Harold Stassen

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Harold Stassen (1980)

Harold Edward Stassen (born April 13, 1907 in West St. Paul , Minnesota , † March 4, 2001 in Bloomington , Minnesota) was an American politician of the Republican Party . He was the 25th governor of Minnesota from 1939 to 1943 .

Early years and political advancement

Harold Stassen attended the University of Minnesota until 1929 , where he studied law, among other things. After his admission to the bar, he began to work in this profession in St. Paul . In 1930 and 1934, he was elected district attorney for Dakota County . In 1938 he was elected governor of his state as his party's candidate with almost 60 percent of the vote against incumbent Elmer Austin Benson .

Minnesota governor

Harold Stassen took up his new office on January 4, 1939. After he was re-elected in the following years, he was able to exercise this office until April 27, 1943. That day he resigned as governor to serve in the U.S. Navy during World War II . During his governor's tenure, the state's road system was expanded and some social laws were passed. Since the United States entered the war on December 7, 1941, Minnesota had also had to contribute its part to the federal government's war effort. Food and fuel were rationed and soldiers were drafted for the armed forces. Production was converted to armaments requirements.

Another résumé

After the end of the war, in which he received numerous awards, Stassen returned to the political stage. In 1945 he was a delegate to the San Francisco Conference , where the United Nations Charter was drawn up and signed by 50 states. From 1948 to 1953 he was President of the University of Pennsylvania, succeeding George William McClelland . However, his political influence had declined somewhat during the war years. This was reflected in the number of his many unsuccessful applications for various offices in Minnesota and Pennsylvania . Between 1944 and 1992 he applied for his party's nomination as a presidential candidate nine times without success. His candidacies for governors of Pennsylvania and Minnesota, the office of mayor of Philadelphia , a seat in the US House of Representatives and a seat in the US Senate were equally unsuccessful .

President Dwight D. Eisenhower initially appointed Stassen as head of the short-lived agency responsible for coordinating foreign operations ( Foreign Operations Administration ). In 1955 he appointed him a member of the Disarmament Commission. In 1957, Stassen was an American negotiator at a disarmament conference in London . In the 1960s, Stassen joined the civil rights movement. He took part in the 1963 March on Washington for Work and Freedom . Stassen also played an important role in his Baptist church and led and attended several important church meetings. In addition to his political and religious activities, Stassen was also active as a lawyer. Harold Stassen died on March 4, 2001. He had two children with his wife, Ester G. Glewwe.

Since 1949 he was a member of the American Philosophical Society . Stassen was a Freemason , from 1939 to 1940 he held the office of Master of the Chair at Shekinah Lodge No. 171 in Saint Paul .

Web links

Commons : Harold Stassen  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Member History: Harold E. Stassen. American Philosophical Society, accessed December 27, 2018 .
  2. ↑ Harold Stassen. Grand Lodge of British Columbia and Yukon; accessed on May 15, 2020
personal data
SURNAME Stassen, Harold
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Stassen, Harold Edward (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American politician (Republican)
DATE OF BIRTH April 13, 1907
PLACE OF BIRTH at West St. Paul , Minnesota
DATE OF DEATH March 4, 2001
Place of death Bloomington , Minnesota