Floyd B. Olson
Encyclopedia
Floyd Bjørnstjerne Olson (November 13, 1891 – August 22, 1936) was an American politician. He served as the 22nd Governor of Minnesota
from January 6, 1931 to August 22, 1936. He died in office from stomach cancer
. He was a member of the Minnesota Farmer-Labor Party
, and was the first member of the Farmer-Labor Party to win the office of governor in Minnesota
. He is consistently considered one of the greatest governors in Minnesota
history and one of the most influential American politicians of his era.
father and a Swedish
mother. He was an only child. After graduating from North High School in Minneapolis in 1909, Olson went to work for the Northern Pacific Railway
. The next year, Olson enrolled at the University of Minnesota, but left after only a year, during which he was constantly in trouble for wearing a derby in violation of school rules and for refusing to participate in required ROTC
drills.
Heading west, Olson worked a series of odd jobs in Canada and Alaska
before settling briefly in Seattle, Washington, where he became a stevedore
and joined the Industrial Workers of the World
. During this time, Olson read widely and began to adopt a populist
, semi-socialist philosophy which he would retain for the rest of his life.
Returning to Minnesota in 1913, Olson enrolled at William Mitchell College of Law
(then the Northwestern College of Law), earning his degree in 1915. That same year, he met and married Ada Krejci in New Prague, Minnesota
and became a practicing lawyer.
Attorney and, by the following year, had himself become the Hennepin County Attorney after his former boss was fired for accepting bribes
.
During that same time period, he made his first foray into politics when he helped form the "Committee of 48," an organization that attempted to draft
Senator Robert M. La Follette, Sr.
to run for president
on a third party
ticket. The effort proved unsuccessful, but La Follette would later run on the Progressive Party
ticket in 1924. That same year, Olson ran in the Democratic
primary
for the local seat in the House of Representatives
, but lost.
As Hennepin County Attorney, Olson quickly earned a name for himself as a stern prosecutor
who relished going after crooked businessmen. He took on the Ku Klux Klan
in a well publicized case that brought both respect and death threat
s and was re-elected to the position in 1922 and 1926.
s, after they hired a hitman
to dynamite
the home of a union
leader. Olson's vigorous pursuit of the Citizens Alliance made him a hero to the local labor movement, which encouraged him to run for the Minnesota Farmer-Labor Party
's gubernatorial nomination.
Having secured the endorsement
of the Hennepin County Farmer-Labor Central Committee, Olson narrowly won the nomination in a bitterly-fought primary. Buoyed by the presidential campaign of Senator La Follette, who endorsed Olson and vice-versa, he received 43% of the vote, losing to Republican
candidate Theodore Christianson
's 48%. The Democratic candidate came in a distant third with 6%.
Four years later, in 1928, the new "Farmer-Labor Association" (which had changed its name to avoid being linked with local communists) attempted to draft Olson to run for governor again. Although the party committee once again endorsed him and this time guaranteed that he would not face a primary battle, Olson declined to run. In the U.S. presidential election, 1928, the Farmer-Labor candidate lost in the Republican landslide that accompanied Herbert Hoover
's election to the presidency.
By 1930, however, the stock market
had crashed and the Great Depression
had begun. After the party's newspaper urged that Olson be drafted, he easily won the nomination. Forming a coalition of farmers, organized labor
, and small business
men, Olson swept to a landslide victory in the election, receiving 59% of the vote in a four-way race and winning 82 of the state's 87 counties.
was officially nonpartisan
, but was, in reality, dominated by conservative Republicans who opposed most of what Olson stood for.
Nevertheless, Olson soon proved himself skilled at the art of politics and he managed to fulfill the vast majority of his campaign promises. During his three terms as governor, Olson proposed, and the legislature passed, bills that instituted a progressive income tax
, created a social security
program for the elderly, expanded the state's environmental conservation
programs, guaranteed equal pay for women
and the right to collective bargaining
, and instituted a minimum wage
and a system of unemployment insurance
.
Despite these changes, the thing that Olson wanted the most, a bill that would have put Minnesota's electric utilities
, iron mines
, oil field
s, grain elevator
s, and meatpacking plants
under state ownership, never saw the light of day, as the legislature balked at what they saw as socialism and Olson insisted was "cooperativism."
