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Encyclopedia > Floyd B. Olson
Floyd B. Olson
Image:Floyd B. Olson.jpg
Office: Governor, Minnesota
Political party: Farmer-Labor
Term of office: January 1931–August 1936
Preceded by: Theodore Christianson
Succeeded by: Hjalmar Petersen
Born: November 13, 1891
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Died: August 22, 1936
Rochester, Minnesota
Spouse: Ada Krejci Olson (deceased)

Floyd Björnstjerne Olson (November 13, 1891August 22, 1936) American politician. He served as the 22nd Governor of Minnesota from January 6, 1931 to August 22, 1936. He died in office from stomach cancer. He was a member of the Minnesota Farmer-Labor Party, and was the first member of the Farmer-Labor Party to win the office of governor in Minnesota. Official language(s) None Capital Saint Paul Largest city Minneapolis Area  - Total  - Width  - Length  - % water  - Latitude  - Longitude Ranked 12th 225,365 km² 400 km 645 km 8. ... Farmer-Labor Party was a political party of Minnesota. ... 1931 (MCMXXXI) was a common year starting on Thursday (link is to a full 1931 calendar). ... 1936 (MCMXXXVI) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Theodore Christianson (September 12, 1883–December 9, 1948) was an American politician. ... Hjalmar Petersen (January 2, 1890–March 29, 1968) was an American politician who was born in Denmark and moved to Minnesota as a child. ... November 13 is the 317th day of the year (318th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 48 days remaining. ... 1891 (MDCCCXCI) was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... Nickname: City of Lakes Motto: En Avant Official website: http://www. ... August 22 is the 234th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (235th in leap years), with 131 days remaining. ... 1936 (MCMXXXVI) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Downtown Rochester and the South Fork of the Zumbro River Rochester is a city located in Olmsted County, Minnesota. ... November 13 is the 317th day of the year (318th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 48 days remaining. ... 1891 (MDCCCXCI) was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... August 22 is the 234th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (235th in leap years), with 131 days remaining. ... 1936 (MCMXXXVI) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... A politician is an individual involved in politics to the extent of holding or running for public office. ... Tim Pawlenty, the 39th and current Governor of Minnesota. ... January 6 is the 6th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1931 (MCMXXXI) was a common year starting on Thursday (link is to a full 1931 calendar). ... August 22 is the 234th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (235th in leap years), with 131 days remaining. ... 1936 (MCMXXXVI) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... In medicine, stomach cancer (also called gastric cancer) can develop in any part of the stomach and may spread throughout the stomach and to other organs. ... Farmer-Labor Party was a political party of Minnesota. ... HI A governor is also, a monkey who is smart and can fly like a penguin is a device that regulates the speed of a machine. ... Official language(s) None Capital Saint Paul Largest city Minneapolis Area  - Total  - Width  - Length  - % water  - Latitude  - Longitude Ranked 12th 225,365 km² 400 km 645 km 8. ...

Contents


Early life

Floyd B. Olson was born on the north side of Minneapolis, Minnesota to a Norwegian father and a Swedish mother. He was an only child. After graduating from Minneapolis North High School in 1909, Olson went to work for the Northern Pacific Railway. The next year, Olson enrolled at the University of Minnesota, but left after only a year, during which he was constantly in trouble for wearing a derby in violation of school rules and for refusing to participate in required ROTC drills. Nickname: City of Lakes Motto: En Avant Official website: http://www. ... 1909 (MCMIX) was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... A Northern Pacific train travels over Bozeman Pass, June 1939. ... University of Minnesota Twin Cities This article is about the oldest and largest campus of the University of Minnesota. ... Unidentified man in derby hat, 1874 A Derby or Derby hat is an American hat made of stiff felt with a rounded crown and a narrow curved brim. ... The Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) is a training program of the United States armed forces present on college campuses to recruit and educate commissioned officers. ...


