governor of Minnesota
What position did Edward John Thye take in 1947?
Edward John Thye Edward John Thye ( April 26 , 1896August 28 , 1969 ) was an American politician . A member of the Republican Party , he was the 26th governor of Minnesota from 1943 to 1947 and a United States Senator from 1947 to 1959 . Early life and education . Edward Thye was born on a farm near Frederick , South Dakota . One of nine children , he was the son of Andrew John and Bertha ( née Wangan ) Thye . His father , a farmer , was born in Norway and immigrated to the United States in 1872 . His brother Ted Thye became a professional wrestler in the Pacific Northwest . In 1904 , Thye and his family moved to Northfield , Minnesota , where he attended local public schools . He took courses at the Tractor and Internal Combustion School in Minneapolis in 1913 , and graduated from the American Business College in 1916 . After the United States entered World War I , he enlisted as a private in the United States Army Air Corps in 1917 . He served overseas in France , and was eventually promoted to second lieutenant . Early career . After his military service , Thye returned to Minnesota in 1919 and was employed as a tractor expert with the Deere & Webber Company in Minneapolis , becoming a salesman in 1920 . He married Hazel Ramage ( daughter of Robert and Bertha ( Frink ) Ramage ) in 1921 , and the couple remained married until her death in 1936 ; they had one daughter , Jean Roberta . He continued to work for Deere until 1922 , when he became manager and owner of a dairy farm near Northfield . In 1925 , Thye was elected to the town council of Sciota . He later served a number of years on the Sciota school board . He was president of the Dakota County Farm Bureau ( 1929–1931 ) , director of Twin City Milk Producers Association ( 1933 ) , and appraiser for the Federal Land Bank of Minnesota ( 1933–1934 ) . He became friends with Harold Stassen , and actively supported Stassens campaign for governor of Minnesota in 1938 . He subsequently served as the Dairy and Food Commissioner of Minnesota and deputy commissioner of agriculture ( 1939–1942 ) . Governor of Minnesota . Thye was elected the 31st lieutenant governor of Minnesota in November 1942 . The same month , he was remarried to Myrtle Ennor Oliver ; the couple remained married until his death . On April 27 , 1943 , Stassen resigned to serve in the United States Navy and Thye succeeded him as the 26th governor of Minnesota . He was elected governor in November 1944 by the largest margin ever for a Minnesota gubernatorial candidate . In the 1944 presidential election , Thye joined U.S . Senator Henrik Shipstead , an isolationist , in supporting Republican nominee Thomas E . Dewey , the governor of New York . Minnesotas other senator at the time , Joseph H . Ball , refused to support Dewey and crossed party lines to back Franklin D . Roosevelt , who won Minnesotas 11 electoral votes . During his state administration , Thye established the Department of Aeronautics , the Iron Range Rehabilitation Commission , a postwar planning commission , and a human rights commission . He also increased spending for highway construction and unemployment compensation . U.S . Senate . Thye was elected as a United States Senator in 1946 , defeating Henrik Shipstead in the Republican primary and the Democratic-Farmer-Labor nominee Theodore Jorgenson with 58.9% of the vote . He served in the Senate from January 3 , 1947 , to January 3 , 1959 , in the 80th , 81st , 82nd , 83rd , 84th , and 85th Congresses . Thye voted for the Civil Rights Act of 1957 . He lost his 1958 reelection bid to Eugene McCarthy . Death . Thye died on August 28 , 1969 , in Northfield , Minnesota , aged 73 . He was buried at the Oaklawn Cemetery in Northfield . Papers . Thyes papers , including correspondence , speeches , background materials , bills and reports , clippings , campaign literature , and related materials reflecting Thyes public and official activities as U.S . senator from Minnesota , are available for research use .