Marvin Lewis Kline (August 9, 1903 – April 9, 1974) was an architectural engineer,

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 ...

politician, charity head, and criminal who served as the 34th

mayor of Minneapolis This is a list of mayors of Minneapolis, Minnesota. The current mayor is Jacob Frey (DFL). Minneapolis From 1867 to 1878 mayors were elected for a 1-year term. Beginning in 1878 the term was extended to 2 years. As the city became larger and mo ...

Early life and career

Kline was born in Brunswick, Nebraska in 1903. His family moved to

Redwood Falls, Minnesota Redwood Falls is a city in Redwood County, located along the Redwood River near its confluence with the Minnesota River, in the U.S. state of Minnesota. The population was 5,102 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat. History As the immig ...

in 1915 and he went on to attend the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public land-grant research university in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States. ...

, graduating in 1929 with a degree in architectural engineering. He worked with the Minnesota Department of Transportation and later formed his own company. In 1935, he was elected to the Minneapolis City Council. He was re-elected to a second term in 1939 and became the council's president.

Mayoralty

In 1941, Kline was elected mayor. During his time in office he worked with the city of St. Paul, Minnesota and the state government to form the jointly run

Metropolitan Airports Commission The Minneapolis-Saint Paul Metropolitan Airports Commission (MAC) is the owner and operator of Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport in Minnesota as well as six other reliever airports in the Twin Cities region, which primarily provide se ...

. Kline was criticized by some (including journalist Arthur Kasherman) of corruption and collusion with the city's criminal underworld. According to a contemporaneous

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, t ...

document, the SAC Rhodes of the FBI field office in

St. Paul Paul; grc, Παῦλος, translit=Paulos; cop, ⲡⲁⲩⲗⲟⲥ; hbo, פאולוס השליח (previously called Saul of Tarsus;; ar, بولس الطرسوسي; grc, Σαῦλος Ταρσεύς, Saũlos Tarseús; tr, Tarsuslu Pavlus; ...

was also reported to believe that "Kline is controlled by the racketeers". He was defeated in 1945 by

Hubert Humphrey Hubert Horatio Humphrey Jr. (May 27, 1911 – January 13, 1978) was an American pharmacist and politician who served as the 38th vice president of the United States from 1965 to 1969. He twice served in the United States Senate, representing Mi ...

who ran on a platform of

law and order In modern politics, law and order is the approach focusing on harsher enforcement and penalties as ways to reduce crime. Penalties for perpetrators of disorder may include longer terms of imprisonment, mandatory sentencing, three-strikes laws a ...

and cleaning up the city's government.

Charity crime

In 1946, Kline was hired as the executive director of the Sister Kenny Rehabilitation Institute, for which he had previously been in an unpaid position on their board of directors. In June 1960, Minnesota Attorney General

Walter Mondale Walter Frederick "Fritz" Mondale (January 5, 1928 – April 19, 2021) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 42nd vice president of the United States from 1977 to 1981 under President Jimmy Carter. A U.S. senator from Minnesota ...

released a report saying the Kline "was enabled to derive unconscionable personal profit from his position", including "fees" that had been paid to him from the people handling the charity's publicity and promotion. In 1961, Kline was convicted of

grand larceny Larceny is a crime involving the unlawful taking or theft of the personal property of another person or business. It was an offence under the common law of England and became an offence in jurisdictions which incorporated the common law of Engl ...

in state court for illegally boosting his salary as director by creating false documentation upping his salary from $25,000 per year to $48,000. He was sentenced to Stillwater Prison for 10 years. In 1963, he and four fellow defendants were convicted in federal court of conspiracy and mail fraud for having diverted millions of dollars in funds raised during the charity's mail-based fundraising campaigns. He was released from prison in 1967.

Later life and death

After being released, Kline briefly worked as an engineer at the

Twin Cities Army Ammunition Plant The Twin Cities Army Ammunition Plant was a United States Army ammunition plant located in Ramsey County, Minnesota in the current boundaries of the suburbs of Arden Hills, Minnesota, Arden Hills and New Brighton, Minnesota, New Brighton, bounded ...

before suffering from a stroke and retiring. Kline died of a heart attack in

Ventura, California Ventura, officially named San Buenaventura (Spanish for "Saint Bonaventure"), is a city on the Southern Coast of California and the county seat of Ventura County. The population was 110,763 at the 2020 census. Ventura is a popular tourist des ...

in 1974. He is buried in Blair, Nebraska.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kline, Marvin Lewis 1903 births 1974 deaths Mayors of Minneapolis University of Minnesota College of Science and Engineering alumni Minnesota Republicans People from Antelope County, Nebraska 20th-century American politicians People from Redwood Falls, Minnesota Minnesota politicians convicted of crimes Hubert Humphrey 20th-century American architects Political corruption in the United States Charity scandals American people convicted of theft