GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA
Elmer A. (Austin) Benson
 
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Twenty-fourth State Governor
January 4, 1937 - January 2, 1939
Born: September 2, 1895
in Appleton, Minnesota
Died: March 13, 1985
in Appleton, Minnesota
Married to: Frances Lillian Miller (1922)
Ethnic Background: Norwegian
Occupation: Banker, businessman, securities commissioner, congressman
Party: Farmer-Labor
Biography
Minnesota's twenty-fourth governor was the second—and last—to be elected on the Farmer-Labor Party ticket. Although Elmer Benson served only one term, his forthright assertion of a then radical philosophy provoked strong public reaction. While his detractors accused him of being sympathetic to communism, Benson's most ardent supporters admired the vehemence with which he attacked the excesses of capitalism and promoted the rights of farmers. Few felt neutral about this crusading ex-banker who once said, "It would be fine to be right all the time. But it is far better to be honest all the time."
Governor Floyd B. Olson, champion of the urban poor, engineered the political ascent of Benson, who represented farmers in the Farmer-Labor coalition. Olson appointed Benson commissioner of securities, then of banking, and finally to the vacated office of U.S. senator. His election as governor in 1936 was a triumph for his party, which won control of nearly all state offices. Unfortunately for the governor, the more conservative senate rejected most of his program, especially those proposals involving tax increases.
Defeated in his second gubernatorial election, Benson returned to farming near Appleton. He remained active in politics, however, and played a role in the Farmer-Labor merger with the Democrats in 1944.
Before ill health drove him from the public arena, Benson became a force within the short-lived Progressive Party, managing the 1948 presidential campaign of its candidate, Henry Wallace. This was the last hurrah of an outspoken statesman who lived to see many of his once-radical ideas enacted into law.
