Alexander M. Keith

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The Honorable Alexander MacDonald Keith

In office
1990–1998
Preceded by Peter S. Popovich
Succeeded by Kathleen A. Blatz

Born November 22, 1928 (1928-11-22) (age 79)
Rochester, Minnesota
Nationality American
Political party Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party
Spouse Marion E. Sanford

Alexander MacDonald (Sandy) Keith (b. November 22, 1928) is a former Minnesota state senator, lieutenant governor, and state supreme court chief justice.

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[edit] Personal life

Sandy Keith was born in Rochester, Minnesota to Norman M. Keith and Edna (Alexander) Keith. His father was a physician who practiced medicine at the world-renowned Mayo Clinic.

He married Marion E. Sanford April 29, 1955.

[edit] Education and military service

Keith graduated magna cum laude from Amherst College in 1950, and from Yale Law School in 1953. He then served in the United States Marine Corps during the Korean War.

[edit] Public life and politics

After returning to his hometown of Rochester, Minnesota, Keith took a job as counsel with the Mayo Clinic, where he worked with future United States Supreme Court Justice Harry Blackmun.

In 1959 he was elected to the Minnesota State Senate as a member of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party. During his tenure as a State Senator, Keith served as a delegate to the 1960 Democratic National Convention. He was Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota under Governor Karl Rolvaag from 1963 until 1967. In 1989 Keith began serving as a justice on the Minnesota Supreme Court. He became Chief Justice in 1990 and served in that capacity until 1998.

[edit] Return to private sector

After retiring from the Minnesota Supreme Court, Keith returned to private practice at Dunlap & Seeger in Rochester where he concentrates on mediating civil and family law disputes.

[edit] References

Political offices
Preceded by
Karl Rolvaag
37th Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota
1963 – 1967
Succeeded by
James B. Goetz