Arthur B. Langlie

Arthur Langlie
Chair of the National Governors Association
In office August 9, 1955 – June 24, 1956
Preceded by	Robert F. Kennon
Succeeded by	Thomas B. Stanley
12th and 14th Governor of Washington
In office January 12, 1949 – January 16, 1957
Lieutenant	Victor A. Meyers Emmett T. Anderson
Preceded by	Monrad Wallgren
Succeeded by	Albert Rosellini
In office January 15, 1941 – January 10, 1945
Lieutenant	Victor A. Meyers
Preceded by	Clarence D. Martin
Succeeded by	Monrad Wallgren
43rd Mayor of Seattle
In office April 27, 1938 – January 11, 1941
Preceded by	John F. Dore
Succeeded by	John E. Carroll
Member of the Seattle City Council
In office 1935–1938
Personal details
Born	Arthur Bernard Langlie July 25, 1900 Lanesboro, Minnesota, U.S.
Died	July 24, 1966(1966-07-24) (aged 65) Seattle, Washington, U.S.
Political party	Republican
Education	University of Washington (LLB)

Arthur Bernard Langlie (July 25, 1900 – July 24, 1966) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the mayor of Seattle, Washington and was the 12th and 14th Governor of the U.S. state of Washington from 1941 to 1945 and 1949 to 1957. To date, he is the only mayor of Seattle to be elected governor of Washington.^[1]

Early life and education[]

Langlie was born in Lanesboro, Minnesota. His father, Bjarne Langlie, had emigrated from Norway. His mother, Carrie Dahl, was of Norwegian and Dutch ancestry. He moved with his family to Washington's Kitsap Peninsula at the age of nine. Langlie attended Coontz Junior High and graduated from Union High School, both in Bremerton, Washington. Langlie earned a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Washington in 1925, where he was a member of Phi Kappa Sigma fraternity.

Career[]

After graduating from the University of Washington, Langlie became a senior partner in the law firm of Langlie, Todd, and Nickell.^[2]

He practiced law in Seattle for nearly 10 years before winning a Seattle City Council seat in 1935 as a candidate of the New Order of Cincinnatus. He served as mayor of Seattle from 1938 to 1941.^[3] He became the Republican candidate for governor in 1940 and won a narrow victory. He is to date the only mayor of Seattle to be elected governor of Washington.

At 40, Langlie was the youngest governor in the history of the state until Dan Evans was elected. Langlie was defeated for re-election in 1944 by Democrat Monrad C. Wallgren but won the office back by defeating Wallgren in 1948. Langlie is the only Washington governor to regain that office after losing it.^[4]

In 1952, he was one of five people on the shortlist for the Republican vice presidential nomination. Dwight Eisenhower instead chose Richard Nixon.^[5] He was an unsuccessful candidate for the United States Senate in 1956. Langlie's legacy as governor included the establishment of the Washington State Ferries system, the completion of road and bridge projects, and some of the first environmental measures adopted in the state of Washington.^[6]

Langlie left politics after failing in his 1956 campaign to defeat Democratic U.S. Senator Warren G. Magnuson. Los Angeles financier Norton Simon asked Langlie to take charge of the McCall publishing house that Simon had just acquired. In 1958, Langlie was named as the new president of the McCall Corporation.^[7]

Archives[]

• Frederick G. Hamley Papers. 1933–1963. 6.83 cubic feet. Contains correspondence between Hamley and Langlie when Hamley served as Langlie's political and legal advisor. At the Labor Archives of Washington, University of Washington Special Collections.

References[]

Other sources[]

• George W. Scott Arthur B. Langlie; Republican Governor in a Democratic Age (Ph.D. dissertation, University of Washington. 1971)

External links[]

• Langlie, Arthur B. at HistoryLink
• Arthur B. Langlie at Find a Grave