Walter Maddock

Walter J. Maddock (born September 13, 1880 in Grand Forks , North Dakota , † January 25, 1951 in Bismarck , North Dakota) was an American politician and from 1928 to 1929 the 15th governor of the state of North Dakota.

Early years and political advancement

Walter Maddock attended local schools in his home country and North Western Business College . Little is known about his further personal career. Maddock soon became politically active. In 1915 he was one of the co-founders of the Nonpartisan League alongside AC Townley . During this time, two new political parties emerged in North Dakota and fought hard.

New parties in North Dakota

In the years after 1915, the two traditional parties, the Republicans and the Democrats , had faded a little in North Dakota. Instead , the Nonpartisan League (NPL) and the Independent Voters Association (IVA) took their place temporarily. Both parties were in sharp opposition to one another. The NPL, which represented more socialist positions, was briefly organized nationwide, but achieved its greatest successes in North Dakota. With Lynn Frazier and Walter Maddock, she put two governors in this state between 1917 and 1929. The IVA was founded as an opposition to the NPL by conservative forces whose interests it represented. With Ragnvald A. Nestos and George F. Shafer she also put two governors of North Dakota in the 1920s. Since 1933, neither party played a major role in North Dakota.

Promotion to governor

From 1915 to 1925 Maddock was a member of the North Dakota House of Representatives . Then he was elected lieutenant governor of his state. In this capacity he did not get along with the incumbent governor Arthur G. Sorlie . Maddock found the rich businessman Sorlie unsuitable for a party with socialist tendencies. He led an internal party opposition to the governor. The possibility of impeachment was already being considered when Sorlie died in office in August 1928. This now moved Maddock in his place as governor. His job was to bring his predecessor's term of office to an end. During this time he campaigned for the goals of the NPL and advocated state-owned companies. Then he switched to the Democratic Party and ran for re-election in 1928, but was defeated by George Shafer, who had run for the IVA. So Maddock resigned on January 9, 1929 from the office.

After the end of his governorship, Walter Maddock worked as a farmer. Later he was a member of some agricultural organizations. Maddock died in 1951. He was married to Marguerite Tierney, with whom he had six children.

Web links

• Walter Maddock in the National Governors Association (English)
• North Dakota Historical Society (English)
• Walter Maddock in the database of Find a Grave (English)