William Frederick Lemke (August 13, 1878 – May 30, 1950) was an American politician who represented
North Dakota
North Dakota () is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the indigenous Dakota Sioux. North Dakota is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north and by the U.S. states of Minnesota to the east, So ...
in the
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...
as a member of the
Republican Party. He was also the
Union Party's presidential candidate in the
1936 presidential election.
Life and career
He was born in
Albany, Minnesota, and raised in
Towner County, North Dakota
Towner County is a county in the U.S. state of North Dakota. As of the 2020 census, the population is 2,162. Its county seat is Cando. It is south of the Canada–US border with Manitoba.
History
The Dakota Territory legislature created the ...
, the son of Fred Lemke and Julia Anna Kleir, pioneer farmers who had accumulated some of land. As a boy, Lemke worked long hours on the family farm, attending a common school for only three months in the summers. However, the family did reserve enough money to send him to the
University of North Dakota, where he was not only a superior student, but also well known for his ability to impersonate the professors. Graduating in 1902, he stayed at the state university for the first year of law school but moved to
Georgetown University
Georgetown University is a private university, private research university in the Georgetown (Washington, D.C.), Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789 as Georg ...
, then to
Yale Law School
Yale Law School (Yale Law or YLS) is the law school of Yale University, a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was established in 1824 and has been ranked as the best law school in the United States by '' U.S. News & Worl ...
, where he finished work on his law degree and won the praise of the dean. He returned to his home state in 1905 to set up practice at
Fargo. Lemke was a
Freemason.
Lemke was the
attorney general of
North Dakota
North Dakota () is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the indigenous Dakota Sioux. North Dakota is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north and by the U.S. states of Minnesota to the east, So ...
from 1921 to 1922. Later, in 1932, he was elected to the
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...
, as a member of the
Non-Partisan League
The Nonpartisan League (NPL) was a left-wing political party founded in 1915 in North Dakota by Arthur C. Townley, a former organizer for the Socialist Party of America. On behalf of small farmers and merchants, the Nonpartisan League advocat ...
(NPL).
While in
Congress
A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...
, Lemke earned a reputation as a
progressive populist
Populism refers to a range of political stances that emphasize the idea of "the people" and often juxtapose this group against " the elite". It is frequently associated with anti-establishment and anti-political sentiment. The term develop ...
and supporter of the
New Deal, championing the causes of family
farmer
A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, raising living organisms for food or raw materials. The term usually applies to people who do some combination of raising field crops, orchards, vineyards, poultry, or other livestock. A farmer m ...
s and co-sponsoring legislation to protect farmers against foreclosures during the
Great Depression.
In 1934, Lemke co-sponsored the
Frazier–Lemke Farm Bankruptcy Act, restricting the ability of banks to repossess farms.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...
signed the act into law on June 28, 1934. The Act was later ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in ''
Louisville Joint Stock Land Bank v. Radford''. Lemke tried to get the Act re-passed by Congress, but was stymied by the Roosevelt administration which privately told Congressmen that they would exercise a Presidential veto against the bill. The Act was eventually re-passed and later held constitutional by the Supreme Court. Lemke was a political friend and ally of Louisiana populist
Huey Long
Huey Pierce Long Jr. (August 30, 1893September 10, 1935), nicknamed "the Kingfish", was an American politician who served as the 40th governor of Louisiana from 1928 to 1932 and as a United States senator from 1932 until his assassination ...
prior to his assassination in 1935.
In June 1936, Lemke accepted the nomination of the
Union Party, a short-lived
third party, as its candidate for President of the United States.
He received 892,378 votes, or just under two percent nationwide, and no
electoral votes in the
1936 election. Lemke did outpoll
Alf Landon
Alfred Mossman Landon (September 9, 1887October 12, 1987) was an American oilman and politician who served as the 26th governor of Kansas from 1933 to 1937. A member of the Republican Party, he was the party's nominee in the 1936 presidential el ...
in six North Dakota counties and remained the last third-party presidential candidate to outpoll a major-party nominee in any non-southern county until
George Wallace outpolled
Hubert Humphrey in
Utah's arch-Republican
Kane County in
1968 and his successor
John G. Schmitz outpolled
George McGovern in four
Idaho
Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyomi ...
counties in 1972. Simultaneously, he was reelected to the House of Representatives as a Republican. Many believe Lemke's acceptance of the Union Party nomination in 1936 was out of bitterness toward Roosevelt over the farm mortgage issue. Through the Union Party, Lemke befriended other populists such as Fr.
Charles Coughlin
Charles Edward Coughlin ( ; October 25, 1891 – October 27, 1979), commonly known as Father Coughlin, was a Canadian-American Catholic priest based in the United States near Detroit. He was the founding priest of the National Shrine of the ...
.
In 1940, having already received the Republican nomination for a fifth House term, he withdrew from that race to launch an unsuccessful run as an independent for the
U.S. Senate. He ran again for the House in 1942 as a Republican and served four more terms, until his death in 1950.
From 1943 to 1948, Lemke was the champion for establishment of the Theodore Roosevelt National Memorial Park (now
Theodore Roosevelt National Park
Theodore Roosevelt National Park is an American national park of the badlands in western North Dakota comprising three geographically separated areas. Honoring U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt, it is the only American national park named direc ...
). The National Park Service did not support this proposal, and oddly enough Lemke was no admirer of Theodore Roosevelt, but he seems to have pursued the establishment of a park in anticipation of the economic benefits it might bring to the region. His efforts were ultimately successful, with the park established by act of Congress in June, 1948.
Lemke died of a heart attack in
Fargo, North Dakota and is buried in Riverside Cemetery.
Former
Atlanta Braves
The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The Braves were founded in Bos ...
baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...
player
Mark Lemke
Mark Alan Lemke (born August 13, 1965) is a former Major League Baseball player and current broadcaster. Nicknamed "the Lemmer", he was a popular second baseman for the Atlanta Braves from to . He won the 1995 World Series with the Braves over ...
is Lemke's second cousin twice removed.
Bibliography
* Edward C. Blackorby. "William Lemke: Agrarian Radical and Union Party Presidential Candidate," ''The Mississippi Valley Historical Review,'' Vol. 49, No. 1. (Jun., 1962), pp. 67–84
in JSTOR University of North Dakota.
* "Lemke, William" in ''American National Biography''. American Council of Learned Societies, 2000.
See also
*
List of United States Congress members who died in office (1950–99)
References
Notes
External links
Dakota Datebook -- August 13, 2004from North Dakota Public Radio (via PrairiePublic.org) -- article on Lemke
Memorial services held in the House of Representatives of the United States, together with remarks presented in eulogy of William Lemke, late a representative from North Dakota frontispiece 1951
, -
, -
, -
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lemke, William
1878 births
1950 deaths
20th-century American politicians
American people of German descent
Candidates in the 1936 United States presidential election
Georgetown University Law Center alumni
Nonpartisan League members of the United States House of Representatives
North Dakota Attorneys General
North Dakota Democrats
North Dakota Independents
North Dakota lawyers
People from Albany, Minnesota
People from Towner County, North Dakota
Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from North Dakota
University of North Dakota alumni
Yale Law School alumni
Union Party (United States) politicians