Editing Thomas Brackett Reed (section)

===Maine legislator (1867–1870)===
After the war, Reed returned to Portland and was admitted to the Maine bar in October 1865. He opened a practice in Portland, taking petty civil and criminal cases.{{sfn|Robinson|1930|pp=20–25}} In 1867, his colleague [[Nathan Webb (judge)|Nathan Webb]] secured Reed's nomination for the [[Maine House of Representatives]]; after some persuading, Reed agreed to run. In the heavily Republican city of Portland, he was easily elected; he was re-elected to a second term in 1868.{{sfn|Robinson|1930|pp=20–25}}

Reed, one of the youngest members of the Maine House at the time, served on the joint legislative committee on the judiciary and drafted a bills for a general law of incorporation and the abolition of [[capital punishment]] in the state; both failed.{{sfn|Robinson|1930|pp=20–25}} He distinguished himself for parliamentary skill in the 1869 U.S. Senate election between former Vice President [[Hannibal Hamlin]] and incumbent Senator [[Lot M. Morrill]], whom Reed supported. In the Republican caucus to nominate a candidate, Reed moved to rule a blank ballot invalid, breaking a tie in favor of Morrill.{{sfn|Robinson|1930|pp=20–25}} (Hamlin was later elected by a vote of the whole legislature.) Despite his youth, by March 1869 the Portland ''Press'' considered Reed "the actual though not the nominal leader of [the House]."{{sfn|Robinson|1930|p=23}}

In 1869, Reed was elected Senator for [[Cumberland County, Maine|Cumberland County]]. He continued to serve on the joint committee on the judiciary and successfully led the fight to delay construction of the [[Portland, Rutland, Oswego and Chicago Railroad|Portland and Rutland Railroad]]. He also paid homage to his former patron, Senator Fessenden, who died in 1869. Though Fessenden had become unpopular in the state owing to his vote against the impeachment of [[Andrew Johnson]], Reed aggressively defended Fessenden's legacy and wartime service.{{sfn|Robinson|1930|pp=20–25}}

Reed later reflected that his greatest achievement as a state legislator was securing the re-organization of the Cumberland County courts in an effort to reduce the time necessary to bring cases to a final judgment.{{sfn|Robinson|1930|pp=20–25}}