Joseph Alfred Arner Burnquist (July 21, 1879 – January 12, 1961) was an American attorney and Republican politician in Minnesota. He served in the

Minnesota State 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 decenni ...

from 1909 to 1911, was elected the 20th Lieutenant Governor of

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 ...

in 1912, and then served as the 19th Governor of Minnesota from December 30, 1915, to January 5, 1921. He became governor after the death of Governor

Winfield Scott Hammond Winfield Scott Hammond (November 17, 1863December 30, 1915) was an American politician. He was a member of the Democratic Party. He was the last governor from Minnesota to have been a member of the Minnesota Democratic Party before it merged wi ...

(1863–1915). Elected in 1938, Burnquist returned to serve as

Minnesota Attorney General The attorney general of Minnesota is a constitutional officer in the executive branch of the U.S. state of Minnesota. Thirty individuals have held the office of Attorney General since statehood. The incumbent is Keith Ellison, a Democratic-Farme ...

from January 2, 1939, until January 3, 1955, establishing what is now the second-longest record of continuous service in that position.

Early years

Joseph Alfred Arner Burnquist was born in Dayton, Iowa, to parents of Swedish descent. He attended

Carleton College Carleton College ( ) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Northfield, Minnesota, United States. Founded in 1866, the main campus is between Northfield and the approximately Carleton ...

Northfield, Minnesota Northfield is a city in Dakota County, Minnesota, Dakota and Rice County, Minnesota, Rice counties in the U.S. state, state of Minnesota. It is mostly in Rice County, with a small portion in Dakota County. The population was 20,790 at the 2020 U ...

, and earned his law degree in 1905 from the

University of Minnesota Law School The University of Minnesota Law School is the law school of the University of Minnesota, a public university in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The school confers four law degrees: a Juris Doctor (J.D.), a Master of Laws (LL.M.), a Master of Science in Pa ...

. After a brief time practicing law in

Saint Paul Paul, also named Saul of Tarsus, commonly known as Paul the Apostle and Saint Paul, was a Christian apostle ( AD) who spread the teachings of Jesus in the first-century world. For his contributions towards the New Testament, he is generally ...

, he was elected to 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 ...

in 1908, serving from 1909 to 1912.

Political career

Governor of Minnesota

During his second term as lieutenant governor, Burnquist succeeded Governor Hammond to office on December 30, 1915, who had died unexpectedly. Social and political tensions increased during the next two years, as Americans became concerned about the war in Europe. At the same time, labor unions were organizing and workers went on strike for better wages and conditions. Turbulent times surrounded the United States' entrance into the Great War (World War I) in 1917. Having attracted waves of European immigrants in the previous decades, US officials were anxious about the loyalties of these new residents and their native-born citizen descendants. Many classes in foreign languages were dropped from American public schools. In 1917, ten days after the US entered the war, Burnquist signed legislation to create the Minnesota Commission of Public Safety (MCPS) to monitor public sentiment toward the war. The seven-member commission, ostensibly nonpartisan, opposed groups and actions its members considered suspect, such as immigrants, labor unions, and the

Non-Partisan League The Nonpartisan League (NPL) was a left-wing political party founded in 1915 in North Dakota by Arthur C. Townley, a former organizer (party), organizer for the Socialist Party of America. On behalf of small farmers and merchants, the Nonpartisan ...

. Burnquist and the commission were granted near-dictatorial powers, which they used to advance their own business interests by suppressing labor unions. The MCPS also played into anti-German sentiment by targeting ethnic German Minnesotans. Governor Burnquist threatened German-American citizens in

New Ulm, Minnesota New Ulm ( ) is a city and the county seat of Brown County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 14,120 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is located on the triangle of land formed by the confluence of the Minnesota River a ...

, with deportation on suspicion of loyalty to

Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...

. The

Sedition Act of 1918 Sedition is overt conduct, such as speech or organization, that tends toward rebellion against the established order. Sedition often includes subversion of a constitution and incitement of discontent toward, or insurrection against, establ ...

curtailed free speech during time of war, and the

Immigration Act of 1919 Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not usual residents or where they do not possess nationality in order to settle as permanent residents. Commuters, tourists, and other short-ter ...

allowed officials to deport any alien or naturalized citizen who advocated the overthrow of the government by force. But Burnquist also worked in other areas. He initiated legislation to improve state highways, disaster assistance programs, labor relations, and, especially the welfare of children. He was elected to a full term in November 1918.

Attorney General of Minnesota

After leaving office, Burnquist practiced law for 17 years. During the 1920s, Burnquist wrote several works in the series "Minnesota and its People" at his home in Saint Paul. In 1939 he was elected as state

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...

. Repeatedly re-elected, he served 16 years and 1 day, nearly establishing the record for the longest-serving attorney general of Minnesota. (

Skip Humphrey Hubert Horatio "Skip" Humphrey III (born June 26, 1942) is an American retired politician who served as attorney general of the state of Minnesota (1983–1999) and State Senator (1973–1983). Humphrey led the Office of Older Americans as the as ...

served 16 years and 3 days by the end of his tenure in 1999, winning this ranking.)

President of Saint Paul NAACP Chapter

Burnquist was president of the Saint Paul chapter of the

NAACP The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is an American civil rights organization formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E. B. Du&nbs ...

from 1914 and ca. 1921. The Duluth lynchings occurred during his tenure in this position and also during his second term as governor; however, his responses to the event were cautious and limited.

Personal life

Burnquist was married on January 1, 1906, to Mary Louise Cross (1880–1966). Burnquist died in

Minneapolis Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

at the age of 81.

References

External links

*
Governors of MinnesotaMinnesota Legislators Past and Present

Other sources

*Algot E. Strand (1910) ''A History of the Swedish-Americans of Minnesota, Volume 3'' (Lewis Publishing)