Heading west, Olson worked a series of odd jobs in Canada and Alaska before settling briefly in Seattle, Washington, where he became a stevedore and joined the Industrial Workers of the World. During this time, Olson read widely and began to adopt a populist, semi-socialist philosophy which he would retain for the rest of his life. Official language(s) English Capital Juneau Largest city Anchorage Area  - Total  - Width  - Length  - % water  - Latitude  - Longitude Ranked 1st 663,267 mi² / 1 717 854 km² 808 mi / 1300 km 1,479 mi / 2380 km 13. ... This article is about the city. ... A stevedore is a person who works at loading or unloading a ship. ... The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW or the Wobblies) is a famous international union currently headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA. It contends that all workers should be united within a single union as a class and the wage system abolished. ... Populism is a political philosophy or rhetorical style which holds that the common persons interests are oppressed or hindered by the elite in society, and that the instruments of the state need to be grasped from this self-serving elite and used for the benefit and advancement of the... Socialism is an ideology of a social and economic system in which the means of production are collectively owned and administered by all of society. ...


Returning to Minnesota in 1913, Olson enrolled in Northwestern Law College, a night school, and earned his Juris Doctor in 1915. That same year, he met and married Ada Krejci in New Prague, Minnesota and became a practicing lawyer. 1913 (MCMXIII) is a common year starting on Wednesday. ... William Mitchell College of Law is located in St. ... Juris Doctor (J.D., Latin for Doctor of Jurisprudence) is a professional law degree typically awarded by an accredited law school in the United States to a student who has successfully completed three years of study in law. ... 1915 (MCMXV) was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... New Prague is a city located in Scott County, Minnesota. ... A lawyer is a person who advises clients in legal matters and represents them in courts of law and in other forms of dispute resolution. ...


Hennepin County Attorney

In 1919, Olson was hired as an Assistant Hennepin County Attorney and, by the following year, had himself become the Hennepin County Attorney after his former boss was fired for accepting bribes. 1919 (MCMXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... Bribery is a crime defined by Blacks Law Dictionary as the offering, giving, receiving, or soliciting of any item of value to influence the actions as an official or other person in discharge of a public or legal duty. ...


During that same time period, he made his first foray into politics when he helped form the "Committee of 48," an organization that attempted to draft Senator Robert M. La Follette, Sr. to run for president on a third party ticket. The effort proved unsuccessful, but La Follette would later run on the Progressive Party ticket in 1924. That same year, Olson ran in the Democratic primary for the local seat in the House of Representatives, but lost. Political drafts are used to encourage or compel a certain person to enter a political race, by demonstrating a significant groundswell of support for the candidate. ... Robert Marion La Follette, Sr. ... The presidential seal was first used by president Hayes in 1880 and last modified in 1959 by adding the 50th star for Hawaii. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article may require cleanup. ... The United States Progressive Party of 1924 was a national ticket created by Robert M. La Follette, Sr. ... 1924 (MCMXXIV) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... The Democratic Party is one of two major political parties in the United States, the other one being the Republican Party. ... The examples and perspective in this article do not represent a worldwide view. ... The chamber of the United States House of Representatives is located in the south wing of the Capitol building, in Washington, D.C.. This photograph shows a rare glimpse of the four vote tallying boards (the blackish squares across the top), which display each members name and vote as...


As Hennepin County Attorney, Olson quickly earned a name for himself as a stern prosecutor who relished going after crooked businessmen. He took on the Ku Klux Klan in a well-publicized case that brought both respect and death threats and was re-elected to the position in 1922 and 1926. The examples and perspective in this article do not represent a worldwide view. ... A businessman (sometimes businesswoman, female; or businessperson, gender neutral) is a generic term for a wide range of people engaged in profit-oriented enterprises, generally the management of a company. ... Members of the second Ku Klux Klan at a rally during the 1920s. ... This article may not be written in the formal tone expected of an encyclopedia entry. ... 1922 (MCMXXII) was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... 1926 (MCMXXVI) was a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ...


