Adolph Olson Eberhart

Adolph Olson Eberhart
Adolph Olson Eberhart
17th Governor of Minnesota
In office September 21, 1909 – January 5, 1915
Lieutenant	Edward Everett Smith Samuel Y. Gordon Joseph A. A. Burnquist
Preceded by	John Albert Johnson
Succeeded by	Winfield Scott Hammond
17th Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota
In office January 7, 1907 – September 21, 1909
Governor	John Albert Johnson
Preceded by	Ray W. Jones
Succeeded by	Edward Everett Smith
Personal details
Born	(1870-06-23)June 23, 1870 Värmland, Sweden
Died	Savage, Minnesota, United States
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Adele O.M. Koke
Profession	politician
Religion	Lutheran

Adolph Olson Eberhart (June 23, 1870 – December 6, 1944) was an American politician, who served as the 17th Governor of Minnesota.

Background

Adolph Olson Eberhart was born in Kil, in Värmland, Sweden, the son of Andrew and Louise Olson. Because of bad economic conditions, Andrew, Louise and all of the family except Adolph emigrated to St. Peter, Minnesota. In 1882, Adolph joined the family there. Eberhart graduated from Gustavus Adolphus College, St. Peter, Minnesota (1895) and studied law in a law office in Mankato, Minnesota.

Career

Eberhart above a crowd at the 2013 Goodhue County Fair in Zumbrota, Minnesota

Eberhart was a member of the Minnesota State Senate from January 1903 to January 1907. He was elected the 17th Lieutenant Governor in 1906. He became the 17th Governor of Minnesota on September 21, 1909, when Governor John Albert Johnson died, and served until January 5, 1915. Eberhart was a Republican. Minnesota elected Governors and Lt. Governors on separate ballots until 1974, so it happened occasionally that the two were of different parties. Elected the youngest member of the state senate in 1902, the Republican Eberhart was chosen as lieutenant governor four years later in the administration of the legendary Democrat, John Albert Johnson. Although his first partial term as governor resulted from Johnson's death in 1909, he subsequently won the office twice on his own merits.

An efficient administrator, Eberhart was also a consummate politician, and his detractors, including many Republicans, questioned his sincerity as well as the reputation of certain close associates. To assure his re-nomination in 1912, he called a special 13-day legislative session and deflated his critics by bulldozing through such progressive reforms as rural school consolidation and primary elections. Eberhart's strategy worked; he avoided the censure of his own party and was re-nominated for a second full term in the first statewide primary.

Eberhart lost his re-nomination bid for a fourth term as governor. A second defeat in the 1916 U.S. Senate primary marked the end of his political career. After a career as a real estate and insurance executive in Chicago, he retired to a rest home where he died in Savage, Minnesota. An inventory of his gubernatorial records are maintained at the Minnesota Historical Society Library.

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Political offices
Preceded by Ray W. Jones	Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota 1907 – 1909	Succeeded by Edward Everett Smith
Preceded by John Albert Johnson	Governor of Minnesota 1909 – 1915	Succeeded by Winfield Scott Hammond