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{{Short description|American politician (1896–1969}}
{{Infobox officeholder
|name=Edward J. Thye
|image=EdwardThye.jpg
|imagesize=
|caption=
|order=[[United States Senator]]<br>from [[Minnesota]]
|term_start=January 3, 1947
|term_end=January 3, 1959
|preceded=[[Henrik Shipstead]]
|succeeded=[[Eugene McCarthy]]
|order2= 26th
|office2= Governor of Minnesota
|term_start2=April 27, 1943
|term_end2=January 8, 1947
|lieutenant2=[[C. Elmer Anderson]]<br>[[Archie H. Miller]]
|predecessor2= [[Harold Stassen]]
|successor2= [[Luther Youngdahl]]
|order3= 31st
|office3=Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota
|term_start3=January 4, 1943
|term_end3=April 27, 1943
|governor3=[[Harold Stassen]]
|predecessor3=[[C. Elmer Anderson]]
|successor3=[[Archie H. Miller]]
|birth_name= Edward John Thye
|birth_date= {{birth date|1896|4|26}}
|birth_place= [[Frederick, South Dakota]], [[U.S.]]
|death_date= {{death date and age|1969|8|28|1896|4|26}}
|death_place= [[Northfield, Minnesota]], [[U.S.]]
|party=[[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]]
|profession=Politician
|spouse=Hazel Ramage (1921), Myrtle Ennor Oliver (1942)
|footnotes=
}}

'''Edward John Thye''' (April 26, 1896{{spaced ndash}}August 28, 1969) was an American politician. A member of the [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican Party]], he was the 26th [[governor of Minnesota]] from 1943 to 1947 and a [[United States Senate|United States Senator]] from 1947 to 1959.

==Early life and education==
Edward Thye was born on a farm near [[Frederick, South Dakota|Frederick]], [[South Dakota]].<ref name=congress>{{cite news|work=[[Biographical Directory of the United States Congress]]|title=Thye, Edward John, (1896–1969)|url=http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=t000259}}</ref> One of nine children, he was the son of Andrew John and Bertha (née Wangan) Thye.<ref name=current>{{cite book|title=[[Current Biography]]|year=1952|publisher=[[H. W. Wilson Company]]}}</ref> His father, a [[farmer]], was born in Norway and immigrated to the United States in 1872.<ref name=national>{{cite book|title=[[The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography]]|year=1952|publisher=James T. White & Company}}</ref> His brother [[Ted Thye]] became a professional [[Professional wrestling|wrestler]] in the [[Pacific Northwest Wrestling|Pacific Northwest]].<ref name=nytimes/>

In 1904, Thye and his family moved to [[Northfield, Minnesota|Northfield]], [[Minnesota]], where he attended local public schools.<ref name=governors>{{cite book|last1=Sobel|first1=Robert|author-link1=Robert Sobel|last2=Raimo|first2=John|title=Biographical Directory of the Governors of the United States, 1789–1978|volume=I|year=1978|publisher=Meckler Books}}</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 [[John Deere|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>{{cite news|work=Minnesota Historical Society|title=Edward J. (John) Thye|url=http://www.mnhs.org/people/governors/gov/gov_28.htm|access-date=2007-05-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080512223412/http://www.mnhs.org/people/governors/gov/gov_28.htm|archive-date=2008-05-12|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In 1925, Thye was elected to the [[town council]] of [[Sciota Township, Dakota County, Minnesota|Sciota]].<ref name=history>{{cite book|last1=Bjornson|first1=Val|author-link1=Val Bjornson|title=The History of Minnesota|volume=III|year=1969|publisher=Lewis Historical Publishing Company}}</ref> He later served a number of years on the Sciota [[Board of education|school board]].<ref name=history/> He was president of the [[Dakota County, Minnesota|Dakota County]] [[American Farm Bureau Federation|Farm Bureau]] (1929–1931), director of Twin City Milk Producers Association (1933), and appraiser for the [[Farm Credit System|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 [[List of lieutenant governors of Minnesota|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 [[U.S. presidential election, 1944|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 College (United States)|electoral vote]]s.<ref>David M. Jordan, ''FDR, Dewey, and the Election of 1944'' ([[Bloomington, Indiana|Blomington]], [[Indiana]]: [[Indiana University Press]], 2011), pp. 276-277) {{ISBN|978-0-253-35683-3}}</ref>

