Harold LeVander

Harold LeVander, 1967

Karl Harold Phillip LeVander (born October 10, 1910 in Swede Home , Polk County , Nebraska , † March 30, 1992 in Saint Paul , Minnesota ) was an American lawyer and politician of the Republican Party . From 1967 to 1971 he was governor of the state of Minnesota.

LeVander was born in Nebraska to Swedish immigrants and graduated from high school in Minnesota. He then began to study law at Gustavus Adolphus College . In 1935 he graduated from the University of Minnesota Law School with a Bachelor of Laws . Since then he has practiced in Saint Paul as a lawyer in the law firm of the politicians Harold Stassen and Elmer Ryan ( Stassen & Ryan ); from 1935 to 1939 he also served as the assistant district attorney for Dakota County . In addition, LeVander taught debating and oratory at Macalester College for several years .

LeVander was not involved in politics until his nomination by the Republican State Convention . Nevertheless, he was able to prevail in the 1966 gubernatorial election clearly against the democratic incumbent Karl Rolvaag . On January 2, 1967, he was appointed the 32nd Governor of the US state. LeVander's merits are the promotion of education and regional development. So he introduced the Metropolitan Council , a regional government for the Twin Cities , but also the Pollution Control Agency and the first human rights agency in the United States arose on his initiative. Shortly before the 1970 elections, he surprisingly announced that he would not run for a second term. Instead, he continued to work as a lawyer in the firm, of which he had since become a partner. Later he was also appointed to the management of various companies.

In 1992, LeVander died in a hospital in Saint Paul of complications from Parkinson's disease . He left a wife and three children.

Web links

• Harold LeVander in National Governors Association (English)
• Harold LeVander in the database of Find a Grave (English)
• Minnesota Historical Society (English)