Stafford "Staff" King (October 27, 1893 – August 21, 1970) was a

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

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 ...

politician who served as

Minnesota State Auditor The state auditor of Minnesota is a constitutional officer in the executive branch of the U.S. state of Minnesota. Nineteen individuals have held the office of state auditor since statehood. The incumbent is Julie Blaha, a DFLer. Election and t ...

nearly four decades.

Life and career

King was born in 1893 in Fair Haven, Minnesota to Cyrus Murdock King and Minnie King (née Cooper). His parents were the descendants of early settlers of the state and had been involved in local causes and politics in and around

Itasca County, Minnesota Itasca County (pronounced eye-ta-ska) is located in the State of Minnesota. As of the 2020 census, the population was 45,014. Its county seat is Grand Rapids. The county is named after Lake Itasca, which is in turn a shortened version of the La ...

. He was raised on the family homestead in Itasca County and attended school in

Deer River, Minnesota Deer River is a city in Itasca County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 930 at the 2010 census. U.S. Highway 2 and Minnesota State Highways 6 and 46 are three of the main routes in the community. History Deer River has a site on t ...

. Later he attended the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...

and the St. Paul College of Law. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

King served in the army, first as an

enlisted soldier An enlisted rank (also known as an enlisted grade or enlisted rate) is, in some armed services, any rank below that of a commissioned officer. The term can be inclusive of non-commissioned officers or warrant officers, except in United States mi ...

on the Mexican border and later as a

first lieutenant First lieutenant is a commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces; in some forces, it is an appointment. The rank of lieutenant has different meanings in different military formations, but in most forces it is sub-divided into a s ...

. After the war he worked in a variety of state and local government positions and also became active with the

American Legion The American Legion, commonly known as the Legion, is a non-profit organization of U.S. war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militi ...

. In 1930 he won election as Minnesota State Auditor, a position he held for ten terms. During

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 opposin ...

he left his position on an unpaid leave of absence to serve as a

lieutenant colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

with the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...

. Between his political connections as state auditor and his social connections through various civic and community organizations, King made several attempts to win higher office (most notably running in the Republican primaries for governor against

Luther Youngdahl Luther Wallace Youngdahl (May 29, 1896 – June 21, 1978) was an American judge and politician who served as the 27th governor of Minnesota and a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. Edu ...

in 1947 and against C. Elmer Anderson in 1952). King retired from office in 1969, and died just over a year later in 1970. After his death, a review of his personal papers found he was a member of the

Ku Klux Klan The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to the KKK or the Klan, is an American white supremacist, right-wing terrorist, and hate group whose primary targets are African Americans, Jews, Latinos, Asian Americans, Native Americans, and ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:King, Stafford Minnesota Republicans 1893 births 1970 deaths United States Army personnel of World War I University of Minnesota alumni William Mitchell College of Law alumni United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II United States Army colonels United States Army Air Forces officers Ku Klux Klan members