View source for William Langer

{{Short description|North Dakota politician (1886–1959)}}
{{redirect|Senator Langer|the South Dakota state senator|Kris Langer}}
{{for-multi|the Harvard University historian|William L. Langer|the Wisconsin politician|William Langer (Wisconsin politician)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2017}}
{{Infobox officeholder
|name         = Bill Langer
|image        = William Langer Edit.jpg
|jr/sr        = United States Senator
|state        = [[North Dakota]]
|term_start   = January 3, 1941
|term_end     = November 8, 1959
|predecessor  = [[Lynn Frazier]]
|successor    = [[Norman Brunsdale]]
|order1       = 17th and 21st [[Governor of North Dakota]]
|term_start1  = January 6, 1937
|term_end1    = January 5, 1939
|lieutenant1  = [[Thorstein H. H. Thoresen]]
|predecessor1 = [[Walter Welford]]
|successor1   = [[John Moses (American politician)|John Moses]]
|lieutenant2  = Ole H. Olson
|term_start2  = December 31, 1932
|term_end2    = June 21, 1934
|predecessor2 = [[George F. Shafer]]
|successor2   = [[Ole H. Olson]]
|office3      = 10th [[Attorney General of North Dakota]]
|governor3    = [[Lynn Frazier]]
|term_start3  = January 3, 1917
|term_end3    = January 5, 1921
|predecessor3 = [[Henry Linde]]
|successor3   = [[William Lemke]]
|birth_date   = {{birth date|1886|9|30}}
|birth_place  = [[Casselton, North Dakota|Casselton]], [[Dakota Territory]], U.S. (now [[North Dakota]])
|death_date   = {{death date and age|1959|11|8|1886|9|30}}
|death_place  = [[Washington, D.C.]], U.S.
|party        = [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] ([[Nonpartisan League|NPL]] faction)
|spouse       = Lydia Cady
|education    = [[University of North Dakota]] ([[Bachelor of Laws|LLB]])<br>[[Columbia University]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]])
}}
'''William''' "'''Wild Bill'''" '''Langer''' (September 30, 1886{{spaced ndash}}November 8, 1959) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 17th [[governor of North Dakota]] from 1932 to 1934 and the 21st governor from 1937 to 1939. His governorship was demarcated by a scandal that forced him out of office and into multiple trials.

Langer was elected to the [[United States Senate]] in 1940, serving until he died in office in 1959. As a senator, he strongly opposed American military involvement in world affairs, being derided by his opponents as an isolationist.

==Early life, education and early career==
Langer was born on September 30, 1886, near [[Everest, North Dakota|Everest]], [[Dakota Territory]],<ref>{{Cite book |last=Capace |first=Nancy |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-0yEn8zrrDYC&pg=PA139 |title=Encyclopedia of North Dakota |date=January 1, 2001 |publisher=Somerset Publishers, Inc. |isbn=978-0-403-09608-4 |pages=139 |language=en}}</ref> to [[German-American]]s Frank and Mary (Weber) Langer. His [[Catholic]] father, Frank Langer, was a member of the first legislature of the state of North Dakota. William, who spoke [[German language|German]] fluently,<ref>Alan S. Gerber, Eric Schickler: ''Governing in a Polarized Age. Elections, Parties, and Political Representation in America'', p. 156</ref> was valedictorian of Casselton High School upon graduation in 1904. He obtained a bachelor of laws from the [[University of North Dakota]] in [[Grand Forks, North Dakota|Grand Forks]], but was too young upon graduation to practice law. He therefore continued his undergraduate education at [[Columbia College of Columbia University|Columbia]], where he graduated at the top of his class in 1910. Although he was offered a position at a prominent New York law firm, he elected to return to North Dakota, where he practiced law in [[Mandan, North Dakota|Mandan]] before starting his career in politics.

==Personal life==
Langer married Lydia Cady, the daughter of New York architect [[J. Cleaveland Cady]], in 1918,<ref>{{cite news|title=Attorney General of North Dakota weds New York Girl|newspaper=[[Chicago Daily Tribune]]|date=February 27, 1918}}</ref> and had four daughters, Emma, Lydia, Mary, and Cornelia (who became a wife of abstract painter [[Kenneth Noland]]).

==Career==
[[File:Portrait of William Langer, circa 1919.jpg|thumb|left|Langer as North Dakota Attorney General {{circa}} 1919]]
In 1914, Langer was appointed state's attorney of [[Morton County, North Dakota|Morton County]] and was one of a few non-farmers on the [[Nonpartisan League]] (NPL) [[North Dakota Republican Party|Republican]] 1916 state ticket. He was elected state attorney general as  the newly formed NPL party swept to victory in the 1916 election, but soon clashed with the party's founder and mercurial leader [[Arthur C. Townley]]. By 1920, Langer was publicly accusing Townley of [[Bolshevism]], and failed in a primary campaign to replace the incumbent NPL governor [[Lynn Frazier]] as the party's gubernatorial candidate. Langer's break with the NPL leadership was a reflection of the infighting that limited the party's eventual influence on North Dakota politics.

