Ernest Marland

Statue of Ernest Marland in Ponca City

Ernest Whitworth Marland (born May 8, 1874 in Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania , † October 3, 1941 in Ponca City , Oklahoma ) was an American politician and from 1935 to 1939 the tenth governor of the state of Oklahoma.

Early Years and Advancement in Oklahoma

Marland attended the local schools of his home and a private school in Rugby ( Tennessee ). After studying law at the University of Michigan , he was admitted to the bar in 1895. He then began to work in this profession in Pittsburgh. Soon after, he entered the oil business in Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia . There he became a millionaire very quickly. However, during an economic crisis in 1907 he lost all of his fortune.

After losing his fortune, he moved to Ponca City, Oklahoma in 1908, where he re-established himself in the oil business. There he was again very successful and by 1920 he had again made a million dollar fortune. In the further course he got into another economic crisis and lost his fortune a second time. Politically, Marland was a member of the Democratic Party . Between 1933 and 1935 he was a member of the US House of Representatives . Then he was elected governor of his state, where he prevailed with 58:39 percent of the vote against the Republican William B. Pine .

Governor of Oklahoma

Marland took up his new office on January 15, 1935. During his four-year tenure, he worked to overcome the global economic crisis . He was a supporter of President Franklin D. Roosevelt and his New Deal policy from the start. In Oklahoma, he added these measures. He managed to create over 90,000 new jobs. The construction of hydropower plants has both created jobs and improved the country's energy supply. The school system has also improved and the budget deficit has been reduced, but not eliminated. Marland also campaigned outside of his state for the favor of industrial companies that he wanted to induce to invest in Oklahoma. During his tenure, a union was also concluded between the oil-producing US states ( Interstate Oil Compact ). One goal of this association was to keep the oil price stable. Finally, tax reform was implemented in Oklahoma. All of this ultimately led to the economic crisis being overcome. Marland had other plans, some of which were rejected by the Oklahoma legislature.

Another résumé

After the end of his tenure, Marland returned to the oil business. But he remained politically active. As early as 1936, during his time as governor, he applied unsuccessfully for a seat in the US Senate . Another attempt to be elected to Congress failed in 1940. Marland was also known in the 1920s for his work on a memorial to American pioneer women in Oklahoma. He died of heart failure in 1941. Ernest Marland was married twice and had two children in total.

Web links

• Ernest Marland in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)
• Ernest Marland in the National Governors Association (English)
• The governors of Oklahoma (English)
• Ernest Marland in the database of Find a Grave (English)