C. Douglas Cairns
{{Short description|American politician}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = C. Douglas Cairns
| image = 160px
| caption = Cairns in 1957, as mayor-elect
| alt = A plump, smiling man in a suit and tie sits down as he takes a phone call.
| office1 = 31st Mayor of Burlington, Vermont
| term_start1 = June 3, 1957{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/40352225/the_burlington_free_press/ |title=Cairns Sworn In, Pledges Program for City's Future |date=4 June 1957 |work=The Burlington Free Press |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191210033948/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/40352225/the_burlington_free_press/ |archive-date=10 December 2019 |url-status=live |page=11 |via=Newspapers.com}}
| term_end1 = June 1, 1959
| predecessor1 = John Edward Moran
| successor1 = James E. Fitzpatrick
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{birth date|1914|06|01}}
| birth_place = Salem, Massachusetts, U.S.
| death_date = {{death date and age|1985|07|06|1914|06|01}}
| death_place = Burlington, Vermont, U.S.
|restingplace = Lakeview Cemetery,
Burlington, Vermont
| party = Republican
| otherparty =
| father = Claude Cairns
| mother = Mae Lewis
| spouse = Frances Mary Nason
| children =
| relatives =
| education =
| signature =
| allegiance = {{flag|United States|1945}}
| branch = United States Navy
| serviceyears = 1941-1945
| rank =
| unit =
| battles = World War II
| mawards =
}}
Claude Douglas Cairns (June 1, 1914 – July 6, 1985) was an American politician who served as the 31st mayor of Burlington, Vermont. His mayoral victory in 1957 ended eighteen years of Democratic control of Burlington's mayoralty since Republican Louis Fenner Dow left office in 1939.
Life
Claude Douglas Cairns was born in Salem, Massachusetts on June 1, 1914 to Mae Lewis and Claude F. Cairns. In 1932 he graduated from the Chauncey Hall Preparatory School and received a degree in chemical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1936.{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/40322301/the_burlington_free_press/ |title=C. Douglas Cairns Obituary |date=8 July 1985 |work=The Burlington Free Press |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191209190557/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/40322301/the_burlington_free_press/ |archive-date=9 December 2019 |url-status=live |page=16 |via=Newspapers.com}} From 1941 to his honorary discharge in 1945 he served in the United States Navy on board the USS Block Island in the Atlantic.
From 1953 to 1957 Cairns served two terms as on the Burlington Board of Aldermen. On April 27, 1956 he was elected as Chairman of the Burlington Republican City Committee to succeed John B. Harrington.{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/40308586/the_burlington_free_press/ |title=GOP City Committee Elect Cairns; Votes Open Meetings |date=28 April 1956 |work=The Burlington Free Press |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191209085211/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/40308586/the_burlington_free_press/ |archive-date=9 December 2019 |url-status=live |page=2 |via=Newspapers.com}} In September he proposed adding the support of lowering the voting age to eighteen to the Vermont Republican Party platform.{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/40308636/the_burlington_free_press/ |title=GOP Urged to Ask Lower Voting Age |date=7 September 1956 |work=The Burlington Free Press |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191209085725/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/40308636/the_burlington_free_press/ |archive-date=9 December 2019 |url-status=live |page=13 |via=Newspapers.com}}
On February 18, 1957 he was given the mayoral nomination and on March 5 defeated incumbent Democratic Mayor John Edward Moran with 4,053 votes to 3,830 votes.{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/40351473/the_burlington_free_press/ |title=GOP Nominates Cairns for Mayor; County Chairman Calls Move 'Insult' |date=19 February 1957 |work=The Burlington Free Press |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191210032750/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/40351473/the_burlington_free_press/ |archive-date=10 December 2019 |url-status=live |page=3 |via=Newspapers.com}}{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/40351878/the_burlington_free_press/ |title=Votes by Ward For Mayor |date=6 March 1957 |work=The Burlington Free Press |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191210033447/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/40351878/the_burlington_free_press/ |archive-date=10 December 2019 |url-status=live |page=11 |via=Newspapers.com}} On January 28, 1958 he stated that he would not run for congress, but on April 30 he changed his decision and announced that he would run in the Republican primary for the House of Representatives and went on to lose the primary to former Governor Harold J. Arthur.{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/40352463/the_burlington_free_press/ |title=Not Now Cairns Won't Run for Congress |date=28 January 1958 |work=The Burlington Free Press |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191210034621/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/40352463/the_burlington_free_press/ |archive-date=10 December 2019 |url-status=live |page=9 |via=Newspapers.com}}{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/40352469/the_burlington_free_press/ |title=Mayor Cairns To Seek Republican Nomination for Representative |date=1 May 1958 |work=The Burlington Free Press |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191210034838/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/40352469/the_burlington_free_press/ |archive-date=10 December 2019 |url-status=live |page=1 |via=Newspapers.com}} During his tenure as mayor he attempted to have a nuclear reactor built in Burlington and went to the Joint Committee on Atomic Energy, but nothing came of it and attempted to add support for a national sales tax to the 1958 Republican national platform.