Compiled by Russell Bastedo
State Curator
1998

Robert O. Blood (1941-1945) . Born Enfield (NH); Concord surgeon. In state politics from 1935.

The son of a farmer and railroad worker, Blood (1887-1975) attended Dartmouth College and Dartmouth Medical School (M.D., 1913). He set up medical practice at Wells River (VT), then moved to Concord in 1915. He married (Pauline Shepard, 1916), then enlisted (1917) as a lieutenant in the U.S. Medical Corps. He went to France with the famed 26th (Yankee) Division and received the Distinguished Service Cross (from Britain) and the Croix de Guerre (from France). He retired from military service (1919) with the rank of lieutenant colonel.

Blood practiced as a surgeon in Concord for fifty-six years. He was active in real estate, and served as a state and national officer for the Ayrshire Breeders Association. Interested in veterans' affairs, Blood helped organize the Concord post of the American Legion and was the post's first Commander. Blood served in his church and had a great interest in humanitarian agencies. He served as a local and national officer for the YMCA.

Blood entered state politics as a Republican legislator, serving in the House (1935/6) and State Senate (1937/40; President of the Senate 1939/40). He entered the Republican direct primary for governor in 1940, and won by fewer than 800 votes. He won the fall election with fewer than 3,000 votes, in the face of an enormous Democratic landslide vote for Franklin D. Roosevelt, campaigning for a third term. Blood was reelected in 1942.

As New Hampshire's governor during World War II, Blood set up a State Council of Defense with many sub-committees. He drove around the state in his own car and observed gasoline rationing requirements (three gallons/week).

Governor Blood worked with the legislature to increase veterans' benefits. He also began the classification system for State employees, and he put the state on a biennial budget. The State Attorney-General became a full-time position. He also reduced the state debt and left office with a state surplus of $6 million.

Blood tried for the governorship of New Hampshire in 1944, but lost; he tried for the U.S. Congress but lost the 1946 direct primary to Norris Cotton. Blood attended every national Republican convention 1944/60; after his death (1975), the Blood Collection of fine porcelains was donated to the State. The Collection is a feature of the Governor's Mansion, Bridges House.

Location: State House, Second Floor, Corridor, West Face, Beginning at Room 208
Portrait by Meredith Brooks, 1963