===Governor===
[[File:Governor William Langer.jpg|thumb|right|Langer as governor {{circa}} 1932–1939]]
Langer eventually mended his rift with the NPL and was elected governor of North Dakota in 1932. As governor, Langer in 1933 required all state employees to donate part of their annual salaries to the NPL and to the ''Leader,'' a weekly newspaper owned by high-ranking officials in his administration. Collecting this money was not prohibited by state law and was a common, traditional practice. But when donations were made by highway department employees, who were paid through federal relief programs, the U.S. Attorney for North Dakota, [[P. W. Lanier]], charged that the donations constituted a conspiracy to defraud the federal government. Brought to trial in 1934, Langer and five co-conspirators were convicted. The trial was presided over by Judge [[Andrew Miller (North Dakota judge)|Andrew Miller]] and prosecuted by Lanier, two of Langer's strongest political opponents in the state.<ref name="Vogel 2004">{{cite book|title=Unequal Contest: Bill Langer and His Political Enemies|last=Vogel|first=Robert|year=2004|publisher=Crain Grosinger Publishing |location=Mandan, ND|isbn=0-9720054-3-9}}</ref>

The first trial was littered with procedural errors that made it invalid on appeal, including improper and rigged jury selection (the jurors were alleged to have had personal bias against Langer and been hand-picked by Lanier) and heavily biased jury instructions.<ref name="Vogel 2004"/>

Because of the felony conviction, the [[North Dakota Supreme Court]] on September 19, 1934, ordered Langer removed from office and declared Lieutenant Governor [[Ole H. Olson]] the legitimate governor.<ref>{{cite court|litigants=State ex rel. Olson v. Langer|url=https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/3933740/state-ex-rel-olson-v-langer/|court=N.D.|date=1934|vol=256|reporter=N.W.|opinion=377}}</ref> Langer signed a Declaration of Independence of North Dakota, declared martial law in Bismarck, and barricaded himself in the [[Former North Dakota Executive Mansion|governor's mansion]].<ref>Powell v. McCormack, 395 U.S. 486 (1969)</ref> He eventually relented when his own officers refused to recognize his authority, and Olson served the remainder of Langer's term as governor.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Miller|first=Roy L.|date=1935|title=The Gubernatorial Controversy in North Dakota|url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0003055400030124/type/journal_article|journal=American Political Science Review|language=en|volume=29|issue=3|pages=418–432|doi=10.2307/1947758|jstor=1947758 |s2cid=146910041 |issn=0003-0554|url-access=subscription}}</ref>

In 1935, the convictions were overturned on appeal.<ref>{{cite court|url= https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/1564486/langer-v-united-states/|litigants=Langer v. United States|date=1935|court=8th Cir.|vol=76|reporter=F.2d|opinion=817}}</ref> The case against Langer was retried twice in 1935. Miller, following a recusal motion by Langer, refused to step down as judge in the first retrial, which resulted in a hung jury. Between the second and third trials, Lanier filed charges against Langer for committing perjury in his recusal motion against Miller. This trial, unprecedented on perjury in an affidavit requesting a recusal, resulted in a [[directed verdict]] to acquit Langer. The second retrial of the original charges, presided over by a judge other than Miller, resulted in Langer's acquittal.<ref name="Vogel 2004"/>

Throughout the trials, Langer maintained that he was innocent and the victim of a political vendetta by Miller and Lanier. He was [[1936 North Dakota gubernatorial election|reelected governor in 1936]]. Historian Lawrence Larsen has called Langer "a master of political theater".<ref>Lawrence H. Larsen, "'United States' v. 'Langer, et al.:' The U.S. District Attorney's Files," ''North Dakota History,'' 1984, Vol. 51 Issue 1, pp 4–13</ref>

Langer's wife, Lydia, ran for governor in [[1934 North Dakota gubernatorial election|1934]] but lost to Democratic candidate [[Thomas H. Moodie]].<ref name="und.edu">http://library.und.edu/special-collections/langer/og19.html {{dead link|date=October 2010}}</ref><ref>[https://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=263011 ND Governor Race - Nov 06, 1934]. ''Our Campaigns''. Retrieved February 20, 2022.</ref>

===Senate career===
In 1938, Langer [[1938 United States Senate election in North Dakota|ran for the Senate]] as an independent, and received 42% of the vote, losing to Republican [[Gerald Nye]].