{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/40352536/the_burlington_free_press/ |title=Cairns, Stebbins Leave Today For Washington |date=17 June 1958 |work=The Burlington Free Press |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191210035641/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/40352536/the_burlington_free_press/ |archive-date=10 December 2019 |url-status=live |page=3 |via=Newspapers.com}}{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/40353254/the_burlington_free_press/ |title=Federal Sales Tax Proposed By Mayor C. Douglas Cairns |date=25 September 1958 |work=The Burlington Free Press |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191210040115/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/40353254/the_burlington_free_press/ |archive-date=10 December 2019 |url-status=live |page=15 |via=Newspapers.com}} On February 2, 1959 he announced that he would not to seek reelection and would instead run for alderman again and easily defeated Arthur J. Lambert with 1,434 votes to 856 votes.{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/40225331/the_burlington_free_press/ |title=Cairns Quits Mayor's Race To Run for Ward 6 Alderman |date=3 February 1959 |work=The Burlington Free Press |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191207212914/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/40225331/the_burlington_free_press/ |archive-date=7 December 2019 |url-status=live |page=9 |via=Newspapers.com}}{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/39835732/the_burlington_free_press/ |title=Voters Elect Fitzpatrick Mayor; Margin Over Dorn Is 994 Votes |date=4 March 1959 |work=The Burlington Free Press |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191130090822/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/39835732/the_burlington_free_press/ |archive-date=30 November 2019 |url-status=live |page=11 |via=Newspapers.com}} After leaving the mayoralty he was elected as Chairman of the Chittenden County Republican Party.{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/40353754/rutland_daily_herald/ |title=Cairns to Head GOP In Chittenden County |date=27 October 1959 |work=The Burlington Free Press |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191210041315/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/40353754/rutland_daily_herald/ |archive-date=10 December 2019 |url-status=live |page=3 |via=Newspapers.com}}
In 1964 he ran for one of Chittenden County's five state senate seats, but came in seventh place out ten candidates.{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/40339107/the_burlington_free_press/ |title=Jack O'Brien Topped County Senate Race |date=14 November 1964 |work=The Burlington Free Press |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191209085725/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/40308636/the_burlington_free_press/ |archive-date=9 December 2019 |url-status=live |page=11 |via=Newspapers.com}}
During the 1960 and 1968 he organized the presidential campaigns of Richard Nixon in Vermont. During the 1964 campaign he was an early supporter of Barry Goldwater and served as chairman and member of the Vermont delegation to the national convention in support of Goldwater although the delegates were officially uncommitted.{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/40339143/the_burlington_free_press/ |title=Goldwater Can Win! |date=24 January 1964 |work=The Burlington Free Press |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191209232326/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/40339143/the_burlington_free_press/ |archive-date=9 December 2019 |url-status=live |page=15 |via=Newspapers.com}}{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/40349981/rutland_daily_herald/ |title=Caucuses Put Goldwater's Faction Best |date=22 April 1964 |work=Rutland Daily Herald |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191210025722/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/40349981/rutland_daily_herald/ |archive-date=10 December 2019 |url-status=live |page=1 |via=Newspapers.com}} He attempted to become the Republican national committeeman for Vermont, but was defeated by incumbent State Senator Edward G. Janeway.{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/40350427/the_burlington_free_press/ |title=12 Vermont Delegates Lean Mostly Toward 'Moderates' |date=13 July 1964 |work=The Burlington Free Press |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191210030528/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/40350427/the_burlington_free_press/ |archive-date=10 December 2019 |url-status=live |page=12 |via=Newspapers.com}} He also ran Barry Goldwater's campaign in Vermont in 1964 and served as both his vice chairman of his campaign in Vermont and national campaign's chairman in 1964.{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/40324888/the_burlington_free_press/ |title=Goldwaterites Want Time In Naming Vt. Party Chief |date=12 November 1964 |work=The Burlington Free Press |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191209225624/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/40324888/the_burlington_free_press/ |archive-date=9 December 2019 |url-status=live |page=17 |via=Newspapers.com}} Late into the campaign he led an effort to block the Citizens Party from giving its nomination and extra ballot access line to Lyndon B. Johnson.{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/40324812/the_burlington_free_press/ |title=Republicans Plan To Protest Petitions of Citizen Party |date=19 September 1964 |work=The Burlington Free Press |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191209231725/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/40324812/the_burlington_free_press/ |archive-date=9 December 2019 |url-status=live |page=1 |via=Newspapers.com}}
Cairns died in Burlington, Vermont July 6, 1985 at age 71.
