Arlen Ingolf Erdahl (February 27, 1931 – September 21, 2023) was an American commercial farmer and politician. He served as a member of the

Minnesota House of Representatives The Minnesota House of Representatives is the lower chamber of the U.S. state of Minnesota's Minnesota Legislature, legislature. It operates in conjunction with the Minnesota Senate, the state's upper chamber, to write and pass legislation, whic ...

from 1963 to 1970, Minnesota Secretary of State from 1971–1975 and was a U.S. Representative from

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

, serving the first district from 1979–1983, in the 96th and 97th congresses. Erdahl had Presidential appointments to serve as Country Director and later Associate Director for the Peace Corps from 1983 to 1989 and as Principal Deputy/Acting Assistant Secretary for International Affairs at the U.S. Department of Energy from 1989 to 1993. He served on the boards of the United Nations Association of Minnesota, Nobel Peace Prize Forum, Minnesota chapter of People to People, Minneapolis Lodge of the Sons of Norway, and Growth & Justice. In 1999 he received the

Twin Cities Twin cities are a special case of two neighboring cities or urban centres that grow into a single conurbation – or narrowly separated urban areas – over time. There are no formal criteria, but twin cities are generally comparable in stat ...

International Citizen Award and in 2011 was recognized for his public leadership and service with the Hubert H. Humphrey Public Leadership Award by the

Humphrey School of Public Affairs The Hubert H. Humphrey School of Public Affairs is a public policy and planning school at the University of Minnesota, a public land-grant research university in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Minnesota. It is named after Huber ...

at the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...

Early life

Arlen Ingolf Erdahl was born in Blue Earth, Faribault County, Minnesota, to a Norwegian-born mother and a father of Norwegian descent. He attended Faribault County public schools. He graduated from St. Olaf College (B.A. 1953) and

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

(M.P.A., 1966). He served in

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

from 1954–1956. He was a grain/livestock farmer.

Political career

Erdahl served in the

from 1963 to 1970 and was a Republican. He then served as Minnesota Secretary of State from 1971 to 1975. From 1975 to 1978, Erdahl served on the Minnesota Public Service Commission. Then he served in the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

from 1979 to 1983. His cousin was Dale Erdahl who also served in the

Minnesota Legislature The Minnesota Legislature is the bicameral legislature of the U.S. state of Minnesota consisting of two houses: the Senate and the House of Representatives. Senators are elected from 67 single-member districts. In order to account for decenn ...

. His successful 1978 Congressional campaign was managed by Arlen Wittrock. For Erdahl's four years as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, Keith Hall served as his Washington Chief of Staff and Arlen Wittrock served as his Minnesota Chief of Staff.

Later career and legacy

In April, 2011 he was recognized for his public leadership and service with the Hubert H. Humphrey Public Leadership Award by the Humphrey School of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota. The Arlen Inglof Erdahl collection at the Southern Minnesota Historical Center, Memorial Library at the

Minnesota State University, Mankato Minnesota State University, Mankato (MNSU, MSU, or Minnesota State) is a public university in Mankato, Minnesota, United States. It is Minnesota's second-largest university and has over 145,000 living alumni worldwide. Founded in 1868, it is t ...

contains materials about his seven years in the Minnesota House of Representatives and his campaign for Minnesota Secretary of State in 1970. Arlen Erdahl died on September 21, 2023, at the age of 92. He had

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease and the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As the disease advances, symptoms can include problems wit ...

in his later years.

References

External links

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Arlen Erdahl photograph
{{DEFAULTSORT:Erdahl, Arlen 1931 births 2023 deaths American people of Norwegian descent Farmers from Minnesota Harvard Kennedy School alumni Republican Party members of the Minnesota House of Representatives Military personnel from Minnesota Peace Corps people People from Blue Earth, Minnesota People from Burnsville, Minnesota Secretaries of state of Minnesota St. Olaf College alumni United States Army soldiers United States Department of Energy officials Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Minnesota Members of Congress who became lobbyists Deaths from Alzheimer's disease in Minnesota 20th-century members of the United States House of Representatives 20th-century members of the Minnesota Legislature