BLAIR LEE III
Lieutenant Governor of Maryland
When Maryland voters elected Blair Lee
III as Lieutenant Governor, they chose a
public official who in a sense was born to
the office. Both his maternal and paternal
grandfathers were State Senators, like Mr.
Lee, who is continuing a tradition of public
service that has been intertwined with the
Lee family heritage for generations.
Lieutenant Governor Lee's father, E.
Brooke Lee, was Secretary of State under
Governor Albert C. Ritchie and after that
was Speaker of the House of Delegates.
Earlier he had been elected State Comp-
troller at 29. Respectfully called "Colonel
Lee," he was one of Maryland's most for-
midable political figures of his day and is
still frequently consulted by young, up-and-
coming office seekers.
Blair Lee III, Maryland's first Lieutenant
Governor under the Constitution of 1867,
was born in Silver Spring, on May 19, 1916,
the son of E. Brooke and Elizabeth S. (Wil-
son) Lee. He was educated at Princeton
University, where he received the degree of
Bachelor of Arts in 1938, with a major in
American History. He studied law for two
years before he enlisted in the Navy. Be-
tween 1941 and 1945, he served in the U.S.
Naval Reserve, ferrying supplies across the
Atlantic, being discharged with the rank of
Lieutenant Commander.
After the war, he became editor of the
Maryland News, a weekly newspaper oper-
ated by his father in Montgomery County.
He was president of the Maryland Press
Association in 1949.
That same year Mr. Lee was appointed
Vice Chairman and Park Commissioner for
the Maryland-National Capital Park and
Planning Commission. He held that post
until 1951, and was a member of the Com-
mission in 1965 and 1966. He served as
Executive Officer of the National Capital
Planning Commission (a Federal agency
serving Washington, D.C. and its environs)
from 1951 to 1954.
In 1948 Mr, Lee was chosen as a delegate
to the Democratic National Convention, a
role he also filled in 1960, 1964, 1968,
1972 and 1976. |
He was elected to the Maryland House
of Delegates in 1954 and served until 1962,
when he became a candidate for the Demo-
cratic nomination to the U.S. Senate. Dur-
ing his two terms in the House of Delegates,
Mr. Lee was Chairman of the Montgomery
County delegation. For his outstanding abil-
ities in resolving a dispute in 1958 between
the Maryland State Teachers Association
and the General Assembly, Mr. Lee was
chosen Legislator of the Year by the Mary-
land Legislative Correspondents Association,
composed of reporters who regularly cover
the General Assembly.
In 1960, Mr. Lee served as Montgomery
County campaign manager for John F. Ken-
nedy. During the 1964 campaign, he was
Regional Coordinator of the Middle Atlan-
tic States for the Johnson-Humphrey ticket
In 1966 Blair Lee was elected to the
Maryland Senate, where he was Vice Chair-
man of the Senate Finance Committee and
a member of the Legislative Council.
He was midway into this term when Gov-
ernor Mandel selected him as Secretary of
State. In recognition of his abilities, Gover-
nor Mandel said Mr. Lee would immediately
assume the functions of a Lieutenant Gov-
ernor, since Maryland had none at that time.
Subsequently, the General Assembly enacted
a constitutional amendment creating the
office of Lieutenant Governor. This amend-
ment was ratified by the voters at the No-
vember 1970 general election, and at the
same election, they chose Blair Lee III to
fill the new office. He was re-elected in
1974.
As Lieutenant Governor, Mr. Lee per-
forms a number of functions for Governor
Mandel. He works closely with the Gover-
nor in the establishment of legislative policy.
and devotes a good deal of his time to the
preparation and execution of the budget.
He serves as Secretary of the Cabinet and
is deeply involved in the day-to-day ad-
ministration of State government. In addi-
tion, Governor Mandel has designated him
to head several task forces and ad hoc com-
mittees on key problems.
Lieutenant Governor Lee is married to
the former Mathilde Boal and they have
seven children — six boys and one girl —
and three grandchildren. |
