Sigurd Anderson

Sigurd Anderson (born January 22, 1904 in Arendal , Norway , † December 21, 1990 in Webster , South Dakota ) was an American politician ( Republican Party ) and from 1951 to 1955 the 19th  governor of the state of South Dakota.

Early years

At the age of two, Sigurd Anderson emigrated from Norway to America with his parents. The family settled in Lincoln County , South Dakota. There Sigurd attended the local schools. After studying law at the University of South Dakota and being admitted to the bar, he practiced his new profession in Webster. Anderson served as the Day County District Attorney between 1939 and 1941, and served as his state's Assistant Attorney General from 1941 to 1943 . After three years of military service in the US Navy during World War II, he was Attorney General of South Dakota between 1947 and 1951. In 1950 he was elected as a candidate for the new governor of the state.

South Dakota Governor

Anderson took office on January 2, 1951. After re-election in 1952, he was able to exercise it until January 4, 1955. During this period, civil service salaries rose and veterans of the Korean War received the same perks as those of World War II. The governor lowered the sales tax and promoted the expansion of the road network. In his time, construction work on the dams along the Missouri continued. This project had already been planned under Governor Merrell Q. Sharpe in the late 1940s and would continue into the 1960s. The importance of this project became evident in 1952, when a strong flood caused enormous damage again. It was hoped that the dams would bring this problem under better control in the future. Anderson also campaigned for school and health policy.

Another résumé

After his term of office he became a member of the Federal Trade Commission . In 1964 he returned to Webster, where he again worked as a lawyer. Between 1967 and 1975 he was a judge in the Fifth Judicial District of South Dakota. After that, he retired. Sigurd Anderson died in December 1990. He was married to Vivian Walz, with whom he had one child.

Web links

• Sigurd Anderson in the National Governors Association (English)
• Sigurd Anderson in the database of Find a Grave (English)