Electoral history
{{hidden begin|toggle=left|title=Claude Douglas Cairns electoral history}}
{{Election box begin no change | title = 1957 Burlington Mayoral Election}}
{{Election box winning candidate with party link no change
|party = Republican Party (United States)
|candidate = Claude Douglas Cairns
|votes = 4,053
|percentage = 51.41%
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link no change
|party = Democratic Party (United States)
|candidate = John Edward Moran
|votes = 3,830
|percentage = 48.59%
}}
{{Election box total no change
| votes = 7,883
| percentage= 100%
}}
{{Election box end}}
{{Election box begin no change | title = 1958 Vermont House of Representatives Republican primary{{Cite news |url=https://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=756820 |title=VT - At-Large - R Primary 1958 |date=14 February 2012}}}}
{{Election box winning candidate with party link no change
|party = Republican Party (United States)
|candidate = Harold J. Arthur
|votes = 14,460
|percentage = 30.23%
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link no change
|party = Republican Party (United States)
|candidate = A. Luke Crispe
|votes = 11,210
|percentage = 23.43%
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link no change
|party = Republican Party (United States)
|candidate = Claude Douglas Cairns
|votes = 9,221
|percentage = 19.28%
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link no change
|party = Republican Party (United States)
|candidate = Harris E. Thurber
|votes = 9,105
|percentage = 19.03%
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link no change
|party = Republican Party (United States)
|candidate = Hester O'Neill
|votes = 2,151
|percentage = 4.50%
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link no change
|party = Republican Party (United States)
|candidate = George M. Abbott
|votes = 1,666
|percentage = 3.48%
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link no change
|party = Republican Party (United States)
|candidate = Other
|votes = 23
|percentage = 0.05%
}}
{{Election box total no change
| votes = 47,836
| percentage= 100%
}}
{{Election box end}}
{{Election box begin no change | title = 1959 Burlington Ward 6 Alderman Election}}
{{Election box winning candidate with party link no change
|party = Republican Party (United States)
|candidate = Claude Douglas Cairns
|votes = 1,434
|percentage = 62.62%
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link no change
|party = Democratic Party (United States)
|candidate = Arthur J. Lambert
|votes = 856
|percentage = 37.38%
}}
{{Election box total no change
| votes = 2,290
| percentage= 100%
}}
{{Election box end}}
{{Election box begin no change | title = 1964 Chittenden County Vermont State Senate Election}}
{{Election box winning candidate with party link no change
|party = Democratic Party (United States)
|candidate = John O'Brien
|votes = 19,438
|percentage = 13.36%
}}
{{Election box winning candidate with party link no change
|party = Democratic Party (United States)
|candidate = Charles L. Delaney
|votes = 18,945
|percentage = 13.02%
}}
{{Election box winning candidate with party link no change
|party = Democratic Party (United States)
|candidate = Hector T. Marcoux
|votes = 18,495
|percentage = 12.71%
}}
{{Election box winning candidate with party link no change
|party = Democratic Party (United States)
|candidate = George R. J. McGregor
|votes = 18,304
|percentage = 12.58%
}}
{{Election box winning candidate with party link no change
|party = Democratic Party (United States)
|candidate = John Kelty
|votes = 18,268
|percentage = 12.56%
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link no change
|party = Republican Party (United States)
|candidate = Holger C. Petersen
|votes = 10,962
|percentage = 7.53%
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link no change
|party = Republican Party (United States)
|candidate = Claude Douglas Cairns
|votes = 10,754
|percentage = 7.39%
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link no change
|party = Republican Party (United States)
|candidate = E. Howard Chittenden
|votes = 10,403
|percentage = 7.15%
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link no change
|party = Republican Party (United States)
|candidate = C. Reginald Burns
|votes = 10,008
|percentage = 6.88%
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link no change
|party = Republican Party (United States)
|candidate = Clinton M. Russell
|votes = 9,919
|percentage = 6.82%
}}
{{Election box total no change
| votes = 145,496
| percentage= 100%
}}
{{Election box end}}
{{hidden end}}
References
{{Reflist}}
{{s-start}}
|-
{{s-off}}
|-
{{s-bef|before=John Edward Moran}}
{{s-ttl|title=Mayor of Burlington, Vermont|years=1957–1959}}
{{s-aft|after=James E. Fitzpatrick}}
|-
{{s-end}}
{{Mayor of Burlington, Vermont}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cairns, Claude Douglas}}