A Man for All Branches - Judge Frank M. Coffin of Maine
ABOUT A biography of Frank M. Coffin, who was an important figure in Maine politics and served for 41 years as a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit. The author, political scientist Richard J. Maiman, provides a detailed study of Coffin’s political career, drawing extensively on materials dealing with Maine politics, Congress, foreign aid, and the Kennedy and Johnson administrations. He also makes liberal use of the burgeoning literature on federal court processes to help illuminate Coffin's judicial work. Frank Coffin’s succession of activities preceding his court appointment – partnering with Edmund Muskie to revive Maine’s moribund Democratic party, serving two terms in Congress, running an impressive but unsuccessful campaign for governor, helping design and administer the Kennedy administration’s new foreign aid agency, serving as a diplomat in Paris – all would all be tales worth telling, even if he had not then gone on to even greater achieveme