| Line 30: |
Line 30: |
| | '''Harold Edward Stassen''' (April 13, 1907 – March 4, 2001) was a [[Moderate Republican]] who was the youngest person elected as the [[governor]] of a U.S. state - [[Minnesota]] in 1938. He still holds that designation.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://libguides.mnhs.org/stassen|title=Harold E. Stassen: "Boy Governor" & Presidential Hopeful: Overview|publisher=Minnesota History Center: Gale Family Library|accessdate=June 5, 2020}}</ref> [[Democratic Party|Democrat]] [[Bill Clinton]] was elected in [[Arkansas]] in 1978, the second youngest person elected as a governor. Despite his early success in Minnesota politics, over the years the [[Moderate Republican]] Stassen became known as a perennial candidate for many offices, including [[U.S. President]], [[U.S. Senator]], and governor of [[Pennsylvania]] and [[mayor]] of [[Philadelphia]], where he moved in 1948 to become the president of the University of Pennsylvania]]. | | '''Harold Edward Stassen''' (April 13, 1907 – March 4, 2001) was a [[Moderate Republican]] who was the youngest person elected as the [[governor]] of a U.S. state - [[Minnesota]] in 1938. He still holds that designation.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://libguides.mnhs.org/stassen|title=Harold E. Stassen: "Boy Governor" & Presidential Hopeful: Overview|publisher=Minnesota History Center: Gale Family Library|accessdate=June 5, 2020}}</ref> [[Democratic Party|Democrat]] [[Bill Clinton]] was elected in [[Arkansas]] in 1978, the second youngest person elected as a governor. Despite his early success in Minnesota politics, over the years the [[Moderate Republican]] Stassen became known as a perennial candidate for many offices, including [[U.S. President]], [[U.S. Senator]], and governor of [[Pennsylvania]] and [[mayor]] of [[Philadelphia]], where he moved in 1948 to become the president of the University of Pennsylvania]]. |
| | | | |
| − | His strongest of the losing campaigns occurred in 1948, when Stassen, initially favored to win the presidential nomination, lost out to fellow Moderate Republican [[Thomas E. Dewey]], then the governor of [[New York]]. In that race, the two debated on [[radio]], the first time candidates had faced off in the media. An issue that separated them was Stassen's support for outlawing the [[Communist Party]] in the United States. Dewey took the view that regulation of the communist activities should be monitored but that the radical elements could not be simply "outlawed." | + | His strongest of the losing campaigns occurred in 1948, when Stassen, initially favored to win the presidential nomination, lost out on the third convention ballot to fellow Moderate Republican [[Thomas E. Dewey]], then the governor of [[New York]]. In that race, the two debated on [[radio]] days prior to the [[Oregon]] [[primary]], the first time candidates had faced off in the media. An issue that separated them was Stassen's support for outlawing the [[Communist Party]] in the United States. Dewey took the view that regulation of the communist activities should be monitored but that the radical elements could not be simply "outlawed." |
| | | | |
| | Stassen was the third of five children of [[Germany|German]] and [[Czech]] extraction born in West St. Paul in Dakota County, Minnesota, to William Andrew Stassen (1873-1962), who was the mayor of West St. Paul, and the former Elsie Emma Mueller (1876-1959). Stassen married the former Esther Ethel Glewwe (1906-2000). The Stassens had a son, Glen Harold Stassen (1936-2014). The Stassens are interred at Acacia Cemetery in Mendota Heights in Dakota County.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/20853/harold-edward-stassen|title=Harold Edward Stassen|publisher=Findagrave.com|accessdate=June 5, 2020}}</ref> He received his bachelor's degree and LLB from the [[University of Minnesota]]. | | Stassen was the third of five children of [[Germany|German]] and [[Czech]] extraction born in West St. Paul in Dakota County, Minnesota, to William Andrew Stassen (1873-1962), who was the mayor of West St. Paul, and the former Elsie Emma Mueller (1876-1959). Stassen married the former Esther Ethel Glewwe (1906-2000). The Stassens had a son, Glen Harold Stassen (1936-2014). The Stassens are interred at Acacia Cemetery in Mendota Heights in Dakota County.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/20853/harold-edward-stassen|title=Harold Edward Stassen|publisher=Findagrave.com|accessdate=June 5, 2020}}</ref> He received his bachelor's degree and LLB from the [[University of Minnesota]]. |
| | | | |
| − | He was elected to three two-year terms as governor but resigned in 1942 to join the [[United States Navy]], in which he became an aide to Admiral [[William F. Halsey, Jr.]] In 1940, he had delivered the keynote address at the [[Republican National Convention]] held in Philadelphia. In 1952, Stassen again ran for president but shifted his support at a critical time in the convention in [[Chicago]] to [[Dwight Eisenhower]], who then won the nomination over [[Robert A. Taft]] of [[Ohio]] and the [[general election]] over the Democrat former governor of [[Illinois]], [[Adlai Stevenson]]. Stassen then served in the Eisenhower administration as the director of the United States Foreign Operations Administration and the Mutual Security Agency. | + | He was elected to three two-year terms as governor but resigned in 1943 to join the [[United States Navy]], in which he became an aide to Admiral [[William F. Halsey, Jr.]] In 1940, he had delivered the keynote address at the [[Republican National Convention]] held in Philadelphia. In 1952, Stassen again ran for president but shifted his support at a critical time in the convention in [[Chicago]] to [[Dwight Eisenhower]], who then won the nomination over [[Robert A. Taft]] of [[Ohio]] and the [[general election]] over the Democrat former governor of [[Illinois]], [[Adlai Stevenson]]. Stassen then served in the Eisenhower administration as the director of the United States Foreign Operations Administration and the Mutual Security Agency. |
| | | | |
| | In 1956, Stassen launched his unsuccessful "Dump Nixon" movement intended to convince Eisenhower to drop Vice President [[Richard M. Nixon]] from their reelection bid, again against Adlai Stevenson. Between 1958 and 1990, he campaigned unsuccessfully for a plethora of political offices. He ran again for the presidential nominations in 1964, losing to [[Barry Goldwater]] of [[Arizona]], in 1968 against the victorious Richard Nixon, in 1976 against [[Gerald Ford]], who won the nomination against [[Ronald W. Reagan]] but then lost in the fall to [[Georgia]] Democratic former Governor [[Jimmy Carter]], and in 1980 again against the victorious Reagan. | | In 1956, Stassen launched his unsuccessful "Dump Nixon" movement intended to convince Eisenhower to drop Vice President [[Richard M. Nixon]] from their reelection bid, again against Adlai Stevenson. Between 1958 and 1990, he campaigned unsuccessfully for a plethora of political offices. He ran again for the presidential nominations in 1964, losing to [[Barry Goldwater]] of [[Arizona]], in 1968 against the victorious Richard Nixon, in 1976 against [[Gerald Ford]], who won the nomination against [[Ronald W. Reagan]] but then lost in the fall to [[Georgia]] Democratic former Governor [[Jimmy Carter]], and in 1980 again against the victorious Reagan. |
| | + | |
| | + | Stassen died at the age of ninety-three in Bloomington in Hennepin County, Minnesota. |
| | | | |
| | ==References== | | ==References== |