August Herman Andresen (October 11, 1890 – January 14, 1958) was an American

lawyer A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters. The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as w ...

and

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

from

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

. He served in the

U.S. Congress The United States Congress is the legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is a bicameral legislature, including a lower body, the U.S. House of Representatives, and an upper body, the U.S. Senate. They both ...

as a Republican for thirty-one years.

Background

August Herman Andresen was born in Newark, Illinois to Reverend Ole and Anna Andresen. He graduated from

St. Olaf College St. Olaf College is a private liberal arts college in Northfield, Minnesota, United States. It was founded in 1874 by a group of Norwegian-American pastors and farmers led by Pastor Bernt Julius Muus. The college is named after the King and th ...

in 1912 and

William Mitchell College of Law William Mitchell College of Law was a private law school from 1956 to 2015 in Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States. Accredited by the American Bar Association (ABA), it offered full- and part-time legal education in pursuit of the Juris Doctor (J. ...

(then the St. Paul College of Law) in 1914.

Career

Andresen was first elected to Congress in 1925, serving the third district from 1925–1933, in the 69th, 70th, 71st, and 72nd congresses, and the first district from 1935 – 1958, in the 74th, 75th,

76th 76th may refer to: *76th Academy Awards ceremony honored films of 2003 *76th Air Army, an air army of the Soviet Air Forces from 1949 to 1980 and from 1988 to 1998 *76th Air Assault Division (Russia), a division of the Russian Airborne Troops based ...

, 77th, 78th, 79th, 80th, 81st, 82nd,

83rd 83rd may refer to: *83rd Academy Awards, a ceremony that honored the best films of 2010 in the United States and took place on February 27, 2011 *83rd Grey Cup, the 1995 Canadian Football League championship game *83rd meridian east, a line of lon ...

, 84th, and 85th congresses. In 1947-8, he served on the

Herter Committee The House Select Committee on Foreign Aid, or Herter Committee, was established to study the proposal that had been launched by General George Marshall in his speech at Harvard on June 5, 1947, for a Marshall Plan, in part as Cold War anticommunis ...

. By 1948, Andresen was the ranking member of the

House Agriculture Committee The United States House of Representatives Committee on Agriculture, or Agriculture Committee is a standing committee of the United States House of Representatives. The House Committee on Agriculture has general jurisdiction over federal agricul ...

. In 1952, Andresen had been one of President

Dwight D. 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 ...

's finalists for

Secretary of Agriculture The United States secretary of agriculture is the head of the United States Department of Agriculture. The position carries similar responsibilities to those of agriculture ministers in other governments The department includes several organiz ...

, but Andresen declined to give up his seat. Andresen voted in favor of the

Civil Rights Act of 1957 The Civil Rights Act of 1957 was the first federal civil rights law passed by the United States Congress since the Civil Rights Act of 1875. The bill was passed by the 85th United States Congress and signed into law by President Dwight D. E ...

Personal life and death

In 1914 he married Julia Lien. August H. Andresen died age 67 on January 14, 1958.

References

Other sources

External links