Orval Howard Hansen (August 3, 1926 – November 2, 2017) was an American politician who served as a congressman from

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyomi ...

. He served three terms as a

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 ...

in the House from 1969 to 1975, representing the state's 2nd district.

Early years

Born in

Firth Firth is a word in the English and Scots languages used to denote various coastal waters in the United Kingdom, predominantly within Scotland. In the Northern Isles, it more usually refers to a smaller inlet. It is linguistically cognate to ''fj ...

to Lily Dorothy Miriam (née Wahlquist) and Farrel L. Hansen, his mother the daughter of

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

immigrants and his father of

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...

descent. Hansen was raised in

Idaho Falls Idaho Falls ( Shoshoni: Dembimbosaage) is a city in and the county seat of Bonneville County, Idaho, United States. It is the state's largest city outside the Boise metropolitan area. As of the 2020 census, the population of Idaho Falls was 6 ...

and graduated from

Idaho Falls High School Idaho Falls High School (IFHS) is a four-year public secondary school in central Idaho Falls, Idaho, USA. The current building opened in 1952, though the school itself has been in operation since 1897. Idaho Falls is the older of the two traditio ...

in 1944. After military service in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, he attended the

University of Idaho The University of Idaho (U of I, or UIdaho) is a public land-grant research university in Moscow, Idaho. It is the state's land-grant and primary research university,, and the lead university in the Idaho Space Grant Consortium. The Universit ...

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...

, where he was a member of

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States, and the most prestigious, due in part to its long history and academic selectivity. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal ...

Sigma Chi Sigma Chi () International Fraternity is one of the largest North American fraternal literary societies. The fraternity has 244 active (undergraduate) chapters and 152 alumni chapters across the United States and Canada and has initiated more t ...

fraternity, and extremely active with campus activities. Hansen earned a

B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

'' summa cum laude'' in 1950 from UI and then attended

George Washington University The George Washington University (GW or GWU) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C. Chartered in 1821 by the United States Congress, GWU is the largest Higher educat ...

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

and received a J.D. from its Law School in 1954. He also earned an

LLM A Master of Laws (M.L. or LL.M.; Latin: ' or ') is an advanced postgraduate academic degree, pursued by those either holding an undergraduate academic law degree, a professional law degree, or an undergraduate degree in a related subject. In mos ...

(awarded in 1973) and a

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

(awarded in 1986) from GWU. He served in the

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage o ...

from 1944 to 1946, including one year in the

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contine ...

on the aircraft carrier , and was a member of the U.S. Air Force Reserve until his retirement as a lieutenant colonel in 1978.

Political career

Hansen's political career began in the state legislature, where he served four terms in the House, beginning in 1956. He served as House Majority Leader from 1961 to 1962. In his first run for Congress in

1962 Events January * January 1 – Western Samoa becomes independent from New Zealand. * January 3 – Pope John XXIII excommunicates Fidel Castro for preaching communism. * January 8 – Harmelen train disaster: 93 die in the wor ...

, he won the GOP nomination in a June but lost the general election to incumbent Ralph Harding. He returned to the Idaho House for another two-year term, followed by one term in the

state senate A state legislature in the United States is the legislative body of any of the 50 U.S. states. The formal name varies from state to state. In 27 states, the legislature is simply called the ''Legislature'' or the ''State Legislature'', whil ...

. Hansen ran again for Congress, won the Republican primary over and was elected to the open seat in

1968 The year was highlighted by protests and other unrests that occurred worldwide. Events January–February * January 5 – " Prague Spring": Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. * Janu ...

. He served three terms before being ousted in the 1974 Republican primary in August by the man he succeeded six years earlier, George Hansen (no relation). (George Hansen had vacated the seat in 1968 to run for the U.S. Senate, but lost to incumbent Frank Church.) U.S. Senator

Mike Crapo Michael Dean Crapo ( ; born May 20, 1951) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the senior United States senator from Idaho, a seat he has held since 1999. A member of the Republican Party, Crapo previously served as the U.S. repres ...

got his first taste of Washington politics as an intern for Orval Hansen during the summer of 1972. : Following his service in Congress, Hansen returned to private law practice, and founded the Columbia Institute for Political Research in 1977.

Personal

Hansen was married to the former June Duncan of

Southport, England Southport is a seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. At the 2001 census, it had a population of 90,336, making it the eleventh most populous settlement in North West England. Southport lies on the Iris ...

; they have seven children. In 2006, Hansen's son

Jim D. Hansen James Duncan Hansen (born November 5, 1959) is an American attorney and politician serving as a commissioner of the Ada County Highway District. He was the 2006 Democratic nominee for Congress in Idaho's 2nd district, but was defeated by four-ter ...

won the Democratic nomination for the 2nd district seat, but was defeated by incumbent

Mike Simpson Michael Keith Simpson (born September 8, 1950) is an American politician and former dentist serving as the U.S. representative for since 1999. The district covers most of the eastern portion of the state, including Idaho Falls, Pocatello, S ...

. Hansen died at his home in

Boise Boise (, , ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Idaho and is the county seat of Ada County. On the Boise River in southwestern Idaho, it is east of the Oregon border and north of the Nevada border. The downtown area' ...

on November 2, 2017, of complications from cancer at the age of 91.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hansen, Orval H. 1926 births 2017 deaths 20th-century American politicians Latter Day Saints from Idaho United States Navy personnel of World War II American people of Danish descent American people of Swedish descent Deaths from cancer in Idaho George Washington University Law School alumni Idaho lawyers Republican Party Idaho state senators Republican Party members of the Idaho House of Representatives People from Idaho Falls, Idaho Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Idaho United States Air Force officers United States Air Force reservists United States Navy officers University of Idaho alumni