Arthur B. Langlie

Arthur B. Langlie
12th & 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	Victor A. Meyers 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 and was the 12th and 14th Governor of the U.S. state of Washington from 1941 to 1945 and from 1949 to 1957. ^[1]

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. ^[2]

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. He served as mayor of Seattle during the period 1938-1941. ^[3] He became the Republican candidate for governor in 1940 and won a narrow victory. He is to date the only 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. Langlie is the only Washington governor to regain that office after losing it. ^[4]

In 1952, he was one of five people on the short list for the Republican vice presidential nomination. Dwight Eisenhower instead chose Richard Nixon.^[5] 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.^[6]

Langlie left politics after failing in his 1956 campaign to defeat Democratic US 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 ^[7]

Archives

• Frederick G. Hamley Papers. 1933-1963. 6.83 cubic feet. Contains correspondence between Hamley and Langlie when Hamley served as Langlie’s political and legal advisor. At the Labor Archives of Washington, University of Washington Special Collections.

References

1. "Washington Governor Arthur B. Langlie". National Governors Association. Retrieved September 1, 2015.
2. "Arthur B. Langlie". NNBD.com. Retrieved September 1, 2015.
3. 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
4. "Arthur Bernard Langlie". Washington Rural Heritage. Retrieved September 1, 2015.
5. Richard Nixon: The Rise of an American Politician (Roger Morris. Pg. 726)
6. Governor Arthur B. Langlie (HistoryLink.org)
7. Women's Periodicals in the United States - Consumer Magazines, (by Kathleen L. Endres and Theresa L. Luech, Greenwood Publishing Group, 1995)

Other Sources

• George W. Scott Arthur B. Langlie; Republican Governor in a Democratic Age (Ph.D. dissertation, University of Washington. 1971)

External links

• Langlie, Arthur B. at HistoryLink
• Arthur B. Langlie at Find a Grave