NH Secretary of State Bill Gardner to Discuss NH Primary Oct. 18

By Lori Wright, Media Relations
October 17, 2007

New Hampshire Secretary of State Bill Gardner will discuss the unique contributions New Hampshire makes to American democracy through the presidential primaries Thursday, Oct. 18 at UNH.

Gardner’s lecture, “A Barometer of the Nation's Democracy: New Hampshire's Unique Role In American Political Culture,” is part of the Saul O Sidore Memorial Lecture Series. It will take place at 4 p.m. in the MUB, Theater II.

A reception with Gardner will be held from 2 to 3:30 p.m. at the University Museum, which features the exhibit “Up Close and Personal: A Look at Presidential Politics in New Hampshire.” The University Museum is located in the Milne Special Collections and Archives on the first floor of the Dimond Library. Both events are free and open to the public.

A strong supporter of New Hampshire’s first-in-the-nation primary, Gardner is required by state law to set the date of the presidential primary every four years. First elected to the position in 1976 at age 28, he is serving his 16th consecutive two-year term. He is a past president of the National Association of Secretaries of State. Prior to becoming secretary of state, he was elected three times to the N.H. House of Representatives.

He has an undergraduate degree from UNH and graduate degrees from UNC-G, Harvard, and an honorary doctorate from Saint Anselm College in Manchester, NH.

With the late former governor Hugh Gregg, he co-authored “Why New Hampshire: The First in the Nation Primary State” in 2003. Other published books, which he edited or co-edited, include “Towns Against Tyranny: Hillsborough County New Hampshire During the American Revolution 1775-1783” in 1976; “New Hampshire: The State That Made Us a Nation” in 1989, and “Pillars of Public Service: One Hundred Years of the National Association of Secretaries of State 1904-2004” in 2004.

The Saul O Sidore Memorial Lecture Series was established in 1965 in memory of Saul O Sidore of Manchester, New Hampshire. The purpose of the series is to offer the University community and the state of New Hampshire programs that raise critical and sometimes controversial issues facing our society. The University of New Hampshire Center for the Humanities sponsors the programs.

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