Rise to the Challenge: A Memoir of Politics, Leadership, and Love

Rise to the Challenge: A Memoir of Politics, Leadership, and Love

Marlene M. Johnson

Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press, 2024

248 pages; cloth/jacket, 15 b&w plates, $24.95

Marlene Johnson came to leadership early. When she was just thirty-seven, she became Minnesota’s first woman lieutenant governor, assuming that position in Rudy Perpich’s second term as governor in 1983. Although much has been written about Perpich’s colorful governorship, Johnson’s role in shaping policy—and her subsequent accomplishments—have largely been neglected in Minnesota’s public consciousness. This book, her well-written autobiography, remedies that.

Johnson grew up in Braham, Minnesota, and graduated from Macalester College, where she led the young Democratic-Farmer-Labor (DFL) organization on campus. An eager participant in the 1970s wave of feminism, she founded her own marketing and communications firm—Split Infinitive—and joined numerous community boards. Before long, she was being mentioned as a potential candidate for political office.

Johnson knew that the position of lieutenant governor would provide her with access to statewide influence, noting Perpich’s dedication to providing more opportunities for women and people of color in state government. This vision came to fruition. During Johnson’s tenure and with her guidance, Harriet Lansing, a brilliant jurist, was appointed as one of two women judges on the newly formed Minnesota Court of Appeals. And Dr. Cassius Ellis became the first Black member of the Board of Medical Examiners.

Johnson spotlighted children’s issues with the Governor’s Youth Council and the Whole Child Initiative, identifying community resources and working to close gaps in services to children. She was also put in charge of promoting state tourism. She organized meetings that brought together business, government, and nonprofit leaders to promote collaborative efforts, expanding the concept of tourism beyond the hospitality industry to parks and recreation, sports teams, arts organizations, and visiting dignitaries. For example, in 1990, she organized a luncheon next door to the governor’s residence so that public officials could informally meet General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union Mikhail Gorbachev on his visit to Minnesota—even though that event was not on his schedule.

Personally, Johnson was surprised to meet an engaging Swedish businessman—Peter Frankel—in the course of her official duties. They became friends and eventually married, conducting a successful transatlantic relationship as they enjoyed each other’s lives and communities.

When Perpich left office in 1991, Johnson turned her attention to the Center for Policy Alternatives in Washington DC. She had a fellowship to advise state governments on successful models to help children in Minnesota. Three years later, she attempted a campaign for St. Paul mayor but lost in the 1993 DFL primary. Instead, she accepted a position with the General Services Administration during the Clinton administration. Johnson’s time in Minnesota had come to an end.

Although Johnson has now lived much of her life in DC, her story remains compelling. Her unabashed advocacy for women and people of color in Minnesota stood out in the early 1980s.

The final chapters of her book, which describe caring for her husband in Sweden after he incurred a debilitating brain injury, will resonate with readers who have both worked and cared for a loved one. If this book has a flaw, it is that it sometimes reads like a thorough catalogue of Johnson’s accomplishments. But she can be forgiven, for they are well deserved.

Anne Cowie retired as a career law clerk with the Minnesota Court of Appeals. She has served on the Ramsey County Historical Society Editorial Board for eighteen years, fifteen of those as board chair.