As the platform
of his party grew successively more radical, Olson's support amongst the middle class gradually began to erode. His support with labor and agriculture, however, remained undiminished and he was easily re-elected in 1932 and 1934.
In its April 24, 1933, issue, Time magazine quoted Olson speaking from the steps of the state capitol:
"I am making a last appeal to the Legislature. If the Senate does not make provision for the sufferers in the State and the Federal Government refuses to aid, I shall invoke the powers I hold and shall declare martial law. ... A lot of people who are now fighting [relief] measures because they happen to possess considerable wealth will be brought in by provost guard and be obliged to give up more than they would now. There is not going to be misery in this State if I can humanly prevent it. . . Unless the Federal and State governments act to insure against recurrence of the present situation, I hope the present system of government goes right down to hell."
Despite considerable achievements and popular support, Olson's administration was marred by allegations made by crusading newspaper editor Walter Liggett
that there were links between some members of his administration and organized crime. Although no evidence ever linked Olson personally, Liggett was gunned down in front of his family in 1935. Kid Cann
, Minnesota gangster, was charged with but not convicted of the killing.
seats.
Unbeknownst to Olson, however, his health was beginning to fail. Having suffered from severe ulcers
ever since his election, Olson went to the Mayo Clinic
in December 1935 and was diagnosed with stomach cancer
. Although the cancer would eventually prove fatal, Olson was not told of the seriousness of his condition, as was the practice of the day.
Thus reassured of his "good health," Olson proceeded to further weaken himself by not only resuming his duties as governor, but also beginning to organize his party's state convention
and returning to his senatorial campaign. As he stumped across the state, promising to support federal ownership of monopolies
. He further weakened his immune system
, allowing his cancer to metastasize
.
Olson last made a public appearance on June 29, 1936, giving a stump speech in Minnehaha Park
in Minneapolis. The next day, he returned to the Mayo Clinic for treatment, but it was too late. He died there on August 22. He was 44 years old.
Since his death, dozens of statue
s of Olson have been constructed throughout the state, many of which declare him to be the state's "greatest governor."
Shortly after Olson died, Minnesota State Highway 55
(a highway that was then being constructed) was renamed the "Floyd B. Olson Memorial Highway" in his honor. A proposal by the Taxpayer's League
in late 2004 to rename the highway after the recently-deceased President Ronald Reagan
met with widespread public condemnation and was soon abandoned.
In 1974, Olson's home
at 1914 West 49th Street in Minneapolis was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
.
Governor of Minnesota
The Governor of Minnesota is the chief executive of the U.S. state of Minnesota, leading the state's executive branch. Forty different people have been governors of the state, though historically there were also three governors of Minnesota Territory. Alexander Ramsey, the first territorial...
from January 6, 1931 to August 22, 1936. He died in office from stomach cancer
Stomach cancer
Gastric cancer, commonly referred to as stomach cancer, can develop in any part of the stomach and may spread throughout the stomach and to other organs; particularly the esophagus, lungs, lymph nodes, and the liver...
. He was a member of the Minnesota Farmer-Labor Party
Minnesota Farmer-Labor Party
The Minnesota Farmer–Labor Party was a political party in the United States state of Minnesota, the most successful and longest-lasting of the constituent elements of the national Farmer–Labor Party movement, which had a presence in other states...
, and was the first member of the Farmer-Labor Party to win the office of governor in Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
. He is consistently considered one of the greatest governors in Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
history and one of the most influential American politicians of his era.
Early life
Floyd B. Olson was born on the north side of Minneapolis, Minnesota to a NorwegianNorway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
father and a Swedish
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
mother. He was an only child. After graduating from North High School in Minneapolis in 1909, Olson went to work for the Northern Pacific Railway
Northern Pacific Railway
The Northern Pacific Railway was a railway that operated in the west along the Canadian border of the United States. Construction began in 1870 and the main line opened all the way from the Great Lakes to the Pacific when former president Ulysses S. Grant drove in the final "golden spike" in...
. The next year, Olson enrolled at the University of Minnesota, but left after only a year, during which he was constantly in trouble for wearing a derby in violation of school rules and for refusing to participate in required ROTC
Reserve Officers' Training Corps
The Reserve Officers' Training Corps is a college-based, officer commissioning program, predominantly in the United States. It is designed as a college elective that focuses on leadership development, problem solving, strategic planning, and professional ethics.The U.S...
drills.
