Milton Ruben Young (December 6, 1897 – May 31, 1983) was an American politician, most notable for representing North Dakota in the

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

from 1945 until 1981. At the time of his retirement, he was the most senior Republican in the Senate, and the last member of the

Lost Generation The Lost Generation was the Demography, demographic Cohort (statistics), cohort that reached early adulthood during World War I, and preceded the Greatest Generation. The social generation is generally defined as people born from 1883 to 1900, ...

to serve in the Senate.

Early life

Born at Berlin, North Dakota to John and Rachel Young, all four of his grandparents were from

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. Young graduated from LaMoure High School, then attended

North Dakota State University North Dakota State University (NDSU, formally North Dakota State University of Agriculture and Applied Sciences) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Fargo, North Dakota, United States. It was ...

in Fargo and Graceland College. After college, Young returned home to operate the farm of his parents, John and Rachel Zimmerman Young. In 1919, Young married Malinda Benson and together they had three sons, Wendell, Duane, and John.

Political career in North Dakota

Young became increasingly interested in politics during the depression and drought of the late 1920s and 1930s. He was active in community affairs, serving on the school, township, and county

Agricultural Adjustment Act The Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA) was a United States federal law of the New Deal era designed to boost agricultural prices by reducing surpluses. The government bought livestock for slaughter and paid farmers Subsidy, subsidies not to plant ...

(AAA) boards. He stood for election to the

North Dakota House of Representatives The North Dakota House of Representatives is the lower house of the North Dakota Legislative Assembly and is larger than the North Dakota Senate. North Dakota is divided into between 40 and 54 legislative districts apportioned by population as ...

in 1932; he won, and was then elected to the

state Senate In the United States, the state legislature is the legislative branch in each of the 50 U.S. states. A legislature generally performs state duties for a state in the same way that the United States Congress performs national duties at ...

just two years later. Young was also one of the key persons in developing the Republican Organizing Committee in

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 ...

during the 1940s.

Political career in Washington, D.C.

With the death of John Moses in 1945, Governor Fred G. Aandahl appointed Young to fill the vacant U.S. Senate seat, and Young was forced to relinquish management of the family farm, in order to fulfill his duties in Washington. For the 1952 Presidential election, Young initially indicated his support for Ohio Senator Robert Taft. In March, Young endorsed Democratic Senator Richard Russell Jr. for the presidency, citing him as "superbly qualified" for the position and stated his willingness to support him in the event that he was nominated by his party. The endorsement caused a sensation and left Republicans from his home state calling for his withdrawal from the party. Young spent the remainder of his career in the Senate, becoming one of the longest-serving members of the Senate in its history. His major committee assignments were on the Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry committee, and the Appropriations committee of which he was the ranking Republican member. He was nicknamed "Mr. Wheat", and was instrumental in getting the

Agricultural Act of 1956 The Agricultural Act of 1956 (P.L. 84-540) created the Soil Bank Program (Title I was called the Soil Bank Act), addressed the disposal of Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) inventories of surplus stocks, contained commodity support program p ...

and the Agriculture and Consumer Protection Act of 1973 passed. Despite his Republican affiliation, Young was praised by the Farmers Union for his support of farm policies. While supportive of

Dwight D. Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was the 34th president of the United States, serving from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, he was Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionar ...

as president, Young was critical of the farm policies of his

Secretary of Agriculture The United States secretary of agriculture is the head of the United States Department of Agriculture. The position carries similar responsibilities to those of agriculture ministers in other governments The department includes several organiz ...

Ezra Taft Benson Ezra Taft Benson (August 4, 1899 – May 30, 1994) was an American farmer, government official, and religious leader who served as the 15th United States Secretary of Agriculture during both presidential terms of Dwight D. Eisenhower and a ...

, who was praised by the far-right

John Birch Society The John Birch Society (JBS) is an American right-wing political advocacy group. Founded in 1958, it is anti-communist, supports social conservatism, and is associated with ultraconservative, radical right, far-right, right-wing populist, and ...

, an organization of which Young was also critical. Young was also close friends with Senate Majority Leader and later President of the United States,

Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), also known as LBJ, was the 36th president of the United States, serving from 1963 to 1969. He became president after the assassination of John F. Kennedy, under whom he had served a ...

, calling him the President that was most close to "agriculture and rural America". Young voted in favor of the Civil Rights Acts of 1957,

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Janu ...

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 – In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patria ...

, and

1968 Events January–February * January 1968, January – The I'm Backing Britain, I'm Backing Britain campaign starts spontaneously. * January 5 – Prague Spring: Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Cze ...

, as well as the

Voting Rights Act of 1965 The Voting Rights Act of 1965 is a landmark piece of federal legislation in the United States that prohibits racial discrimination in voting. It was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson during the height of the civil rights move ...

and the confirmation of

Thurgood Marshall Thoroughgood "Thurgood" Marshall (July 2, 1908 – January 24, 1993) was an American civil rights lawyer and jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1967 until 1991. He was the Supreme C ...

to the

U.S. Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that turn on question ...

, but did not vote on the 24th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Despite voting against Medicare and

Medicaid Medicaid is a government program in the United States that provides health insurance for adults and children with limited income and resources. The program is partially funded and primarily managed by U.S. state, state governments, which also h ...

in 1965, Young co-sponsored health care bills that advocated for benefits and services similar to the Medicare program for people under 65 (as well as their spouses and children) through the Social Security Act, as well as a federally run health care program that would have replaced Medicaid. Young also voted in favor of the Comprehensive Child Development Act of 1971, which was vetoed by President Nixon, and the

Equal Rights Amendment The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) was a proposed amendment to the Constitution of the United States, United States Constitution that would explicitly prohibit sex discrimination. It is not currently a part of the Constitution, though its Ratifi ...

in 1972. When asked about a potential candidacy for his Senate seat from journalist

Eric Sevareid Arnold Eric Sevareid (November 26, 1912 – July 9, 1992) was an American author and CBS news journalist from 1939 to 1977. He was one of a group of elite war correspondents who were hired by CBS newsman Edward R. Murrow and nicknamed " Murr ...

in 1968, Young replied: "What does Sevareid know about wheat?" In 1974, during his last election for the U.S. Senate, Young's age was being used against him during the General election; Young aired campaign commercials showing himself breaking a piece of board with a karate chop and won re-election. Young once said of his career in the Senate and loyalty to the people of his state: "I have always tried to stay close to the people. In North Dakota to be elected and to stay on, you have to know the farmers and stay close to them. They are loyal to a fault." As a result of the 1980 elections, Republicans won control of the Senate. As the longest-serving Republican Senator, Young would have been in line to become President pro tempore. However, he had chosen to retire instead of running for a seventh term. In deference to his long service in the body, he was elected President pro tempore by the lame duck Democratic-controlled Senate on December 5 and served for one day.

Later personal life

Young's first wife died shortly before their golden anniversary in 1969. Young's second wife was Patricia Byrne, his secretary in the Senate, of Bowman, North Dakota. Young died at his retirement home in

Sun City, Arizona Sun City is an Unincorporated area#United States, unincorporated community and census-designated place in Maricopa County, Arizona, Maricopa County, Arizona, United States, that is located within the Phoenix metropolitan area. The population wa ...

on May 31, 1983, and was buried at Berlin, North Dakota. The Milton R. Young Power Plant in Oliver County was named in his honor. The tallest building in Minot is a

public housing Public housing, also known as social housing, refers to Subsidized housing, subsidized or affordable housing provided in buildings that are usually owned and managed by local government, central government, nonprofit organizations or a ...

facility which bears his name.

References

External links