Edward J. Thye

Edward John Thye (April 26, 1896Template:Spaced ndashAugust 28, 1969) was an American politician. A member of the Republican Party, he was the 26th governor of Minnesota from 1943 to 1947 and a United States Senator from 1947 to 1959.

Early life and education

Edward Thye was born on a farm near Frederick, South Dakota.<ref name=congress>Template:Cite news</ref> One of nine children, he was the son of Andrew John and Bertha (née Wangan) Thye.<ref name=current>Template:Cite book</ref> His father, a farmer, was born in Norway and immigrated to the United States in 1872.<ref name=national>Template:Cite book</ref> His brother Ted Thye became a professional wrestler in the Pacific Northwest.<ref name=nytimes/>

In 1904, Thye and his family moved to Northfield, Minnesota, where he attended local public schools.<ref name=governors>Template:Cite book</ref> He took courses at the Tractor and Internal Combustion School in Minneapolis in 1913, and graduated from the American Business College in 1916.<ref name=current/> After the United States entered World War I, he enlisted as a private in the United States Army Air Corps in 1917.<ref name=congress/> He served overseas in France, and was eventually promoted to second lieutenant.<ref name=national/>

Early career

After his military service, Thye returned to Minnesota in 1919 and was employed as a tractor expert with the Deere & Webber Company in Minneapolis, becoming a salesman in 1920.<ref name=governors/> He married Hazel Ramage (daughter of Robert and Bertha (Frink) Ramage) in 1921, and the couple remained married until her death in 1936; they had one daughter, Jean Roberta.<ref name=national/> He continued to work for Deere until 1922, when he became manager and owner of a dairy farm near Northfield.<ref name=mnhs>Template:Cite news</ref>

In 1925, Thye was elected to the town council of Sciota.<ref name=history>Template:Cite book</ref> He later served a number of years on the Sciota school board.<ref name=history/> He was president of the Dakota County Farm Bureau (1929–1931), director of Twin City Milk Producers Association (1933), and appraiser for the Federal Land Bank of Minnesota (1933–1934).<ref name=mnhs/> He became friends with Harold Stassen, and actively supported Stassen's campaign for governor of Minnesota in 1938.<ref name=mnhs/> He subsequently served as the Dairy and Food Commissioner of Minnesota and deputy commissioner of agriculture (1939–1942).<ref name=congress/>

Governor of Minnesota

Thye was elected the 31st lieutenant governor of Minnesota in November 1942.<ref name=congress/> The same month, he was remarried to Myrtle Ennor Oliver; the couple remained married until his death.<ref name=current/> On April 27, 1943, Stassen resigned to serve in the United States Navy and Thye succeeded him as the 26th governor of Minnesota.<ref name=history/> He was elected governor in November 1944 by the largest margin ever for a Minnesota gubernatorial candidate.<ref name=nytimes/>

In the 1944 presidential election, Thye joined U.S. Senator Henrik Shipstead, an isolationist, in supporting Republican nominee Thomas E. Dewey, the governor of New York. Minnesota's other senator at the time, Joseph H. Ball, refused to support Dewey and crossed party lines to back Franklin D. Roosevelt, who won Minnesota's 11 electoral votes.<ref>David M. Jordan, FDR, Dewey, and the Election of 1944 (Blomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press, 2011), pp. 276-277) Template:ISBN</ref>

During his state administration, Thye established the Department of Aeronautics, the Iron Range Rehabilitation Commission, a postwar planning commission, and a human rights commission.<ref name=governors/> He also increased spending for highway construction and unemployment compensation.<ref name=governors/>

U.S. Senate

Thye was elected as a United States Senator in 1946, defeating Henrik Shipstead in the Republican primary and the Democratic-Farmer-Labor nominee Theodore Jorgenson with 58.9% of the vote. He was re-elected in 1952 with 56.63% of the vote. He served in the Senate from January 3, 1947, to January 3, 1959, in the 80th, 81st, 82nd, 83rd, 84th, and 85th Congresses. Thye voted for the Civil Rights Act of 1957.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He lost his 1958 reelection bid to Eugene McCarthy.

Death

Thye died on August 28, 1969, in Northfield, Minnesota, aged 73.<ref name=nytimes>Template:Cite news</ref> He was buried at the Oaklawn Cemetery in Northfield.

Papers

Thye's papers, including correspondence, speeches, background materials, bills and reports, clippings, campaign literature, and related materials reflecting Thye's public and official activities as U.S. senator from Minnesota, are available for research use.

External links

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