Hjalmar Petersen
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Hjalmar Petersen (January 2, 1890March 29, 1968) was an American politician who served as the 23rd
Governor of Minnesota The governor of Minnesota is the head of government of the U.S. state of Minnesota, leading the state's executive branch. Forty people have been governor of Minnesota, though historically there were also three governors of Minnesota Territory. ...
.


Background

Hjalmar Petersen was born in
Eskildstrup Eskilstrup is a town some north of Nykøbing Falster on the Denmark, Danish island of Falster. As of 2022, it had a population of 1,066. History Eskilstrup Church built in the Romanesque architecture, Romanesque style dates from the 12th centur ...
,
Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...
to Lauritz and Anna Petersen, who moved with Hjalmar to
Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...
shortly after his birth. They later moved to the Danebod in
Tyler, Minnesota Tyler is a city in Lincoln County, Minnesota, United States. The population in was 1,143 at the 2010 census. History Tyler was platted in 1879. It was named for C. B. Tyler, a Minnesota land agent and newspaper editor. A post office has been in ...
. Petersen attended school until the seventh grade. His career in journalism, which had begun in 1904, culminated in his purchase in 1914 of the ''Askov American'' in
Askov, Minnesota Askov is a city in Pine County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 364 at the 2010 census. Minnesota State Highway 23 serves as a main route in the community, and Interstate 35 is nearby. History The village was originally within t ...
, a weekly newspaper he owned for the rest of his life.


Political career

After serving as Askov's village clerk and mayor, Petersen won two terms in the
Minnesota House of Representatives The Minnesota House of Representatives is the lower house of the Legislature of the U.S. state of Minnesota. There are 134 members, twice as many as the Minnesota Senate. Floor sessions are held in the north wing of the State Capitol in Saint Pa ...
, where he sponsored the state income-tax law and urged that tax revenues be spent on public education. Before he ran for the Minnesota Legislature he had been a member of the Republican Party. By the time he ran for office he was a member of the Farmer-Labor Party. He served in the legislature from 1931 to 1934, representing the old House District 56. Petersen was elected the 28th
Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota The lieutenant governor of Minnesota is a constitutional officer in the executive branch of the U.S. State of Minnesota. Fifty individuals have held the office of lieutenant governor since statehood. The incumbent is Peggy Flanagan, a DFLer and ...
in 1934 and served with Governor
Floyd B. Olson Floyd Bjørnstjerne "Skipper" Olson (November 13, 1891 – August 22, 1936) was an American politician and lawyer. He served as the 22nd Governor of Minnesota from January 6, 1931, to August 22, 1936, dying in office of stomach cancer. Olson wa ...
. He was sworn in as governor two days after Olson died of cancer on August 22, 1936. He served the remainder of Olson's term but declined to run for governor himself in the November general election, opting instead to launch a successful bid for Railroad and Warehouse Commissioner, a position he then assumed after leaving the governorship on January 4, 1937. He later ran for governor in 1940 and 1942, losing both times to
Harold Stassen Harold Edward Stassen (April 13, 1907 – March 4, 2001) was an American politician who was the 25th Governor of Minnesota. He was a leading candidate for the Republican nomination for President of the United States in 1948, considered for a ti ...
.


Personal life

After his term as governor, he served as the president of the American Publishing Company. He was married twice, first to Rigmor C. Wosgaard in 1914 and later to Medora Grandprey in 1934. He died in 1968 in
Columbus, Ohio Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, and t ...
.''Minnesota Governor Hjalmar Petersen'' (National Governors Association)


See also

*
List of U.S. state governors born outside the United States In total, 72 governors of U.S. states have been born outside the current territory of the United States. Joe Lombardo of Nevada, born in Japan, is the only current governor to have been born outside the United States. Arnold Schwarzenegger o ...


References


Other resources

* The
Hjalmar Petersen Papers
are available for research use at th
Minnesota Historical Society.


Further reading

*Keillor, Steven J. ''Hjalmar Petersen of Minnesota: The Politics of Provincial Independence'' ( Minnesota Historical Society Press. 1987) {{DEFAULTSORT:Petersen, Hjalmar 1890 births 1968 deaths American Lutherans Governors of Minnesota Members of the Minnesota House of Representatives Lieutenant Governors of Minnesota Danish emigrants to the United States Democratic Party governors of Minnesota Mayors of places in Minnesota Minnesota Farmer–Laborites Farmer–Labor Party state governors of the United States 20th-century American politicians Minnesota Republicans 20th-century Lutherans