Harold Handley

Harold Willis Handley (born November 27, 1909 in La Porte , LaPorte County , Indiana , †  August 30, 1972 in Rawlins , Wyoming ) was an American politician and between 1957 and 1961 the 40th governor of the state of Indiana.

Early years and political advancement

Harold Handley attended Indiana University until 1932 . He then worked in his father's furniture store in La Porte. He then worked as a sales representative for a furniture company in North Carolina . As a member of the Republican Party , he was elected to the Indiana Senate in 1940 . The Second World War interrupted his political career. Between 1942 and 1946 he was an officer in the US Army . In the end he made it to the lieutenant colonel. Between 1949 and 1952 he was again a member of the State Senate; from 1953 to 1957 he served as lieutenant governor under Governor George N. Craig and thus as his deputy. In 1956 he was elected the new governor of Indiana with 55.6 percent of the vote against the Democrat Ralph Tucker.

Indiana Governor

Handley's four-year tenure began on January 14, 1957, during which time a veterinary school was established at Purdue University . Funds were set aside for a new port on Lake Michigan and a new labor law was enacted by the state parliament against the will of the governor. A new 13-story government building was also built. When Handley applied for a seat in the US Senate in the middle of his tenure in 1958 , where he was clearly defeated by the Democrat Vance Hartke , this plan met with incomprehension in Indiana and led to a loss of popularity for the governor.

After his tenure ended in January 1961, Handley withdrew from politics. He opened a public relations company in Indianapolis . Handley died in Wyoming in 1972 and was buried in his hometown of La Porte. He was married to Barbara Winterble, with whom he had two children.

Web links

• Harold Handley in the National Governors Association (English)
• Indiana Historical Bureau (English)
• Harold Handley in the database of Find a Grave (English)