Heading west, Olson worked a series of odd jobs in Canada and Alaska
Alaska
Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
before settling briefly in Seattle, Washington, where he became a stevedore
Stevedore
Stevedore, dockworker, docker, dock labourer, wharfie and longshoreman can have various waterfront-related meanings concerning loading and unloading ships, according to place and country....
and joined the Industrial Workers of the World
Industrial Workers of the World
The Industrial Workers of the World is an international union. At its peak in 1923, the organization claimed some 100,000 members in good standing, and could marshal the support of perhaps 300,000 workers. Its membership declined dramatically after a 1924 split brought on by internal conflict...
. During this time, Olson read widely and began to adopt a populist
Populism
Populism can be defined as an ideology, political philosophy, or type of discourse. Generally, a common theme compares "the people" against "the elite", and urges social and political system changes. It can also be defined as a rhetorical style employed by members of various political or social...
, semi-socialist philosophy which he would retain for the rest of his life.
Returning to Minnesota in 1913, Olson enrolled at William Mitchell College of Law
William Mitchell College of Law
William Mitchell College of Law, or WMCL, is a private, independent law school located in St. Paul, Minnesota. Accredited by the American Bar Association , it offers full and part-time legal education in pursuit of the Juris Doctor degree....
(then the Northwestern College of Law), earning his degree in 1915. That same year, he met and married Ada Krejci in New Prague, Minnesota
New Prague, Minnesota
As of the 2010 Census, there were 7,321 people and 2,711 occupied housing units in the city. The population density was 1,731.3 people per square mile . There were 2,862 total housing units at an average density of 658.9 per square mile . The population on the city limit signs state that New...
and became a practicing lawyer.
Hennepin County Attorney
In 1919, Olson was hired as an Assistant Hennepin CountyHennepin County, Minnesota
Hennepin County is a county located in the U.S. state of Minnesota, named in honor of the 17th-century explorer Father Louis Hennepin. As of 2010 the population was 1,152,425. Its county seat is Minneapolis. It is by far the most populous county in Minnesota; more than one in five Minnesotans live...
Attorney and, by the following year, had himself become the Hennepin County Attorney after his former boss was fired for accepting bribes
Bribery
Bribery, a form of corruption, is an act implying money or gift giving that alters the behavior of the recipient. Bribery constitutes a crime and is defined by Black's Law Dictionary as the offering, giving, receiving, or soliciting of any item of value to influence the actions of an official or...
.
During that same time period, he made his first foray into politics when he helped form the "Committee of 48," an organization that attempted to draft
Draft (politics)
In elections in the United States, political drafts are used to encourage or pressure a certain person to enter a political race, by demonstrating a significant groundswell of support for the candidate. A write-in campaign may also be considered a draft campaign.-The movement to draft Dwight D....
Senator Robert M. La Follette, Sr.
Robert M. La Follette, Sr.
Robert Marion "Fighting Bob" La Follette, Sr. , was an American Republican politician. He served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, was the Governor of Wisconsin, and was also a U.S. Senator from Wisconsin...
to run for president
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
on a third party
Third party (United States)
The term third party is used in the United States for any and all political parties in the United States other than one of the two major parties . The term can also refer to independent politicians not affiliated with any party at all and to write-in candidates.The United States has had a...
ticket. The effort proved unsuccessful, but La Follette would later run on the Progressive Party
Progressive Party (United States, 1924)
The Progressive Party of 1924 was a new party created as a vehicle for Robert M. La Follette, Sr. to run for president in the 1924 election. It did not run candidates for other offices, and it disappeared after the election except in Wisconsin. Its name resembles the 1912 Progressive Party, which...
ticket in 1924. That same year, Olson ran in the Democratic
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
primary
Primary election
A primary election is an election in which party members or voters select candidates for a subsequent election. Primary elections are one means by which a political party nominates candidates for the next general election....
for the local seat in the House of Representatives
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
, but lost.
