Harold Stassen

Harold Stassen is known for his many contributions to Minnesota and to the United States in his long career. Born in 1907 on a farm in Dakota County, Stassen graduated from the University of Minnesota Law School in 1929. An attorney in South St. Paul, Stassen was elected Governor of Minnesota in 1938 at the young age of 31. Known as the “boy governor,” Stassen was the youngest governor of Minnesota. Stassen was reelected governor in 1940 and in 1942.

Stassen resigned as Governor of Minnesota in 1943 to join a key post in the Navy, serving as chief of staff for Admiral William F. Halsey in the South Pacific. Stassen had an illustrious military career and was appointed by President Roosevelt as a delegate to the United Nations charter conference in 1945. There, he played key roles in the development of the United Nations Charter and positioning the United States as a world leader.

Stassen was a strong contender for the Republican nomination for president in 1948, but was defeated by Thomas Dewey at the G.O.P. national convention. He went on to serve as president of the University of Pennsylvania from 1948-1953. Stassen also ran a strong campaign against Senator Robert Taft of Ohio for the 1952 Republican presidential nomination, but both Stassen and Taft were defeated by Dwight D. Eisenhower.

Stassen continued to run for the Republican nomination for President until 1992.

• A Bridge of Ideas, directed by Averill Kronick.
  Minneapolis, MN : United Nations Association of Minnesota, c1994.
  A biography of former Minnesota governor Harold Stassen, emphasizing his work in the founding of the United Nations [videorecording]
  MHS call number: Videorecording 653.
• "Harold Stassen. . .,", by Robert Coughlan.
  In Life, Vol. 16, no. 25 (June 26, 1944): pp. 94-96, 98, 100, 102, 105-106.
  MHS call number: E748.S78 C8.
• Harold Stassen: His Career, the Man, and the 1957 London Arms Control Negotiations, by Robert E. Matteson.
  Inver Grove Hts., Minn. : Desk Top Ink, 1993.
  MHS call number: JK1974 .M385 1993.
• Harold Stassen and Developments in the Republican Party in Minnesota, 1937-1943, by Ivan Hinderaker.
  Thesis (Ph.D.) — University of Minnesota, 1949.
  MHS call number: E748.S78 H56.
• "A Major Contender: Harold Stassen and the Politics of American Presidential Nominations," by Alec Kirby.
  In Minnesota History, Vol. 55, no. 4 (winter 1996-97): pp. 150-165.
  MHS call number: F601.5 .M66 v.55:4.

• Harold Stassen Papers.
  Papers documenting the life and career of a former Minnesota governor, presidential contender, naval officer, United Nations charter delegate, and Eisenhower cabinet member. The papers include correspondence and memoranda, speeches, campaign literature, schedules and itineraries, awards and certificates, press releases, press conference transcripts, magazine articles authored by Stassen, news clippings, scrapbooks, photographs, sound recordings, motion films, and video recordings. The collection highlights Stassen's gubernatorial and presidential campaigns, his role in post-World War international diplomacy, and his involvement with civic, professional, and religious organizations.
  MHS call number: See the green Manuscripts Alpha Notebooks — filed under Stassen, Harold — for a detailed list of boxes and locator numbers (there are 215 boxes of material), or use an electronic version of the inventory.
• Broadcast Recordings.
  Radio addresses, debates, etc. of Governor Stassen, 1939-[194-].
  MHS call number: See the black State Archives Notebooks — filed under Stassen, Harold — for a detailed list of recordings (there are 2 packages containing several 16 in. disc recordings).
• Inaugural Message of Governor Harold E. Stassen to the Legislature of Minnesota, St. Paul, Minnesota, Wednesday, January 8, 1941.
  St. Paul : State of Minnesota, 1941.
  MHS call number: J87 .M62 1941.
• Inaugural Message of Governor Harold E. Stassen to the Legislature of Minnesota, St. Paul, Minnesota, Wednesday, January 6, 1943.
  St. Paul: State of Minnesota, 1943.
  MHS call number: J87 .M62 1943.
• Keynote Address Before the Republican National Convention.
  Text of the keynote address before the Republican National Convention / by Governor Harold E. Stassen of Minnesota, Monday evening, June 24, 1940.
  Philadelphia, 1940
  MHS call number: JK2357 1940s.
• Liberty Begins at Home, speech by Harold Stassen.
  From a Speech delivered April 4, 1946, before the joint defense appeal of the American Jewish Committee and the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith.
  MHS call number: JC571 .S83 1946.
• Oral History Interview with Harold Stassen, interviewed by Alec Kirby.
  Stassen discusses his governorship of the state of Minnesota, the state's relationship with the mining industry, and he refutes the label from the 1940s that Minnesota was an isolationist state. He details his decision to resign as governor of Minnesota to join the United States Navy in 1943 and describes his service in the Navy. He lists his accomplishments at the University of Pennsylvania and talks about his own personal politics and political life.
  MHS call number: OH 6.
• A Pattern for Peace . . ., speech by Harold Stassen.
  Address of Governor Harold E. Stassen of Minnesota delivered at the Northern Baptist Convention, Cleveland, Ohio, May 30, 1942 and broadcast over the Columbia Broadcasting System.
  St. Paul?: 1942. MHS call number: E748.S78 P33.
• Newspapers that may be useful for this topic:
  • Minneapolis Star
  • Minneapolis Tribune
  • St. Paul Dispatch
  • St. Paul Pioneer Press
• Visual Resources Database subjects that may be useful for this topic:
  • Harold Stassen
• Check the library catalog for other materials.