George Theodore Mickelson (July 23, 1903 – February 28, 1965) was an American lawyer, 16th

Attorney General of South Dakota The Attorney General of South Dakota is the state attorney general of the U.S. state of South Dakota. The attorney general is elected by popular vote to a four-year term and holds an executive position as the state's chief legal officer. In 1992, ...

and 18th

Governor of South Dakota The governor of South Dakota is the head of government of South Dakota. The governor is elected to a four-year term in even years when there is no presidential election. The current governor is Kristi Noem, a member of the Republican Party who t ...

, and a

United States district judge The United States district courts are the trial courts of the U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each federal judicial district, which each cover one U.S. state or, in some cases, a portion of a state. Each district cou ...

of the

United States District Court for the District of South Dakota The United States District Court for the District of South Dakota (in case citations, D.S.D.) is the United States District Court or the Federal district court, whose jurisdiction for issues pertaining to federal law or diversity for the state of ...

. He is the patriarch of the prominent Mickelson family of

South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state in the North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux Native American tribes, who comprise a large porti ...

Early life and education

George T. Mickelson was born near

Selby Selby is a market town and civil parish in the Selby District of North Yorkshire, England, south of York on the River Ouse, with a population at the 2011 census of 14,731. The town was historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire until ...

in Walworth County,

, the son of Emma L. (Craig) and George M. Mickelson. His father was a Norwegian immigrant, and his maternal grandparents were German. Mickelson was the first Governor of South Dakota to be born in the twentieth century. Mickelson received 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 South Dakota School of Law The University of South Dakota School of Law also known as University of South Dakota Knudson School of Law or USD Law in Vermillion, South Dakota, United States, is a professional school of the University of South Dakota and the only law school in ...

in 1927. He was a member of the

Lambda Chi Alpha Lambda Chi Alpha (), commonly known as Lambda Chi, is a college fraternity in North America which was founded at Boston University in 1909. It is one of the largest social fraternities in North America, with more than 300,000 lifetime members a ...

social fraternity. He did not take the bar exam as he was admitted to the South Dakota bar under the state's

diploma privilege In the United States, the diploma privilege is a method for lawyers to be admitted to the bar (i.e. authorized to practice law) without taking a bar examination. Wisconsin is the only jurisdiction that currently allows diploma privilege as an alt ...

. That year he returned to Selby to practice law. He married Madge Turner and they had four children.

Career

Prior to serving as governor, Mickelson, a

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

, served as State's Attorney for Walworth County from 1933 to 1936. He served in the

South Dakota House of Representatives The South Dakota House of Representatives is the lower house of the South Dakota Legislature. It consists of 70 members, two from each legislative district. Two of the state's 35 legislative districts, Districts 26 and 28, are each subdivided into ...

from 1937 to 1943 and was Speaker of the House in his last term. He then served as

South Dakota Attorney General The Attorney General of South Dakota is the state attorney general of the U.S. state of South Dakota. The attorney general is elected by popular vote to a four-year term and holds an executive position as the state's chief legal officer. In 1992, ...

from 1943 to 1947.

1942 Attorney General election

On May 9, 1942, Mickelson announced his candidacy for Attorney General. On June 8, 1942, Mickelson won the nomination at the convention in a field of five candidates on the second vote with 110,090 votes; 31,359 votes for Harold O. Lovre of Hayti; 17,049 for William J Metzger of Olivet; 6,773 votes for Assistant Attorney General Erwin R. Erickson of Vermillion; and 1,610 votes for E.B. Adams of Hot Springs. Mickelson defeated Democrat Lynn Fellows of Plankinton by a vote count of 108,155 to 62,527 votes.

1944 Attorney General election

On February 22, 1944, Mickelson declared that he would run for re-election. On August 1, 1944, Fred Wheeler of Custer was unopposed and nominated for Attorney General at the Democratic Convention in Aberdeen. Mickelson was re-elected defeating Democrat Wheeler by a count of 137,311 to 83,441 votes.

Gubernatorial elections

Mickelson became

in 1947, and served until 1951.

Presidential run

Mickelson ran as a favorite-son candidate in the 1952 South Dakota presidential primary, supporting

Dwight D. Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; ; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was an American military officer and statesman who served as the 34th president of the United States from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, ...

's national bid, and lost narrowly to Eisenhower's chief rival, Senator

Robert A. Taft Robert Alphonso Taft Sr. (September 8, 1889 – July 31, 1953) was an American politician, lawyer, and scion of the Republican Party's Taft family. Taft represented Ohio in the United States Senate, briefly served as Senate Majority Leade ...

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

Federal judicial service

Mickelson received a

recess appointment In the United States, a recess appointment is an appointment by the president of a federal official when the U.S. Senate is in recess. Under the U.S. Constitution's Appointments Clause, the President is empowered to nominate, and with the a ...

from President

on December 9, 1953, to the

, to a new seat authorized by 65 Stat. 710 following the certification of

Alfred Lee Wyman Alfred Lee Wyman (December 9, 1874 – December 15, 1953) was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of South Dakota. Education and career Born in Yankton, Dakota Territory (State of South Dakota fr ...

as disabled. He was nominated to the same position by President Eisenhower on January 11, 1954. He was confirmed by 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 ...

on February 9, 1954, and received his commission the next day. He served as Chief Judge from 1954 to 1965. He served until his death on February 28, 1965.

Notable clerk

Among Mickelson's judicial law clerks was

Roger Leland Wollman Roger Leland Wollman (born May 29, 1934) is a Senior United States Circuit Judge and former Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. He is the older brother of Harvey L. Wollman, former Governor of South Dakota. ...

Personal life

Mickelson is the patriarch of the prominent Mickelson family of South Dakota. Mickelson's son, George S. Mickelson, served as

from 1987 to 1993. They are the only father and son duo to serve in that office in the history of South Dakota. His grandson Mark Mickelson served as Speaker of the House of Representatives in the

South Dakota State Legislature The South Dakota State Legislature is the legislative branch of the government of South Dakota. It is a bicameral legislative body, consisting of the South Dakota Senate, which has 35 members, and the South Dakota House of Representatives, whic ...

from 2017-18.

Death

Mickelson died February 28, 1965, and is buried in Woodlawn Cemetery in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Soon after his death the

University of South Dakota The University of South Dakota (USD) is a public research university in Vermillion, South Dakota. Established by the Dakota Territory legislature in 1862, 27 years before the establishment of the state of South Dakota, USD is the flagship uni ...

named a new dormitory after him, George T. Mickelson Hall (better known as Mickelson Hall) opened in 1966."New 'U' Residence Halls To Honor Mickelson, Miss Beede," ''The Daily Plainsman'' (Huron, SD), January 30, 1966.

References

External links

* * ''The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography, Vol. 50'' (New York: James T. White & Company) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mickelson, George Theodore 1903 births 1965 deaths American people of Norwegian descent Republican Party governors of South Dakota Judges of the United States District Court for the District of South Dakota Speakers of the South Dakota House of Representatives South Dakota Attorneys General Republican Party members of the South Dakota House of Representatives United States district court judges appointed by Dwight D. Eisenhower 20th-century American judges Candidates in the 1952 United States presidential election 20th-century American politicians People from Walworth County, South Dakota University of South Dakota School of Law alumni 20th-century American lawyers