victory during an election when for the first time in recent Rhode Island history, Rhode Island voted for a Republican in a presidential election, 54 percent for Richard Nixon to 46 percent for George McGovern.