Monrad Charles Wallgren (April 17, 1891September 18, 1961) was an American politician who served as the 13th governor of Washington from 1945 to 1949, as well as representing that state in the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together the ...

and the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and ...

. Wallgren, of Swedish descent, was born in

Des Moines, Iowa Des Moines () is the capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small part of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moine ...

in 1891. His family moved to

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

in 1894 and then to

Everett, Washington Everett is the county seat and largest city of Snohomish County, Washington, United States. It is north of Seattle and is one of the main cities in the metropolitan area and the Puget Sound region. Everett is the seventh-largest city in the ...

in 1901. He attended public schools and business college in Everett, graduating from the Washington State School of Optometry in

Spokane, Washington Spokane ( ) is the largest city and county seat of Spokane County, Washington, United States. It is in eastern Washington, along the Spokane River, adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains, and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, south of the ...

in 1914. He worked in retail

jewelry Jewellery (British English, UK) or jewelry (American English, U.S.) consists of decorative items worn for personal adornment, such as brooches, ring (jewellery), rings, necklaces, earrings, pendants, bracelets, and cufflinks. Jewellery may be at ...

and

optometry Optometry is a specialized health care profession that involves examining the eyes and related structures for defects or abnormalities. Optometrists are health care professionals who typically provide comprehensive primary eye care. In the Un ...

from 1915 to 1932, as well as serving in the Washington

National Guard National Guard is the name used by a wide variety of current and historical uniformed organizations in different countries. The original National Guard was formed during the French Revolution around a cadre of defectors from the French Guards. N ...

from 1917 to 1919 and 1921 to 1922. He was an outstanding player of

carom billiards Carom billiards, sometimes called carambole billiards, is the overarching title of a family of cue sports generally played on cloth-covered, billiard tables. In its simplest form, the object of the game is to score or "counts" by ' one's ...

. In 1932, Wallgren ran for election to the

as a Democrat. He defeated incumbent Republican Albert Johnson, and took office in the

73rd United States Congress The 73rd United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 193 ...

on March 4, 1933. Near the end of his fourth term in 1940, Wallgren ran for

to replace fellow Democrat

Lewis B. Schwellenbach Lewis Baxter Schwellenbach (September 20, 1894 – June 10, 1948) was a United States senator from Washington, a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Washington and the 5th United States ...

, who was retiring to accept a judicial nomination. Wallgren won the election, and was also appointed to finish the rest of Schwellenbach's term. He took office on December 19, 1940. While Wallgren served portions of two different terms (the end of Schwellenbach's and the one that Wallgren was elected to), he served less than 6 years in the Senate. In 1944, he successfully ran for

Governor of Washington The governor of Washington is the head of government of Washington and commander-in-chief of the state's military forces.WA Const. art. III, § 2. The officeholder has a duty to enforce state laws,WA Const. art. III, § 5. the power to either ...

against incumbent Republican

Arthur B. Langlie Arthur Bernard Langlie (July 25, 1900 – July 24, 1966) was an American politician who served as the mayor of Seattle, Washington and was the 12th and 14th governor of the U.S. state of Washington from 1941 to 1945 and 1949 to 1957. To date ...

, resigning from the Senate on January 9, 1945 to serve as governor from then until 1949. He was defeated for re-election as governor by Langlie in 1948, and was nominated by

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese f ...

Harry Truman Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884December 26, 1972) was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. A leader of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 34th vice president from January to April 1945 under Frankli ...

as the chairman of the

National Security Resources Board The National Security Resources Board was a United States government agency created by the National Security Act of 1947 whose purpose was to advise the President, in times of war, on how to mobilize natural resources, manpower, and the scientific ...

. That nomination was later withdrawn, and Wallgren served on the

Federal Power Commission The Federal Power Commission (FPC) was an independent commission of the United States government, originally organized on June 23, 1930, with five members nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate. The FPC was originally created in 1 ...

in 1950 and 1951. He then retired from public service. In 1961, Wallgren died of complications resulting from a traffic accident.Mon Wallgren, former Washington Governor, dies
/ref>

References

External links

Wallgren, Monrad Charles
at HistoryLink
Congressional biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wallgren, Monrad Charles 1891 births 1961 deaths Politicians from Des Moines, Iowa American people of Swedish descent Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Washington (state) Democratic Party United States senators from Washington (state) Democratic Party governors of Washington (state) Politicians from Everett, Washington Politicians from Spokane, Washington Federal Power Commission American carom billiards players Three-cushion billiards players 20th-century American politicians American optometrists Road incident deaths in Washington (state) Truman administration personnel