The 1940 Senate election was another very dramatic one. Langer defeated incumbent Lynn Frazier in the Republican primary, and then faced both the Democratic candidate, [[Charles Joseph Vogel]], and Republican/NPL Congressman [[William Lemke]], who declined to run for reelection to Congress in order to run for the Senate as an independent. Langer won the election with 38% of the vote.

Because of the trials mentioned above, Langer's qualifications were questioned under Article 1, Section 5 of the Constitution, which declares the U.S. Senate the ultimate judge of its members' elections, qualifications, and returns. The Senate seated Langer conditionally and began an investigation into his trials. The [[United States Senate Committee on Privileges and Elections|Committee on Privileges and Elections]] found Langer guilty of "[[moral turpitude]]" and unqualified to be a U.S. senator. The full Senate reversed the committee and voted to seat Langer.<ref name="Vogel 2004"/> The vote to expel Langer failed, then needing 64 votes to reach the two-third majority to pass.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/77-1942/s120 |title=TO PASS THE SECOND BRANCH OF S. RES. 220, WHICH STATES, "THAT WILLIAM LANGER IS NOT ENTITLED TO BE A SENATOR OF THE UNITED STATES FROM THE STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA." |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=1942-03-27|website=GovTrack.us |publisher= |access-date=2024-07-17 |quote=}}</ref>

Biographer Glenn H. Smith calls Langer's Senate career "A Study in Isolationism, 1940–1959" and emphasizes his close ties with German American and Scandinavian American voters who bitterly remembered the First World War in the Dakotas and deeply distrusted Britain and the United Nations.<ref>Smith (1979).</ref> Like Senator [[Henrik Shipstead]] of Minnesota, Langer championed [[non-interventionism]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://historynewsnetwork.org/blog/13436|title = Henrik Shipstead Against the UN &#124; History News Network| date=August 2005 }}</ref> and supported minimizing America's involvement in [[World War II]]. At home, he concentrated on making life easier for North Dakotan farmers by raising wheat prices and granting government relief. He was also adamant about implementing affordable healthcare for everyone. As a senator, he served on the Post Office, Civil Service and Indian Affairs committees. He and Shipstead were the only senators to vote against the [[United Nations Charter]] in 1945.<ref name="und.edu"/> He was also one of seven senators to oppose full U.S. entry into the [[United Nations]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1204.html#article|title=UNO Bill Approved By Senate, 65 to 7, With One Change|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=December 4, 1945|access-date=December 27, 2016}}</ref>

After African-American organizations asked Langer to propose a bill for the federal government to pay for the repatriation of African-Americans to the African continent, he did so.<ref name="brendagayleplummer">{{cite book |author=Plummer |first=Brenda Gayle |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M4eEkAbYTTUC&q=%22Peace+Movement+of+Ethiopia%22&pg=PA108 |title=Rising Wind: Black Americans and U.S. Foreign Affairs, 1935–1960 |publisher=[[University of North Carolina Press]] |year=1996 |isbn=9780807845752 |place=[[Chapel Hill, North Carolina]] |page=109 |author-link=Brenda Gayle Plummer}}</ref> The bill, S. 1800, failed to pass.<ref name="brendagayleplummer"/> Langer was a Zionist who supported the establishment of [[Israel]]. During World War II, he had also supported American action to rescue Jewish refugees.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2014-12-28 |title=Langer, William |url=http://enc.wymaninstitute.org/?p=308 |access-date=2024-06-05 |website=Encyclopedia |language=en-US}}</ref>

In September 1950, Langer filibustered to prevent the override of President [[Harry S. Truman]]'s veto of the [[McCarran Internal Security Act]] for five hours before collapsing.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Griffith|first1=Robert|author-link1=Robert Griffith (historian)|title=The Politics of Fear: Joseph R. McCarthy and the Senate|date=1970|publisher=[[University Press of Kentucky]]|location=[[Lexington, Kentucky|Lexington]]|page=121}}</ref>

In 1951, Langer lobbied [[John J. McCloy]], the U.S. High Commissioner for Germany, to grant a reprieve to [[Martin Sandberger]], a high-ranking SS official who had been convicted of crimes against humanity and war crimes for his role in the mass murder of Jews and others in Estonia during the [[Holocaust]].<ref name = Smelser_55>[[Ronald Smelser|Smelser, Ronald M.]], and [[Edward J. Davies|Davies, Edward J.]], ''[[The Myth of the Eastern Front]]'', Cambridge University Press 2007 {{ISBN|0-521-71231-9}}</ref> Although sentenced to die by the tribunal of the [[Einsatzgruppen trial]], in no small part due to Langer's lobbying,<ref name = Smelser_55/> Sandberger's sentence was commuted and he served only 13 years in custody. He died in 2010, at the age of 98.<ref name = FreiGolb>Frei, Norbert, and Golb, Joel, "Adenauer's Germany and the Nazi past", at pages 226 to 229.</ref>