During his state administration, Thye established the Department of Aeronautics, the Iron Range Rehabilitation Commission, a [[Aftermath of World War II|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 Senate|United States Senator]] [[1946 United States Senate election in Minnesota|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 [[1952 United States Senate election in Minnesota|in 1952]] with 56.63% of the vote. He served in the Senate from January 3, 1947, to January 3, 1959, in the [[80th United States Congress|80th]], [[81st United States Congress|81st]], [[82nd United States Congress|82nd]], [[83rd United States Congress|83rd]], [[84th United States Congress|84th]], and [[85th United States Congress|85th Congresses]]. Thye voted for the [[Civil Rights Act of 1957]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/85-1957/s75|title=HR. 6127. Civil Rights Act of 1957.|work=GovTrack.us}}</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>{{cite news|date=1969-08-29|agency=[[Associated Press]]|title=Edward Thye, 73, Ex-Senator, Dies| url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1129&dat=19690829&id=Br9SAAAAIBAJ&pg=3532,4207524 }}</ref> He was buried at the Oaklawn Cemetery in [[Northfield, Minnesota|Northfield]].

==Papers==

[http://www.mnhs.org/library/findaids/00538.xml 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.

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{Internet Archive film clip|id=gov.archives.arc.95833|description="Longines Chronoscope with Edward J Thye"}}

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{{s-bef|before=[[C. Elmer Anderson]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] nominee for [[Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota]]|years=[[1942 Minnesota lieutenant gubernatorial election|1942]]}}
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{{s-aft|after=[[Luther Youngdahl]]}}
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{{s-ttl|title=[[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] nominee for [[List of United States Senators from Minnesota|U.S. Senator]] from [[Minnesota]]<br>([[Classes of United States Senators|Class 1]])|years=[[1946 United States Senate election in Minnesota|1946]], [[1952 United States Senate election in Minnesota|1952]], [[1958 United States Senate election in Minnesota|1958]]}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Wheelock Whitney Jr.]]}}
{{S-off}}
{{Succession box|title=[[Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota]]|years=1943|before=[[C. Elmer Anderson]]|after=[[Archie H. Miller]]}}
{{Succession box|title=[[Governor of Minnesota]]|years=1943&ndash;1947|before=[[Harold Stassen]]|after=[[Luther Youngdahl]]}}
{{S-par|us-sen}}
{{U.S. Senator box|state=Minnesota|class=1|before=[[Henrik Shipstead]]|after=[[Eugene McCarthy]]|years=1947&ndash;1959|alongside=[[Joseph H. Ball]], [[Hubert Humphrey]]|}}
{{S-end}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Thye, Edward J.}}
[[Category:1896 births]]
[[Category:1969 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Brown County, South Dakota]]
[[Category:American Lutherans]]
[[Category:American people of Norwegian descent]]
[[Category:Republican Party governors of Minnesota]]
[[Category:Lieutenant governors of Minnesota]]
[[Category:People from Northfield, Minnesota]]
[[Category:Military personnel from Minnesota]]
[[Category:United States Army officers]]
[[Category:United States Army Air Service pilots of World War I]]
[[Category:United States Navy personnel of World War II]]
[[Category:Republican Party United States senators from Minnesota]]
[[Category:Minnesota city council members]]
[[Category:School board members in Minnesota]]
[[Category:20th-century Lutherans]]
[[Category:20th-century United States senators]]