Murray Delos Van Wagoner (March 18, 1898June 12, 1986) was an American politician. He served as the 38th governor of Michigan from 1941 to 1943.

Early life

Van Wagoner was born near Kingston, Michigan in Tuscola 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 Oakland County is a county in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is part of the metropolitan Detroit area, located northwest of the city. As of the 2020 Census, its population was 1,274,395, making it the second-most populous county in Michigan, b ...

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 Conventions 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 * Januar ...

, 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 Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

Governor of Michigan,

Luren Dickinson Luren Dudley Dickinson (April 15, 1859 – April 22, 1943) was an American politician. He served as the 37th governor of Michigan from 1939 to 1941. He holds the record of the oldest person to ever serve as Michigan governor, beginning at the ag ...

, 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 worl ...

, 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

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 Nor ...

, which re-nominated President Roosevelt for his fourth term. In 1946, he ran for governor again and was defeated by Republican

Kim Sigler Kimber Cornellus Sigler, commonly known as Kim Sigler (né Zeigler; May 2, 1894 – November 30, 1953), was an American attorney and politician who served as the 40th governor of Michigan from 1947 to 1949. Early life Sigler was born ...

. In October 1947, General

Lucius D. Clay General Lucius Dubignon Clay (April 23, 1898 – April 16, 1978) was a senior officer of the United States Army who was known for his administration of occupied Germany after World War II. He served as the deputy to General of the Army Dwight D ...

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 lan ...

, 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 f ...

, which nominated Adlai Stevenson 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 executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States ...

. Stevenson lost the general election to General

Dwight D. Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; ; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was an American military officer and statesman who served as the 34th president of the United States from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, ...

Retirement, death and legacy

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

Elks The Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks (BPOE; also often known as the Elks Lodge or simply The Elks) is an American fraternal order founded in 1868, originally as a social club in New York City. History The Elks began in 1868 as a soci ...

, and the National Exchange Club. He died at the age of eighty-eight in Farmington Hills, Michigan. 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 Ç ...

. 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, makin ...

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