Ernest Lundeen

Ernest Lundeen
United States Senator from Minnesota
In office January 3, 1937 – August 31, 1940
Preceded by	Guy V. Howard
Succeeded by	Joseph H. Ball
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Minnesota's 5th district
In office March 4, 1917 – March 3, 1919
Preceded by	George Ross Smith
Succeeded by	Walter Newton
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Minnesota General Ticket Seat Eight
In office March 4, 1933 – January 3, 1935
Preceded by	General Ticket Adopted
Succeeded by	General Ticket Abolished
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Minnesota's 3rd district
In office January 3, 1935 – January 3, 1937
Preceded by	General Ticket Abolished
Succeeded by	Henry Teigan
Member of the Minnesota House of Representatives from the 42nd district
In office January 3, 1911 – January 4, 1915
Preceded by	William Campbell and John Godspeed
Succeeded by	John Sanborn Jr. and George Sudheimer
Personal details
Born	(1878-08-04)August 4, 1878 Beresford, Dakota Territory (now South Dakota)
Died	August 31, 1940(1940-08-31) (aged 62) Lovettsville, Virginia
Political party	Republican Minnesota Farmer-Labor Party
Alma mater	Carleton College University of Minnesota Law School
Military service
Branch/service	United States Army
Unit	Company B-12th Minnesota Volunteer Regiment
Battles/wars	Spanish–American War

Ernest Lundeen (August 4, 1878 – August 31, 1940) was an American lawyer and politician.

Lundeen was born and raised on his father's homestead in Brooklyn Township of Lincoln County near Beresford in the Dakota Territory. His father, C. H. Lundeen, was an early pioneer who was credited with the naming of Brooklyn Township as well as with helping to establish the school and other institutions located there. Most of Ernest Lundeen's brothers and sisters died during a diphtheria epidemic during the 1880s. In 1896, Lundeen and his family moved to Harcourt, Iowa and then to Minnesota. He graduated from Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota in 1901 and then studied law at the University of Minnesota Law School. In 1906, he was admitted to the bar.

Lundeen served in the United States Army during the Spanish–American War. He served in the Minnesota House of Representatives 1911–14.^[1] He then served as a Republican from Minnesota in the United States House of Representatives, from March 4, 1917 to March 3, 1919 in the 65th congress. As representative, he was one of 50 Congressman to vote against the declaration of war against Germany on April 6, 1917.^[2] Due to the vote, he would lose renomination for the Republican primary in 1918 to the eventual winner, Walter Newton. He served as a Minnesota Farmer-Labor Party member in the House from March 4, 1933 to January 3, 1937 in the 73rd and 74th congresses. He was elected to the United States Senate in 1936 as a member of the Farmer-Labor Party. He served from January 3, 1937 in the 75th and 76th congresses, until his death.

He remained sympathetic to Germany. According to Alton Frye, he had close ties to George Sylvester Viereck, a leading German agent. Viereck often used Lundeen's office, and "sometimes dictated speeches for Lundeen, openly using the Senator's telephones to obtain material from Hans Thomsen at the [German] embassy."^[3]

On June 14, 1939, The Evening Star reported that during the USS Hammann's sea trials off the coast of Fire Island in the Atlantic Ocean, Lundeen joined a civilian and press delegation aboard the ship which reached a maximum speed of 40 knots, put rudders in full reverse, causing the ship to come to a complete stop in 58 seconds, and then the ship travelled in reverse at a top speed nearing 20 knots.^[4] In that report, Lundeen is quoted as saying the experience was "astounding" and that the test showed that American ship designers "need bow to none."

On the afternoon of August 31, 1940, Lundeen was a passenger on Flight 19 of Pennsylvania Central Airlines, flying from Washington, D.C. to Detroit. The plane, a Douglas DC-3, flew into turbulence from a thunderstorm. The plane crashed near Lovettsville, Virginia and all 25 persons on board were killed, including Senator Lundeen.^[5]

See also[]

• List of United States Congress members who died in office (1900–49)

References[]

• United States Congress. "Ernest Lundeen (id: L000514)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.

External links[]

• Media related to Ernest Lundeen at Wikimedia Commons
• United States Congress. "Ernest Lundeen (id: L000514)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.