Gilbert Nelson Haugen (April 21, 1859 – July 18, 1933) was a seventeen-term Republican

U.S. Representative 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 c ...

from

Iowa's 4th congressional district Iowa's 4th congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of Iowa that covers its northwestern part, bordering the states of Minnesota, South Dakota, and Nebraska, and the Missouri River. The district includes Sioux ...

, then located in northeastern Iowa. For nearly five years, he was the longest-serving member of the House. Born before the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...

, and first elected to Congress in the 19th century, Haugen served until his defeat in the 1932

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 ...

landslide. From 1928 to 1933, he was the longest-serving member of the House and was the

Dean of the United States House of Representatives The dean of the United States House of Representatives is the longest continuously serving member of the House. The current dean is Hal Rogers, a Republican Party U.S. Representative from Kentucky, who has served in the House since 1981. The dea ...

Biography

Born near

Orfordville, Wisconsin Orfordville is a village in Rock County, Wisconsin, United States, at the intersection of Highway 11, Highway 213, and the Wisconsin and Southern Railroad. The population was 1,442 at the 2010 census. History The origin of its name came when a ...

, Haugen attended rural schools. He moved to

Decorah, Iowa Decorah is a city in and the county seat of Winneshiek County, Iowa, United States. The population was 7,587 at the time of the 2020 census. Decorah is located at the intersection of State Highway 9 and U.S. Route 52, and is the largest commun ...

, in 1873 and engaged in agricultural pursuits. He attended Breckenridge College in Decorah, and Academic and Commercial College, in

Janesville, Wisconsin Janesville is a city in Rock County, Wisconsin, United States. It is the county seat and largest city in the county. It is a principal municipality of the Janesville, Wisconsin, Metropolitan Statistical Area and is included in the Madison–Jan ...

. After leaving college, Haugen engaged in various enterprises, principally real estate and banking. Moving to

Northwood, Iowa Northwood is a city in Worth County, Iowa, United States, along the Shell Rock River. The population was 2,072 at the time of the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Worth County. Northwood is part of the Mason City Micropolitan Statistical ...

in 1886, Haugen engaged in banking. In 1890, he organized the Northwood Banking Co. and became its president. He also served as treasurer of

Worth County, Iowa Worth County is a county located in the U.S. state of Iowa. As of the 2020 census, the population was 7,443. The county seat is Northwood. The county was founded in 1851 and named for Major General William Jenkins Worth (1794–1849), an off ...

, from 1887 to 1893. In 1894, Haugen was elected to his first of two terms in the

Iowa House of Representatives The Iowa House of Representatives is the lower house of the Iowa General Assembly, the upper house being the Iowa Senate. There are 100 seats in the Iowa House of Representatives, representing 100 single-member districts across the state, formed ...

, where he served until 1898. That year, he was elected as a Republican to represent Iowa's 4th congressional district in the U.S. House, first serving in the Fifty-sixth Congress. He was re-elected sixteen times. On April 5, 1917, he was one of the 50 representatives who voted against declaring war on Germany. He served as chairman of the Committee on Expenditures in the Department of the Interior (in the Sixtieth Congress), and on the Committee on Agriculture (in the Sixty-sixth through Seventy-first Congresses). Haugen served as the U. S. Congressional Agriculture Committee's chairman from 1919 to 1931. Together with Senator

Charles L. McNary Charles Linza McNary (June 12, 1874February 25, 1944) was an American Republican Party (United States), Republican politician from Oregon. He served in the United States Senate, U.S. Senate from 1917 to 1944 and was Party leaders of the United ...

(R-Oregon), Haugen was the co-author of the

McNary–Haugen Farm Relief Bill The McNary–Haugen Farm Relief Act, which never became law, was a controversial plan in the 1920s to subsidize American agriculture by raising the domestic prices of five crops. The plan was for the government to buy each crop and then store it o ...

, a moderate farm relief bill which was offered in three separate congresses before finally passing in 1927. The McNary–Haugen Farm Relief Act was a proposed bill to limit agricultural sales within the United States. Agricultural products would be either stored or exported to protect the prices of commodities. The bill was supported by Secretary of Agriculture Henry C. Wallace and even Vice President

Charles Dawes Charles Gates Dawes (August 27, 1865 – April 23, 1951) was an American banker, general, diplomat, composer, and Republican politician who was the 30th vice president of the United States from 1925 to 1929 under Calvin Coolidge. He was a co-rec ...

; however, it was vetoed by President Calvin Coolidge, and never went into effect. In May 1928, Haugen had served longer than any of his House colleagues, earning him the informal title of

, a title that he would hold for five years. He was the last Republican Dean of the House for more than eight decades, until Don Young assumed the title in 2017. In all, he served in Congress from March 4, 1899, to March 4, 1933. In 1932, Haugen, like many other Republican candidates, was defeated in the Roosevelt landslide, losing to Democratic publisher Fred Biermann of Decorah. Several months after leaving Congress, Haugen died at Northwood, on July 18, 1933. He was interred in Sunset Rest Cemetery in Northwood.

References

Other sources

*Harstad, Peter T. & Lindemann, Bonnie (1992). ''Gilbert N. Haugen: Norwegian-American Farm Politician''. Iowa City: State Historical Society of Iowa. *Michael, Bonnie (July/August 1978). "Gilbert N. Haugen. Apprentice Congressman". ''

Palimpsest In textual studies, a palimpsest () is a manuscript page, either from a scroll or a book, from which the text has been scraped or washed off so that the page can be reused for another document. Parchment was made of lamb, calf, or kid skin an ...

''. 59: 118-129. *Murphy, Daniel D. (1911). ''Contested Election Case of D. D. Murphy v. G.N. Haugen from the Fourth Congressional District of Iowa''. Washington: Government Printing Office. *Schacht, John N. (1980). ''Three Progressives From Iowa: Gilbert N. Haugen, Herbert C. Hoover, Henry A. Wallace''. Iowa City: Center for the Study of the Recent History of the United States.

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Haugen, Gilbert Nelson 1859 births 1933 deaths Republican Party members of the Iowa House of Representatives American Lutherans American people of Norwegian descent People from Orfordville, Wisconsin People from Worth County, Iowa Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Iowa People from Decorah, Iowa Deans of the United States House of Representatives