Murray Delos Van Wagoner (March 18, 1898June 12, 1986) was an American politician. He served as the 38th

governor of Michigan The governor of Michigan is the head of state, head of government, and chief executive of the U.S. state of Michigan. The current governor is Gretchen Whitmer, a member of the Democratic Party, who was inaugurated on January 1, 2019, as th ...

from 1941 to 1943.

Early life

Van Wagoner was born near

Kingston, Michigan Kingston is a village in Tuscola County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 440 at the 2010 census. The village is located at the southern edge of Kingston Township and is partially within Koylton Township. Geography According to ...

Tuscola County Tuscola County is a county in the Thumb region of the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 census, the population was 53,323. The county seat is Caro. The county was created by Michigan Law on April 1, 1840, from land in Sanilac County ...

. In 1921, he received a

civil engineering Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including public works such as roads, bridges, canals, dams, airports, sewa ...

degree from the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

. He worked for a firm in the private sector, and became the owner of his own company. He married Helen Jossman and they had two children together.

Politics

Van Wagoner served as Oakland County drain commissioner from 1930 until 1933, when he became Michigan State Highway commissioner, a position he held until he was elected governor in 1940. He was a delegate to the

Democratic National Convention The Democratic National Convention (DNC) is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1832 by the United States Democratic Party. They have been administered by the Democratic National Committee since the 1852 ...

s in

1936 Events January–February * January 20 – George V of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India, dies at his Sandringham Estate. The Prince of Wales succeeds to the throne of the United Kingdom as King E ...

and

1940 A calendar from 1940 according to the Gregorian calendar, factoring in the dates of Easter and related holidays, cannot be used again until the year 5280. Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January *January ...

, both of which re-nominated

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...

for U.S. President. On November 5, 1940, he defeated the incumbent Republican

Governor of Michigan The governor of Michigan is the head of state, head of government, and chief executive of the U.S. state of Michigan. The current governor is Gretchen Whitmer, a member of the Democratic Party, who was inaugurated on January 1, 2019, as th ...

, Luren Dickinson, by 131,281 votes to become Michigan's 38th governor. During his two years in office, he encouraged the construction of road projects and most famously the

Mackinac Bridge The Mackinac Bridge ( ) is a suspension bridge spanning the Straits of Mackinac, connecting the Upper and Lower peninsulas of the U.S. state of Michigan. Opened in 1957, the bridge (familiarly known as "Big Mac" and "Mighty Mac") is the world ...

, the elimination of a 27 million dollar deficit occurred, the state mental hospital was reinstated, a consolidated tax collection department was established, worker strikes involving the auto and electrical industries were dealt with, the reorganization of the Michigan civil service system was initialized, and measures were secured for the war effort. In 1942, Van Wagoner was unsuccessful for re-election against Republican Harry Kelly. Van Wagoner was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention in

1944 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 2 – WWII: ** Free French General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny is appointed to command French Army B, part of the Sixth United States Army Group in No ...

, which re-nominated President Roosevelt for his fourth term. In 1946, he ran for governor again and was defeated by Republican Kim Sigler. In October 1947, General Lucius D. Clay appointed Van Wagoner to the post of military governor of

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total l ...

, succeeding Brigadier General Walter J. Muller. While military governor, he warned Bavarian

Minister-President A minister-president or minister president is the head of government in a number of European countries or subnational governments with a parliamentary or semi-presidential system of government where they preside over the council of ministers. I ...

Hans Ehard against replacing non-Nazi public servants with former Nazis. Van Wagoner resigned the post in November 1949. He was a delegate to the

1952 Democratic National Convention The 1952 Democratic National Convention was held at the International Amphitheatre in Chicago, Illinois from July 21 to July 26, 1952, which was the same arena the Republicans had gathered in a few weeks earlier for their national convention fr ...

, which nominated

Adlai Stevenson Adlai Stevenson may refer to: * Adlai Stevenson I (1835–1914), U.S. Vice President (1893–1897) and Congressman (1879–1881) * Adlai Stevenson II (1900–1965), Governor of Illinois (1949–1953), U.S. presidential candida ...

for

President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal gove ...

. Stevenson lost the general election to General Dwight D. Eisenhower.

Retirement, death and legacy

Van Wagoner retired from political life and returned to his engineering interests. He was a member of American Legion,

Freemasons Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...

, Elks, and the

National Exchange Club The National Exchange Club – a service organization with 700 clubs and more than 21,000 members throughout the United States and Puerto Rico – celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2011. Founded in 1911 in Detroit, Michigan Detroit ( , ...

. He died at the age of eighty-eight in

Farmington Hills, Michigan Farmington Hills is a city in Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. Part of the affluent suburbs northwest of Detroit, Farmington Hills is the second most-populated city in Oakland County, after Troy, with a population of 83,986 at th ...

. He is interred at White Chapel Memorial Park Cemetery of

Troy Troy ( el, Τροία and Latin: Troia, Hittite: 𒋫𒊒𒄿𒊭 ''Truwiša'') or Ilion ( el, Ίλιον and Latin: Ilium, Hittite: 𒃾𒇻𒊭 ''Wiluša'') was an ancient city located at Hisarlik in present-day Turkey, south-west of Çan ...

. Today the

Michigan Department of Transportation The Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) is a constitutional government principal department of the US state of Michigan. The primary purpose of MDOT is to maintain the Michigan State Trunkline Highway System which includes all Interstat ...

building in

Lansing Lansing () is the capital of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is mostly in Ingham County, although portions of the city extend west into Eaton County and north into Clinton County. The 2020 census placed the city's population at 112,644, making ...

is named after him, ''The Murray Van Wagoner Transportation Building''.

References

Sources

National Governors Association

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Van Wagoner, Murray 1898 births 1986 deaths Democratic Party governors of Michigan People from Farmington Hills, Michigan Regents of the University of Michigan American people of Dutch descent People from Tuscola County, Michigan University of Michigan College of Engineering alumni Burials in Michigan 20th-century American politicians 20th-century American Episcopalians 20th-century American academics