John Hugo Aronson (September 1, 1891 – February 25, 1978) was an American businessman and politician from the Republican Party and the 14th Governor of the

State of Montana Montana ( ) is a landlocked state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota to the east, South Dakota to the southeast, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of ...

Biography

John Hugo Aronson was born in

Gällstad Gällstad is a Urban areas in Sweden, locality situated in Ulricehamn Municipality, Västra Götaland County, Sweden with 471 inhabitants in 2010. Sports The following sports clubs are located in Gällstad: * Gällstads FK Notable people * J. H ...

Älvsborg County Älvsborg County () was a county of Sweden until 1997, when it was merged with the counties of Gothenburg & Bohus and Skaraborg to form Västra Götaland County. The county corresponded to the traditional province of Dalsland and the central ...

, Sweden. He was one of five children born to Johan Aron Johanson (1856–1927) and Juliana Fredrika Johansdotter (1857–1940). Aronson was married twice, to Matilda Langane and then to Rose McClure.

Career

In 1915, Aronson filed for a homestead in Elk Basin, Montana. In 1922 oil was discovered in the Kevin Sunburst Oil Field in Toole County, among the richest Montana's natural gas and oil fields. Aronson operated his own rig-building outfit. He soon added a trucking business to the rig-building company and started advertising as "The Galloping Swede". He served as a member of

Montana House of Representatives The Montana House of Representatives is, with the Montana Senate, one of the two houses of the Montana Legislature. Composed of 100 members, the House elects its leadership every two years. Composition of the House In the event that the parti ...

in 1938 and the

Montana Senate The Montana State Senate is the upper house of the Montana Legislature, the state legislative branch of the U.S. state of Montana. The body is composed of 50 senators elected for four years. Half of the Senate is up for election every two years. ...

in 1944. Aronson ran for

Governor of Montana A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the type of political region or polity, a ''governor'' ma ...

1952 Events January–February * January 26 – Cairo Fire, Black Saturday in Kingdom of Egypt, Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses. * February 6 ** Princess Elizabeth, ...

, challenging incumbent Democratic governor John W. Bonner, whom he ended up narrowly defeating. When he ran for re-election in

1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan after 57 years. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian Missionary, missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, E ...

, he was opposed by

State Attorney General The state attorney general in each of the 50 U.S. states, of the District of Columbia, federal district, or of any of the Territories of the United States, territories is the chief legal advisor to the State governments of the United States, sta ...

Arnold Olsen Arnold Olsen (December 17, 1916 – October 9, 1990) was a U.S. Democratic politician who served as the Attorney General of Montana from 1949 to 1957, and as a member of the United States House of Representatives from Montana's 1st congressiona ...

, whom he defeated by a slim margin to win his second and final term as governor. Aronson authorized the exclusive revenue for the state Highway Department with the creation of state gasoline user taxes. Governor Aronson also authorized the creation of the Legislative Council to assist the legislative branch in the creation of necessary law.''Montana Governor John Hugo Aronson'' (National Governors Association)
Aronson died in the Veterans Hospital at

Columbia Falls, Montana Columbia Falls is a city along the Flathead River in Flathead County, Montana, United States. The population was 5,308 at the 2020 census. Columbia Falls has been ranked as one of the best and safest places to live in Montana. History The ...

, exactly ten years after his wife's death. He was buried in Pleasant View Cemetery, Mondovi, Lincoln County, Washington.

References

External links

Biography and Papers of Aronson
from the

Northwest Digital Archives Archives West is an online catalog of descriptive information about the archival collections at various institutions in the western United States (Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Alaska, Utah and Washington). It was established in 2005, and is a program off ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Aronson, J. Hugo 1891 births 1978 deaths People from Ulricehamn Municipality Republican Party governors of Montana Republican Party Montana state senators Republican Party members of the Montana House of Representatives Swedish emigrants to the United States People from Cut Bank, Montana 20th-century members of the Montana Legislature

Biography

Career

References

Further reading

External links