After the [[Nonpartisan League]] merged with the state Democratic party, Langer remained on the Republican ticket in the 1958 Senate elections and won without making a single campaign appearance in the state. He 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> Langer died in Washington, D.C., on November 8, 1959. He was the last U.S. senator to [[lie in state]] in the Senate Chamber until [[Robert Byrd]] of [[West Virginia]] in 2010.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Rulon Herman|first=Malia|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2013/06/06/lautenbergs-casket-arrives-at-capitol/2395957/|title=Lautenberg lies in repose in Senate chamber|website=USA Today|date=June 6, 2013}}</ref>

==Political offices==
* 1914–1916: [[State's Attorney]] for [[Morton County, North Dakota|Morton County]]
* 1916–1920: [[Attorney General]] of North Dakota
* 1933–1934: Governor of North Dakota (removed from office)
* 1937–1939: Governor of North Dakota
* 1941–1959: [[United States Senate]]

==Works==
* [https://archive.org/details/46LangerThefamineingermany ''The Famine in Germany.''] Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office, 1946.
* [https://archive.org/details/nonpartisanleagu00langrich/ ''The Nonpartisan League; Its Birth, Activities and Leaders.''] Mandan, ND: Morton County Farmers Press, 1920.

==See also==
{{Portal|Biography}}
* [[1952 United States Senate election in North Dakota]]
* [[1958 United States Senate election in North Dakota]]
* [[List of United States senators expelled or censured]]
* [[List of members of the United States Congress who died in office (1950–1999)]]

==Footnotes==
{{Reflist|2}}

==Further reading==
* Holzworth, John M. ''The Fighting Governor: The Story of William Langer and the State of North Dakota.'' Chicago: The Pointer Press, 1938.
* Smith, Glenn H. ''Langer of North Dakota: A Study in Isolationism, 1940–1959''. New York: Garland Publishers, 1979.
* Smith, Glenn H. "William Langer," in Thomas W. Howard, ed. ''The North Dakota Political Tradition.'' Ames, IA: Iowa State University Press, 1981.
* Tweton, D. Jerome. "The Politics of Chaos: North Dakota in the 1930s," ''Journal of the West,'' Fall 2002, vol. 41, no. 4, pp.&nbsp;30–35.

==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20040820090606/http://www.und.edu/dept/library/Collections/Langer/og19.html William Langer Papers at the University of North Dakota]
* [http://www.state.nd.us/hist/ndgov5.htm North Dakota Governors – William Langer]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20051214134450/http://www.buckyogi.com/footnotes/natno.htm Entry on the secession of North Dakota]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20071201112320/http://hungarianhistory.com/lib/vardy/vardy.doc Várdy, Steven Béla and Tooly, T. Hunt: ''Ethnic Cleansing in Twentieth-Century Europe''] Available as MS Word for Windows file (3.4&nbsp;MB) (the result of the conference on Ethnic Cleansing in Twentieth Century Europe held at Duquesne University in November 2000.) Sub-section by CHARLES M. BARBER,  ''The Isolationist as Interventionist: Senator William Langer on the Subject of Ethnic Cleansing'', March 29, 1946, pp.&nbsp;244–262
* [https://www.msnbc.com/msnbc-podcast/rachel-maddow-presents-ultra/episode-7-rinse-repeat-n1300745 William Langer mentioned in Episode 7 of Rachel Maddow's ''Ultra'' podcast] (2022)

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{{Governors of North Dakota}}
{{USSenND}}
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[[Category:1886 births]]
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[[Category:20th-century North Dakota politicians]]
[[Category:20th-century Roman Catholics]]
[[Category:American anti–World War II activists]]
[[Category:American Christian Zionists]]
[[Category:American people of German descent]]
[[Category:American prosecutors]]
[[Category:Catholics from North Dakota]]
[[Category:Columbia College, Columbia University alumni]]
[[Category:Governors of North Dakota]]
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[[Category:Nonpartisan League United States senators]]
[[Category:North Dakota attorneys general]]
[[Category:North Dakota independents]]
[[Category:North Dakota politicians convicted of crimes]]
[[Category:North Dakota Republicans]]
[[Category:People from Cass County, North Dakota]]
[[Category:People from Mandan, North Dakota]]
[[Category:Republican Party governors of North Dakota]]
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[[Category:University of North Dakota alumni]]
[[Category:American anti-communists]]
[[Category:Nonpartisan League politicians]]
[[Category:Old Right (United States)]]
[[Category:20th-century United States senators]]
[[Category:Separatism in the United States]]