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

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

, Washington and was the 12th and 14th governor of the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

from 1941 to 1945 and 1949 to 1957. To date, he is the only mayor of Seattle to be elected governor of Washington.

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 Fork of the Root River flows through it, with a waterfall dam across fro ...

. His father, Bjarne Langlie, had emigrated from

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...

. His mother, Carrie Dahl, was of

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...

and

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

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 Kit ...

at the age of nine. Langlie attended Coontz Junior High and graduated from Union High School, both in

Bremerton, Washington Bremerton is a city in Kitsap County, Washington. The population was 37,729 at the 2010 census and an estimated 41,405 in 2019, making it the largest city on the Kitsap Peninsula. Bremerton is home to Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and the Bremer ...

. Langlie earned a

Bachelor of Laws Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Ch ...

from the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattl ...

in 1925, where he was a member of

Phi Kappa Sigma Phi Kappa Sigma () is an international all-male college secret society and social fraternity. While nicknames differ from institution to institution, the most common nicknames for the fraternity are Skulls, Skullhouse, Phi Kap, and PKS (the fi ...

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-l ...

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 Dan Evans was elected. 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 instead chose

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...

. He was an unsuccessful candidate for the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

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

Washington State Ferries Washington State Ferries (WSF) is a government agency that operates automobile and passenger ferry service in the U.S. state of Washington as part of the Washington State Department of Transportation. It runs ten routes serving 20 terminals loc ...

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. ...

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, ''Bluebook'' for men, ''McCall's'', the '' Saturday Review'', and ''Popular Mechanics''. It also published ''Better L ...

.''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 20th-century American politicians American people of Dutch descent American people of Norwegian descent American Presbyterians Republican Party governors of Washington (state) Mayors of Seattle University of Washington School of Law alumni People from Lanesboro, Minnesota