Ben Meier (August 1, 1918 – October 2, 1995) was a

North Dakota Republican Party The North Dakota Republican Party is the North Dakota affiliate of the United States Republican Party. Its platform is conservative. It is currently the dominant party in the state, controlling North Dakota's at-large U.S. House seat, both U.S ...

politician who served as the Secretary of State of

North Dakota North Dakota ( ) is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the indigenous Dakota people, Dakota and Sioux peoples. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north and by the U.S. states of Minneso ...

for a record tenure of 34 years from January 1, 1955, to December 31, 1988. This tenure makes him the second longest serving state level Secretary of State in

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

history. Bill Gardner of

New Hampshire New Hampshire ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

, who served for 54 years, from 1976 to 2022, surpassed Meier's record on December 9, 2010.

Biography

Ben Meier was born in

Napoleon, North Dakota Napoleon is a city in Logan County, North Dakota, United States. It is the county seat of Logan County. The population was 749 at the 2020 census. History Napoleon was founded in 1886 and named for Napoleon Goodsill, a realtor from Steele w ...

on August 1, 1918. He was educated in

Logan County Logan County is the name of ten current counties and one former county in the United States: * Logan County, Arkansas * Logan County, Colorado * Logan County, Idaho (1889–1895) * Logan County, Illinois * Logan County, Kansas * Logan County ...

rural schools, and he received his high school education by correspondence. He attended Dakota Business College, and the School of Banking of the

University of Wisconsin–Madison The University of Wisconsin–Madison (University of Wisconsin, Wisconsin, UW, UW–Madison, or simply Madison) is a public land-grant research university in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. It was founded in 1848 when Wisconsin achieved st ...

. He worked at banks in Napoleon, Gackle, and Hazelton from 1943 until 1950. While working in Hazelton, he was the owner of the bank. He moved to Bismarck in the early 1950s and worked with insurance, banking, and real estate. He also became involved in state politics when he was first elected as the

North Dakota Secretary of State The North Dakota secretary of state is an elected office in the U.S. state of North Dakota. The incumbent was Michael Howe. Duties of the secretary of state include being the custodian of the state's Great Seal and other official state documents ...

in 1954. Until his departure from office on December 31, 1988, he served a total of 34 years in the position which made him the longest serving state official in North Dakota's history. This record was later broken by Bruce Hagen, who served 39 years as a

North Dakota Public Service Commissioner The North Dakota Public Service Commission is a constitutional agency that maintains various degrees of statutory authority over utilities, telecommunications, railroads, grain elevators, pipeline safety, and other functions in North Dakota. Esta ...

. His tenure made him the longest serving state level Secretary of State in

history. He was married to Clara Kaczyinski in 1944, who was a teacher.North Dakota Blue Book, 1988 They had two sons; Lynn, who died while a medical student at the

University of North Dakota The University of North Dakota (UND) is a Public university, public research university in Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States. It was established by the Dakota Territory, Dakota Territorial Assembly in 1883, six years before the establishm ...

in 1974, and Bernie. Meier died in Bismarck on October 2, 1995, at age 77, and his wife Clara is still residing in Bismarck.

Notes

1918 births 1995 deaths Secretaries of state of North Dakota North Dakota Republicans People from Logan County, North Dakota University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni 20th-century North Dakota politicians {{NorthDakota-politician-stub