Candidate for governor

In 1923, Olson brought a case against the leaders of the Minnesota Citizens Alliance, a faux-grassroots organization dedicated to preserving "right-to-work" laws, after they hired a hitman to dynamite the home of a union leader. Olson's vigorous pursuit of the Citizens Alliance made him a hero to the local labor movement, which encouraged him to run for the Minnesota Farmer-Labor Party's gubernatorial nomination. 1923 (MCMXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... In American politics and advertising, the term astroturfing describes formal public relations projects which deliberately seek to engineer the impression of spontaneous, grassroots behavior. ... Right-to-work laws are statutes enforced in several states in the United States, allowed under provisions of the Taft-Hartley Act, which prohibits labor union membership from being a condition of employment, either before or after hire. ... A hitman (alternately, hit man), also referred to as a contract killer, is a hired assassin, usually in the employ of organized crime. ... Dynamite recovered in a mine in Eastern Oregon. ... This article or section contains information that has not been verified and thus might not be reliable. ... The labo(u)r movement is a broad term for the development of a collective organization of working people, to campaign in their own interest for better treatment from their employers and political governments. ... Farmer-Labor Party was a political party of Minnesota. ...


Having secured the endorsement of the Hennepin County Farmer-Labor Central Committee, Olson narrowly won the nomination in a bitterly-fought primary. Buoyed by the presidential campaign of Senator La Follette, who endorsed Olson and vice-versa, he received 43% of the vote, losing to Republican candidate Theodore Christianson's 48%. The Democratic candidate came in a distant third with 6%. Endorsement can refer to: A political endorsement is where a significant individual, group, or business selects, campaigns, or contributes heavily to a political campaign. ... The Republican Party was established in 1854 by a coalition of former Whigs, Northern Democrats, and Free-Soilers who opposed the expansion of slavery and held a Hamiltonian vision for modernizing the United States. ... Theodore Christianson (September 12, 1883–December 9, 1948) was an American politician. ...


Four years later, in 1928, the new "Farmer-Labor Association" (which had changed its name to avoid being linked with local communists) attempted to draft Olson to run for governor again. Although the party committee once again endorsed him and this time guaranteed that he would not face a primary battle, Olson declined to run. That year, the Farmer-Labor candidate lost in the Republican landslide that accompanied Herbert Hoover's election to the presidency. 1928 (MCMXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... This article is about communism as a form of society and as a political movement. ... Presidential electoral votes by state. ... Herbert Clark Hoover (August 10, 1874 – October 20, 1964), the 31st President of the United States (1929-1933), was a successful mining engineer, humanitarian, and administrator. ...


By 1930, however, the stock market had crashed and the Great Depression had begun. After the party's newspaper urged that Olson be drafted, he easily won the nomination. Forming a coalition of farmers, organized labor, and small businessmen, Olson swept to a landslide victory in the election, receiving 59% of the vote in a four-way race and winning 82 of the state's 87 counties. 1930 (MCMXXX) is a common year starting on Wednesday. ... The New York Stock Exchange A stock market is a market for the trading of company stock, and derivatives of same; both those securities listed on a stock exchange as well as those only traded privately. ... Dorothea Langes Migrant Mother depicts destitute pea pickers in California, centering on Florence Owens Thompson, a mother of seven children, age twenty-nine, in Nipomo, California, March 1936. ... Farmer spreading grasshopper bait in his alfalfa field. ... This article or section contains information that has not been verified and thus might not be reliable. ... A small business may be defined as a business with a small number of employees. ... Originally, in continental Europe, a county was the land under the jurisdiction of a count. ...


Olson as Governor

At the time Olson assumed his office, Minnesota's state legislature was officially nonpartisan, but was, in reality, dominated by conservative Republicans who opposed most of what Olson stood for. State legislatures are the lawmaking bodies of the 50 states in the United States of America. ... In U.S. politics, nonpartisan denotes an election in which the candidates do not declare or do not formally have a political party affiliation. ... For related and other uses, see Conservatism (disambiguation) Conservatism [derivative of conserve; from Latin conservare, to keep, guard, observe] in its true and classic sense is a simple philosophy that emphasizes a disposition to preserve, and an ability to improve. Classical conservatism does not readily avail itself to the ideology...


