Arthur Bernard Langlie (July 25, 1900 – July 24, 1966) was an American politician who served as the mayor of

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is the List of municipalities in Washington, most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the List of Unit ...

and was the 12th and 14th governor of the U.S. state of Washington from 1941 to 1945 and 1949 to 1957. He is the only mayor of Seattle to be elected Governor of Washington, as well as the only Governor in the state's history to serve non-consecutive terms.

Early life and education

Langlie was born in

Lanesboro, Minnesota Lanesboro is a city in Fillmore County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 754 at the 2010 census. It was named after F. A. Lane, an early landowner. The South Branch of the Root River flows through it, with a waterfall dam across ...

. His father, Bjarne Langlie, had emigrated from

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

. His mother, Carrie Dahl, was of Norwegian and Swedish ancestry. He moved with his family to Washington's

Kitsap Peninsula The Kitsap Peninsula () lies west of Seattle across Puget Sound, in Washington state in the Pacific Northwest. Hood Canal separates the peninsula from the Olympic Peninsula on its west side. The peninsula, a.k.a. "Kitsap", encompasses all of Kits ...

at the age of nine. Langlie was graduated from Union High School, in

Bremerton, Washington Bremerton is a city in Kitsap County, Washington, Kitsap County, Washington (state), Washington, United States. The population was 43,505 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and an estimated 44,122 in 2021, making it the largest city ...

. Langlie earned a

Bachelor of Laws A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...

from the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...

in 1925, where he was a member of

Phi Kappa Sigma Phi Kappa Sigma (), also known as Phi Kap, Skulls, Skullhouse, or PKS, is an international all-male college secret society and social fraternity. Commonly known as “Skulls”, the name is inspired by the skull and crossbones on the fraternity ...

fraternity.

Career

After graduating from the University of Washington, Langlie became a senior partner in the law firm of Langlie, Todd, and Nickell. He practiced law in Seattle for nearly 10 years before winning a

Seattle City Council The Seattle City Council is the legislative body of the city of Seattle, Washington. The Council consists of nine members serving four-year terms, seven of which are elected by electoral districts and two of which are elected in citywide at-larg ...

seat in 1935 as a candidate of the New Order of Cincinnatus. He served as mayor of Seattle from 1938 to 1941. He became the Republican candidate for governor in 1940 and won a narrow victory. He is to date the only mayor of Seattle to be elected governor of Washington. At 40, Langlie was the youngest governor in the history of the state until Daniel Jackson Evans took office in 1965 at 39. Langlie was defeated for re-election in 1944 by Democrat Monrad C. Wallgren but won the office back by defeating Wallgren in 1948. Langlie is the only Washington governor to regain that office after losing it. In 1952, he was one of five people on the shortlist for the Republican vice presidential nomination.

Dwight Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was the 34th president of the United States, serving from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, he was Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionar ...

instead chose

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 until Resignation of Richard Nixon, his resignation in 1974. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican ...

. He was an unsuccessful candidate for the

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

in 1956. Langlie's legacy as governor included the establishment of the

Washington State Ferries Washington State Ferries (WSF) is a public ferry system in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. It is a division of the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) and operates 10 routes serving 20 terminals within Puget ...

system, the completion of road and bridge projects, and some of the first environmental measures adopted in the state of Washington. Langlie left politics after failing in his 1956 campaign to defeat Democratic U.S. Senator Warren G. Magnuson. Los Angeles financier

Norton Simon Norton Winfred Simon (February 5, 1907 – June 2, 1993) was an American industrialist and philanthropist. He was at one time one of the wealthiest men in America. At the time of his death, he had amassed a net worth of nearly US$10 billion. S ...

asked Langlie to take charge of the McCall publishing house that Simon had just acquired. In 1958, Langlie was named as the new president of the

McCall Corporation McCall Corporation was an American publishing company that produced some popular magazines. These included ''Redbook'' for women, ''Blue Book (magazine), Bluebook'' for men, ''McCall's'', the ''Saturday Review (US magazine), Saturday Review'', a ...

.''Women's Periodicals in the United States - Consumer Magazines'', (by Kathleen L. Endres and Theresa L. Luech, Greenwood Publishing Group, 1995)

References

Other sources

* George W. Scott ''Arthur B. Langlie; Republican Governor in a Democratic Age'' (Ph.D. dissertation, University of Washington. 1971)

External links

*
Frederick G. Hamley Papers
1934–1956. 6.83 cubic feet. At th
Labor Archives of Washington, University of Washington Special Collections
, - , - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Langlie, Arthur B. 1900 births 1966 deaths American people of Norwegian descent American people of Swedish descent American Presbyterians Republican Party governors of Washington (state) Mayors of Seattle University of Washington School of Law alumni People from Lanesboro, Minnesota 20th-century mayors of places in Washington (state)