Clyde Elmer Anderson (1912 - 1998)

Born 16 Mar 1912 in Brainerd Township, Crow Wing, Minnesota, United States

Died 22 Jan 1998 at age 85 in Brainerd, Crow Wing, Minnesota, United States

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Preceded by 27th Governor Luther Youngdahl

C. Elmer Anderson 28th Governor of Minnesota 1951—1955

Succeeded by 29th Governor Orville Freeman

Biography

C. Elmer Anderson is Notable.

C. Elmer Anderson was a Minnesotan.

C. Elmer Anderson was born in 1912. He is the son of Alfred Anderson and Anna Anderson.^[1][2] He married Lillian M. Otterstad September 1, 1937.^[3][4] He died in 1998.^[5][6]

Governors of Minnesota

C. Elmer Anderson Biography

After unexpectedly rising to become Minnesota’s twenty-eighth governor, Brainerd native Clyde Elmer Anderson presided over a period of prosperity in Minnesota history. Though not known for any particular piece of legislation, Anderson is remembered for his level-headed demeanor and his ability to persuade without heated discourse.

Anderson had to get a job at age fourteen to help support his family following his father’s death, so he began delivering papers for a wholesale magazine and newspaper business, Service News Inc. He graduated from high school and attended the University of Minnesota in order to become a physician, but his tuition money ran out after two quarters, and he returned home. Anderson went back to Service News and soon learned the details of operating it. When its owner died a few years later, Anderson bought the company, becoming the owner and president at just twenty-two. Under his ownership, the company expanded rapidly.

In 1938, at twenty-six, Anderson decided to run for the Republican Party nomination for lieutenant governor against two better-known candidates. He won, crediting his Swedish surname for the victory. When he and thirty-one-year-old Harold Stassen (who was running for governor) went on to win the general election, they became the youngest team ever to hold Minnesota’s highest executive offices. The victory also began a record eleven years for Anderson in that office (1939-1941, 1943-1951) under three different governors. With the resignation of Luther Youngdahl in 1951, “The Forgotten Man of the Republican Party,” as Anderson was known for his low profile, assumed the governor’s seat. He advocated for an active government concerned with social reform tempered by fiscal conservatism, and as an incumbent, he narrowly defeated Orville Freeman in 1952. He ran against Freeman a second time in 1954, but this time it was he who lost a close election.

After the loss, Anderson returned to private life. Later, he ran for and served as mayor of Nisswa and, after that, mayor of Brainerd until being unseated in a four-way race in 1986. Anderson died in 1998 at the age of eighty-five.^[7]

Sources

1. ↑ Birth: "Minnesota, U.S., Birth Index", 1900-1934, http://people.mnhs.org/bci/Results.cfm?CERTID=1912-06243, Clyde Elmer Anderson, 16 Mar 1912, Crow Wing, Minnesota, USA, Father's Surname: Anderson, Mother's Maiden Name: Anderson, Certificate Number: 1912-06243.
2. ↑ 1930 US Fed Census: "United States Census, 1930," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:X3Z9-M7M : accessed 28 March 2021), Clyde E Anderson in household of Arma A Anderson, Brainerd, Crow Wing, Minnesota, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 9, sheet 6A, line 27, family 112, NARA microfilm publication T626 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2002), roll 1084; FHL microfilm 2,340,819.
3. ↑ Marriage: "Minnesota, U.S., Marriages from the Minnesota Official Marriage System", 1850-2019, https://moms.mn.gov/, C Elmer Anderson, 10 Apr 1937, Crow Wing, Minnesota, USA, Lillian M Otterstad, Certificate Number: O-370.
4. ↑ 1940 US Fed Census: "United States Census, 1940," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KSKX-K3Z : 7 January 2021), Clyde Anderson, Brainerd, Crow Wing, Minnesota, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 18-5A, sheet 2A, line 22, family 32, Sixteenth Census of the United States, 1940, NARA digital publication T627. Records of the Bureau of the Census, 1790 - 2007, RG 29. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2012, roll 1916.
5. ↑ Death: "Minnesota Death Index, 1908-2002," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:V431-K33 : 4 December 2014), Clyde Elmer Anderson, 22 Jan 1998; from "Minnesota Death Index, 1908-2002," database, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : 2001); citing Brainerd, Crow Wing, Minnesota, record , certificate number , Minnesota Department of Health, Minneapolis.
6. ↑ Find-a-Grave: "Find A Grave Index," database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVK6-8DH1 : 30 May 2020), Clyde Elmer Anderson, 1998; Burial, , ; citing record ID , Find a Grave, http://www.findagrave.com.
7. ↑ Governors of Minnesota Biography: https://mnhs.gitlab.io/archive/governors-of-minnesota-collections/collections.mnhs.org/governors/index.php/10004222.html

• Find A Grave Memorial# 40599070

• C. Elmer Anderson on Wikipedia