Nevertheless, Olson soon proved himself skilled at the art of politics and he managed to fulfill the vast majority of his campaign promises. During his three terms as governor, Olson proposed, and the legislature passed, bills that instituted a progressive income tax, created a social security program for the elderly, expanded the state's environmental conservation programs, guaranteed equal pay for women and the right to collective bargaining, and instituted a minimum wage and a system of unemployment insurance. A progressive tax, or graduated tax, is a tax that is larger as a percentage of income for those with larger incomes. ... For specific national programs, see Social Security (United States), National insurance (UK), Social Security (Sweden) Social security primarily refers to a field of social welfare concerned with social protection, or protection against socially recognized conditions, including poverty, old age, disability, unemployment, families with children and others. ... Conservation can be confused with conversation and vice versa. ... Equal pay for women is an issue involving pay inequality between men and women. ... Collective agreement is a labour contract between an employer and one or more unions. ... The minimum wage is the minimum rate a worker can legally be paid (usually per hour) as opposed to wages that are determined by the forces of supply and demand in a free market. ... Unemployment benefits are sums of money given to the unemployed by the government or a compulsory para-governmental insurance system. ...


Despite these successes, the thing that Olson wanted the most, a bill that would have put Minnesota's electric utilities, iron mines, oil fields, grain elevators, and meatpacking plants under state ownership, never saw the light of day, as the legislature balked at what they saw as socialism and Olson insisted was "cooperativism." Oil power plant in Iraq A power station or power plant is a facility for the generation of electric power. ... General Name, Symbol, Number iron, Fe, 26 Chemical series transition metals Group, Period, Block 8, 4, d Appearance lustrous metallic with a grayish tinge Atomic mass 55. ... The El Chino Mine located near Silver City, New Mexico is an open-pit copper mine This article is about mineral extraction. ... Drilling rig in a small oil field Near Sarnia, Ontario, 2001 An oil field is an area with an abundance of oil wells extracting petroleum (oil) from below ground. ... This article is about grain elevators. ... The meat packing industry is an industry that handles the slaughtering, processing and distribution of animals such as cattle, pigs, sheep and other livestock. ... Public ownership (also called government ownership or state ownership) is government ownership of any asset, industry, or corporation at any level, national, regional or local (municipal). ... Socialism is an ideology of a social and economic system in which the means of production are collectively owned and administered by all of society. ... Collectivism, in general, is a term used to describe any doctrine that stresses the importance of a collective, rather than the importance of the individual. ...


As the platform of his party grew successively more radical, Olson's support amongst the middle class gradually began to erode. His support with labor and agriculture, however, remained unchecked and he was easily re-elected in 1932 and 1934. A party platform, also known as an manifesto is a list of the principles which a political party supports in order to appeal to the general public for the purpose of having said partys candidates voted into office. ... The middle class (or middle classes) comprises a social group once defined by exception as an intermediate social class between the nobility and the peasantry. ... 1932 (MCMXXXII) was a leap year starting on Friday (the link will take you to a full 1932 calendar). ... 1934 (MCMXXXIV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ...


Final days

As the 1936 election neared, Olson ruled out the possibility of running for president as a third party candidate, and instead announced his intention to run for Minnesota's U.S. senate seat. Presidential electoral votes by state. ... Seal of the Senate The United States Senate is one of the two chambers of the Congress of the United States, the other being the House of Representatives. ...


