William Langer

For the Harvard University historian, see William L. Langer.

For the Wisconsin politician, see William Langer (Assemblyman).

William Langer
United States Senator from North Dakota
In office January 3, 1941 – November 8, 1959
Preceded by	Lynn Frazier
Succeeded by	Clarence Norman Brunsdale
21st Governor of North Dakota
In office January 6, 1937 – January 5, 1939
Lieutenant	Thorstein H.H. Thoresen
Preceded by	Walter Welford
Succeeded by	John Moses
17th Governor of North Dakota
In office December 31, 1932 – June 21, 1934
Lieutenant	Ole H. Olson
Preceded by	George F. Shafer
Succeeded by	Ole H. Olson
10th Attorney General of North Dakota
In office 1917–1920
Preceded by	Henry Linde
Succeeded by	William Lemke
Personal details
Born	(1886-09-30)September 30, 1886 Casselton, North Dakota
Died	Washington, D.C.
Political party	Republican (NPL)
Spouse(s)	Lydia Cady Langer

William "Wild Bill" Langer (September 30, 1886 – November 8, 1959) was a prominent American politician and lawyer from North Dakota. Langer is one of the most colorful characters in North Dakota history, most famously bouncing back from a scandal that forced him out of the governor's office and into multiple trials. He served as the 17th and 21st Governor of North Dakota from 1933 to 1934 and from 1937 to 1939. Langer also served in the United States Senate from 1941 to 1959 when he died in office. While in the Senate, he strongly opposed any US military involvement in world affairs, and his opponents derided him as an isolationist.

Personal life

Langer was born on September 30, 1886 near Casselton, North Dakota to Frank and Mary (Weber) Langer. His father, Frank Langer, was a member of the first legislature of the state of North Dakota. William 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, but was too young upon graduation to practice law. He therefore continued his undergraduate education at 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 the town of Mandan before starting his career in politics. He married Lydia Cady, the daughter of New York architect J. Cleaveland Cady, in 1918, and had four daughters, Emma, Lydia, Mary, and Cornelia (who became a wife of abstract impressionist painter Kenneth Noland).

Career

In 1914, Langer was appointed state's attorney of Morton County and was one of a few non-farmers on the Nonpartisan League 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 A. 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

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. However, when donations were made by highway department employees, who were paid through federal relief programs, the US attorney charged that the donations constituted a conspiracy to defraud the federal government. Brought to trial in 1934, Langer and five co-conspirators were found guilty. Vogel argues it was an unfair trial that was presided over by Judge Andrew Miller and was prosecuted by P. W. Lanier, two of Langer's strongest political opponents in the state.

Vogel identifies a number of problems in the first trial, including biased jury selection and Judge Miller issuing heavily biased and opinionated instructions to the jury.

Because of the felony conviction, the North Dakota Supreme Court ordered him removed from office, and on July 17, 1934, the Court declared Lieutenant Governor Ole H. Olson the legitimate governor. Langer gathered with about ten friends, declared North Dakota independent, declared martial law, and barricaded himself in the governor's mansion until the Supreme Court would meet with him. Langer eventually relented, and Olson served the remainder of Langer's term as Governor.

In 1935 the convictions were overturned on appeal. The case against Langer was retried twice in 1935. Judge Miller, following a recusal motion by Langer, refused to step down as judge in the first retrial, which resulted in a hung jury. In between the second and third trials, U.S. Attorney Lanier filed charges against Langer for committing perjury in his recusal motion against Judge Miller. This trial, unprecedented in its nature on perjury in an affidavit requesting a recusal, resulted in a directed verdict to acquit Langer. The second retrial under a different judge resulted in Langer's acquittal.

Throughout all of the trials, Langer maintained that he was innocent and was the victim of a political vendetta from Judge Miller and U.S. Attorney Lanier, and was returned to the governorship in the 1936 election. Historian Lawrence Larsen calls him "a master of "political theater."

Langer's wife, Lydia, ran for governor in 1934 but lost.

Later political life

In 1938 Langer ran for the Senate as an independent, and received 42% of the vote; he was defeated by Republican Gerald Nye.

The 1940 election was another very dramatic one. Langer defeated incumbent Lynn Frazier in the Republican primary, and then faced both the Democratic candidate, Charles 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 to be the ultimate judge of the elections, qualifications, and returns of its members. The Senate seated Langer conditionally and then began an investigation into his trials. The Committee on Privileges and Elections found Langer guilty of "moral turpitude" and was judged unqualified to be a U.S. senator. The full Senate reversed the committee, and voted to seat Langer.

Senator Langer was an isolationist, wanting to minimize America’s involvement in World War II. At home, he concentrated on making life easier for the farmers of North Dakota by raising wheat prices and granting government relief, although amidst rumors of great scandal. He was also very adamant about implementing affordable healthcare for everyone. As a senator, he served on the Post Office, Civil Service and Indian Affairs committees. He and Henrik Shipstead of Minnesota were the only senators to vote against the United Nations Charter in 1945.

He proposed a bill for the United States federal government to pay for the repatriation of Negroes to the African continent, after being asked to do so by black separatist organizations. The bill, called S. 1800, failed to pass.

In 1950, "Wild Bill" filibustered for 29 hours, 53 minutes on September 22 to 23. The filibuster was for the veto of a Communist registration bill.

Following the merger of the Nonpartisan League 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. Langer died in Washington, D.C. on November 8, 1959.

Political offices

• 1914-1916: State's Attorney for 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

Publications

• "The Famine in Germany", Published by U.S. Govt. print. off., 1946

See also

• North Dakota United States Senate election, 1952
• North Dakota United States Senate election, 1958

Further reading

• Holzworth, John M. "The Fighting Governor: The Story of William Langer and the State of North Dakota." The Pointer Press (1938).
• Smith, Glen H. Langer of North Dakota: A Study in Isolationism, 1940-1959. (1979). 238 pp. standard scholarly biography
• Smith, Glenn. "William Langer," in Thomas W. Howard, ed. The North Dakota Political Tradition (1981)
• Tweton, D. Jerome. "The Politics of Chaos: North Dakota in the 1930s," Journal of the West, Fall 2002, Vol. 41 Issue 4, pp 30–35

External links

• William Langer Papers at the University of North Dakota
• North Dakota Governors - William Langer
• Entry on the secession of North Dakota
• Várdy, Steven Béla and Tooly, T. Hunt: Ethnic Cleansing in Twentieth-Century Europe Available as MS Word for Windows file (3.4 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. 244–262

Legal offices
Preceded by Henry Linde	Attorney General of North Dakota 1917–1920	Succeeded by William Lemke
Political offices
Preceded by George F. Shafer	Governor of North Dakota 1933–1934	Succeeded by Ole H. Olson
Preceded by Walter Welford	Governor of North Dakota 1937–1939	Succeeded by John Moses
Preceded by Pat McCarran	Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee 1953–1955	Succeeded by Harley M. Kilgore
United States Senate
Preceded by Lynn Frazier	U.S. Senator (Class 1) from North Dakota 1941–1959 Served alongside: Gerald Nye, John Moses, Milton Young	Succeeded by C. Norman Brunsdale