Arthur B. Langlie

Arthur B. Langlie
12th and 14th Governor of Washington
In office
January 13, 1941 – January 8, 1945
Lieutenant Victor A. Meyers
Preceded by Clarence D. Martin
Succeeded by Monrad C. Wallgren
In office
January 12, 1949 – January 14, 1957
Lieutenant Emmett T. Anderson
Preceded by Monrad C. Wallgren
Succeeded by Albert Rosellini
43rd Mayor of Seattle
In office
1938–1941
Preceded by John F. Dore
Succeeded by John E. Carroll
Personal details
Born Arthur Bernard Langlie
July 25, 1900
Lanesboro, Minnesota
Died July 24, 1966 (aged 65)
Political party Republican
Religion Presbyterian

Arthur Bernard Langlie (July 25, 1900 – July 24, 1966) served as the mayor of Seattle, Washington, from 1938 to 1941 and was the 12th and 14th Governor of the U.S. state of Washington from 1941 to 1945 and from 1949 to 1957.

Background

Langlie was born in Lanesboro, Minnesota. His father, Bjarne Langlie, had emigrated from Norway. His mother, Carrie Dahl, was of Norwegian and Dutch ancestry. He moved with his family to Washington's Kitsap Peninsula at the age of nine. Langlie attended Coontz Junior High and graduated from Union High both in Bremerton, Washington. Langlie graduated from the University of Washington, where he was a member of Phi Kappa Sigma Fraternity (law degree. 1925). He then became a senior partner in the law firm of Langlie, Todd, and Nickell.

Political career

He practiced law in Seattle for nearly 10 years before winning a Seattle City Council seat in 1935 as a candidate of the conservative and moralistic reform group the New Order of Cincinnatus.[1] He became the Republican candidate for governor in 1940 and won a narrow victory. He is to date the only former mayor of Seattle to be elected Governor of Washington. At 40, Langlie was the youngest governor in the history of the state until Dan Evans was elected. Langlie was defeated for re-election in 1944 by Democrat Monrad C. Wallgren, but won the office back by defeating Wallgren in 1948. Arthur B. Langlie was the only Washington governor to regain that office after losing it.

In 1952 he was one of five people on the short list for the Republican vice presidential nomination. Dwight Eisenhower instead chose Richard Nixon.[2] He was an unsuccessful candidate for the U.S. Senate in 1956. Langlie's legacy as Governor included the Washington State Ferries system inaugurated under his administration, additional road and bridge projects, and some of the first environmental measures adopted in the state of Washington.[3]

Langlie left politics after failing in his 1956 campaign to defeat Democratic U.S. Senator Warren G. Magnuson. Los Angeles financier Norton Simon asked Langlie to take charge of the McCall publishing house that Simon had just acquired. In 1958 Langlie was named as the new president of the McCall Corporation [4]

References

  1. ↑ Berner, Richard C. (1992), Seattle 1921-1940: From Boom to Bust, Seattle in the 20th Century, Seattle: Charles Press, pp. 354–355, ISBN 0-9629889-1-X
  2. ↑ Richard Nixon: The Rise of an American Politician (Roger Morris. Pg. 726)
  3. ↑ Governor Arthur B. Langlie (HistoryLink.org)
  4. ↑ Women's Periodicals in the United States - Consumer Magazines, (by Kathleen L. Endres and Theresa L. Luech, Greenwood Publishing Group, 1995)

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Political offices
Preceded by
John F. Dore		 Mayor of Seattle
1938–1941 		Succeeded by
John E. Carroll
Preceded by
Clarence D. Martin		 Governor of Washington
1941–1945 		Succeeded by
Monrad C. Wallgren
Preceded by
Monrad C. Wallgren		 Governor of Washington
1949–1957 		Succeeded by
Albert Rosellini