Unbeknownst to Olson, however, his health was beginning to fail. Having suffered from severe ulcers ever since his election, Olson went to the Mayo Clinic in December of 1935, where he was diagnosed with stomach cancer. Although the cancer was malignant and would eventually prove fatal, Olson was not told of the seriousness of his condition, as was the practice of the day. Endoscopic images of a duodenal ulcer. ... The entrance to the Gonda Building in downtown Rochester. ... Look up December in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... 1935 (MCMXXXV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... In medicine, stomach cancer (also called gastric cancer) can develop in any part of the stomach and may spread throughout the stomach and to other organs. ... In medicine, malignant is a clinical term that is used to describe a clinical course that progresses rapidly to death. ...


Thus "reassured" of his "good health," Olson proceeded to further weaken himself by not only resuming his duties as governor, but also beginning to organize his party's state convention and returning to his senatorial campaign. As he stumped across the state, promising to support federal ownership of monopolies and to back President Franklin Roosevelt's court-packing scheme, he further weakened his immune system, allowing his cancer to metastasize. In politics, a political convention is a meeting of a political party, typically to select party candidates. ... In economics, a monopoly (from the Greek monos, one + polein, to sell) is defined as a persistent market situation where there is only one provider of a kind of product or service. ... Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882 – April 12, 1945), 32nd President of the United States, the longest-serving holder of the office and the only person to be elected President more than twice, was one of the central figures of 20th century history. ... The neutrality of this article is disputed. ... The immune system is the system of specialized cells and organs that protect an organism from outside biological influences. ... Metastasis (Greek: change of the state) is the spread of cancer from its primary site to other places in the body. ...


Olson last made a public appearance on June 29, 1936, giving a stump speech in Minnehaha Park in Minneapolis. The next day, he returned to the Mayo Clinic for treatment, but it was too little, too late. He died there on August 22. He was 44 years old. June 29 is the 180th day of the year (181st in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 185 days remaining. ... 1936 (MCMXXXVI) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Minnehaha Falls Minnehaha Creek is a short tributary of the Mississippi River located in Hennepin County, Minnesota that extends from Lake Minnetonka in the west and flows east for 22 miles (35 km). ... August 22 is the 234th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (235th in leap years), with 131 days remaining. ...


Monuments

Since his death, dozens of statues of Olson have been constructed throughout the state, many of which declare him to be the state's "greatest governor."


Shortly after Olson died, State Highway 55 (a highway that was then being constructed) was renamed the "Floyd B. Olson Memorial Highway" in his honor. A proposal by the Minnesota Taxpayer's League in late 2004 to rename the highway after the recently-deceased President Ronald Reagan met with widespread public condemnation and was soon abandoned. Highway in Pennsylvania, USA For other uses, see Highway (disambiguation). ... 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was the 40th President of the United States (1981–1989) and the 33rd Governor of California (1967–1975). ...


In 1974, Olson's home at 1914 West 49th Street in Minneapolis was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. 1974 (MCMLXXIV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (the link is to a full 1974 calendar). ... Nickname: City of Lakes Motto: En Avant Official website: http://www. ... The National Register of Historic Places is the USAs official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects worthy of preservation. ...

Preceded by:
Theodore Christianson
Governor of Minnesota
1931 – 1936
Succeeded by:
Hjalmar Petersen


Theodore Christianson (September 12, 1883–December 9, 1948) was an American politician. ... This is a list of Governors for Minnesota: Territorial Governors State Governors See also Governor of Minnesota Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota List of Lieutenant Governors of Minnesota References The Governors Office and History, accessed February 12, 2004. ... Hjalmar Petersen (January 2, 1890–March 29, 1968) was an American politician who was born in Denmark and moved to Minnesota as a child. ...

Governors of Minnesota Minnesota State Flag
Sibley | Ramsey | Swift | Miller | Marshall | Austin | Davis | Pillsbury | Hubbard | McGill | Merriam | Nelson | Clough | Lind | Van Sant | Johnson | Eberhart | Hammond | Burnquist | Preus | Christianson | Olson | Petersen | Benson | Stassen | Thye | Youngdahl | E. Anderson | Freeman | Andersen | Rolvaag | LeVander | W. Anderson | Perpich | Quie | Perpich | Carlson | Ventura | Pawlenty


 

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