Harry R. Hughes, 92; former Md. governor
Harry R. Hughes, who as Maryland governor brought a tone and perception of order and propriety to the state government after the scandal-ridden administrations of Spiro T. Agnew and Marvin Mandel, died March 13 at his home in Denton, Maryland. He was 92.
A daughter, Elizabeth Hughes, confirmed the death but did not provide a specific cause.
Hughes, a Democrat, was Maryland’s chief executive from 1979 to 1987. Unlike two of his predecessors, he served the two full terms to which he was elected.
Agnew, a Republican, resigned as governor in 1969 to become President Richard M. Nixon’s vice president. He later quit that office after charges that he had accepted bribes while governor of Maryland. Mandel, a Democrat, stepped aside as governor in 1977 after charges that linked him with mail fraud and racketeering; his conviction was overturned on appeal.
Elected on a pledge to restore integrity and pride to the state’s reputation, which had been badly tarnished by shenanigans in the Agnew-Mandel era, Hughes was seen in the popular eye as the quintessential straight arrow. Neither flashy nor flamboyant, he maintained a low profile that reflected responsibility and diligence. Taking office, he promised “a very quiet administration.”
A 1986 Washington Post summation of his administration said Hughes “set modest goals without apology” and created an image that never went beyond that of an “honest and amiable caretaker.”
An Eastern Shore native, he was a staunch advocate for the Chesapeake Bay. His gubernatorial stewardship included signing into law the Chesapeake Bay Agreement, which contained measures to protect the Bay from pollution and excessive exploitation of its crab, fish and oyster supply.
He began trade relations with China, presided over a doubling of the state budget to more than $8 billion and initiated programs to improve the state’s support of education. He raised payments in the Aid to Families With Dependent Children program and backed reform of a pension plan for state employees. He appointed a record number of women and minorities to cabinet posts and judgeships, as well as state boards and commissions.
In the Hughes administration, Maryland began an aggressive program to crack down on drunk drivers, and the state raised gasoline taxes to pay for critically needed road and bridge repairs.
But the governor was often at odds with the 188-member Maryland General Assembly, whose leaders groused that the governor’s dislike of backroom wheeling and dealing made it difficult to get things done. Some lawmakers said he was often slow on the draw.
“He doesn’t really pick priorities. They just sort of come up. . . . He waits for the prison guard to be stabbed, for the Bay to decline and the S&L to be robbed before he acts,” Del. Timothy Maloney, D-Prince George’s, told The Post in 1986.