Preceded by Oakley C. Curtis Name Carl Milliken Succeeded by Frederic Hale Parkhurst | Alma mater Bates College Role Former Governor of Maine | |
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Died May 1, 1961, Massachusetts, United States Previous office Governor of Maine (1917–1921) Education Bates College, Harvard University, Cony High School Political party Progressive Party, Republican Party Similar People Theodore Roosevelt, John Baldacci, Paul LePage | ||
Carl Elias Milliken (July 13, 1877 – May 1, 1961) was a U.S. Republican and Progressive Party politician, 51st governor of Maine. He was also a notable early figure in the motion picture industry.
A native of Pittsfield, Maine, Milliken graduated from Bates College in 1897. He went on to receive his masters degree from Harvard University in 1899, before moving to Island Falls, Maine to enter the lumber business. During the next six years, Milliken held positions as general manager of two lumber companies and an axe manufacturer and as president of a local telephone company.
His political career began in 1905, when he was elected to the Maine House of Representatives. Milliken moved up to the Maine State Senate in 1909, and was president of that body from 1913 to 1915.
Running for governor of Maine as a Republican Party candidate in 1916, Milliken easily defeated the Democratic Party incumbent, Oakley C. Curtis. He was reelected in 1918, this time by a smaller margin over Bertrand McIntire. Milliken was the first governor to be nominated by direct primary. As governor, he strictly enforced state and federal alcohol prohibition laws, which he strongly supported.
Milliken left office on January 5, 1921. The following year, he became executive secretary and chief spokesman of the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors Association (later the Motion Picture Association of America), the movie industry’s first self-censorship body. Milliken served as executive secretary for more than two decades, retiring in 1947.
After stepping down from the MPAA, Milliken served as the managing trustee of Teaching Film Custodians, a trust for educational films, and also served a term as president of the American Baptist Foreign Missionary Society.
Milliken married twice. His first wife, the former Emma Chase, died in 1930. He then married her sister, Caroline Chase. With his first wife, Milliken had one son and six daughters.