Catalog
March of the Governors: Tim Pawlenty
Paul Nelson and Ken PetersonTim Pawlenty grew up in a family of South St. Paul Democrats but embraced Republicanism as a teenager. He was a hard worker and excellent student in public schools and at the University of Minnesota and the University of Minnesota Law School. He was hired by a prestigious Minneapolis law…
March of the Governors: Jesse Ventura
Paul Nelson, Matt Wright, and Ken PetersonTo call our thirty-eighth governor, Jesse Ventura, unique is to engage in understatement. He was Minnesota’s first third-party governor since Elmer Benson in 1936. Though he ran on the Reform Party ticket, that party elected no one else, so he had no allies in the legislature. His plurality, 37% of…
March of the Governors: Arne Carlson
Paul Nelson and Tom BeerArne Carlson, Minnesota’s thirty-seventh governor, was a Swede and a progressive Republican, like several before him, but unlike them, too. He grew up poor in New York City and had no connection to the dominant Harold Stassen political lineage. Carlson came to Minnesota for graduate school—then won election after election:…
Decisions, Destiny, and Dreams: Plympton’s Reserve, St. Paul’s Founding, and Desnoyer’s New Bridge Square
Drew M. RossThe Desnoyer Halfway House located on the St. Anthony Falls-St. Paul Road attracted soldiers from Fort Snelling, residents from growing villages along the Mississippi, and tourists traveling to the area to glimpse the cascading St. Anthony Falls. Courtesy of Minnesota Historical Society. By Drew M. Ross To see this…
March of the Governors, Governor #36: Rudy Perpich Part II
Paul Nelson and Anne FieldPart II: Following his gubernatorial defeat in 1978, Rudy Perpich (1928-1995) spent a few years in Vienna, Austria, working as a trade representative for Control Data Corporation, but it wasn’t long before he began planning another run for the state’s highest role. Voters remembered him fondly and ushered him back…
March of the Governors: Al Quie
Paul Nelson and Tom O'ConnellAlbert H. Quie (1923-2023) left a safe seat in Congress after twenty years to run for governor in 1978. In that, his timing was good. He rode around the “Minnesota Massacre” and into office as the state’s thirty-fifth governor along with fellow Republicans Dave Durenberger and Rudy Boschwitz, who were…
March of the Governors: Rudy Perpich
Paul Nelson and Anne FieldMarch of the Governors, Governor #34 Rudy Perpich (Series Podcast #37) Rudy Perpich (1928-1995) served as Minnesota’s thirty-fourth governor in the years 1977 and 1978. He got there by succession when Wendell Anderson resigned. Perpich then appointed Anderson to the US…
March of the Governors: Wendell Anderson
Ken Peterson and Paul NelsonMarch of the Governors, Governor #33 Wendell Anderson (Series Podcast #36) Before an ignominious electoral end, Wendell “Wendy” Anderson was one of Minnesota’s most significant and popular governors. Born and raised on St. Paul’s East Side, he had been an Olympic hockey…
March of the Governors: Harold Levander
Paul Nelson, Matt WrightMarch of the Governors, Governor #32 Harold Levander (Series Podcast #35) Harold Levander (1910-1982) ran for political office once in his long life, in 1966. He defeated incumbent governor Karl Rolvaag, served four years, and never ran for office again. He had been…