As Hennepin County Attorney, Olson quickly earned a name for himself as a stern prosecutor
Prosecutor
The prosecutor is the chief legal representative of the prosecution in countries with either the common law adversarial system, or the civil law inquisitorial system...
who relished going after crooked businessmen. He took on the Ku Klux Klan
Ku Klux Klan
Ku Klux Klan, often abbreviated KKK and informally known as the Klan, is the name of three distinct past and present far-right organizations in the United States, which have advocated extremist reactionary currents such as white supremacy, white nationalism, and anti-immigration, historically...
in a well publicized case that brought both respect and death threat
Death threat
A death threat is a threat of death, often made anonymously, by one person or a group of people to kill another person or groups of people. These threats are usually designed to intimidate victims in order to manipulate their behavior, thus a death threat is a form of coercion...
s and was re-elected to the position in 1922 and 1926.
Candidate for governor
In 1923, Olson brought a case against the leaders of the Minnesota Citizens Alliance, a conservative business organization dedicated to preserving right-to-work lawRight-to-work law
Right-to-work laws are statutes enforced in twenty-two U.S. states, mostly in the southern or western U.S., allowed under provisions of the federal Taft–Hartley Act, which prohibit agreements between labor unions and employers that make membership, payment of union dues, or fees a condition of...
s, after they hired a hitman
Hitman
A hitman is a person hired to kill another person.- Hitmen in organized crime :Hitmen are largely linked to the world of organized crime. Hitmen are hired people who kill people for money. Notable examples include Murder, Inc., Mafia hitmen and Richard Kuklinski.- Other cases involving hitmen...
to dynamite
Dynamite
Dynamite is an explosive material based on nitroglycerin, initially using diatomaceous earth , or another absorbent substance such as powdered shells, clay, sawdust, or wood pulp. Dynamites using organic materials such as sawdust are less stable and such use has been generally discontinued...
the home of a union
Trade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
leader. Olson's vigorous pursuit of the Citizens Alliance made him a hero to the local labor movement, which encouraged him to run for the Minnesota Farmer-Labor Party
Minnesota Farmer-Labor Party
The Minnesota Farmer–Labor Party was a political party in the United States state of Minnesota, the most successful and longest-lasting of the constituent elements of the national Farmer–Labor Party movement, which had a presence in other states...
's gubernatorial nomination.
Having secured the endorsement
Political endorsement
Political endorsement is the action of publicly declaring one's personal or group's support of a candidate for elected office.In the case of a 4 or 5 party system, where one of the parties has a 15 to 20% predicted electoral support, just prior to the election, the official representative of the...
of the Hennepin County Farmer-Labor Central Committee, Olson narrowly won the nomination in a bitterly-fought primary. Buoyed by the presidential campaign of Senator La Follette, who endorsed Olson and vice-versa, he received 43% of the vote, losing to Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
candidate Theodore Christianson
Theodore Christianson
Theodore Christianson was an American politician who served as the 21st Governor of Minnesota from January 6, 1925 until January 6, 1931.-Background:...
's 48%. The Democratic candidate came in a distant third with 6%.
Four years later, in 1928, the new "Farmer-Labor Association" (which had changed its name to avoid being linked with local communists) attempted to draft Olson to run for governor again. Although the party committee once again endorsed him and this time guaranteed that he would not face a primary battle, Olson declined to run. In the U.S. presidential election, 1928, the Farmer-Labor candidate lost in the Republican landslide that accompanied Herbert Hoover
Herbert Hoover
Herbert Clark Hoover was the 31st President of the United States . Hoover was originally a professional mining engineer and author. As the United States Secretary of Commerce in the 1920s under Presidents Warren Harding and Calvin Coolidge, he promoted partnerships between government and business...
's election to the presidency.
By 1930, however, the stock market
Stock market
A stock market or equity market is a public entity for the trading of company stock and derivatives at an agreed price; these are securities listed on a stock exchange as well as those only traded privately.The size of the world stock market was estimated at about $36.6 trillion...
had crashed and the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
had begun. After the party's newspaper urged that Olson be drafted, he easily won the nomination. Forming a coalition of farmers, organized labor
Trade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
, and small business
Small business
A small business is a business that is privately owned and operated, with a small number of employees and relatively low volume of sales. Small businesses are normally privately owned corporations, partnerships, or sole proprietorships...
men, Olson swept to a landslide victory in the election, receiving 59% of the vote in a four-way race and winning 82 of the state's 87 counties.
Olson as Governor
At the time Olson assumed his office, Minnesota's legislatureMinnesota Legislature
The Minnesota Legislature is the legislative branch of government in the U.S. state of Minnesota. It is a bicameral legislature located at the Minnesota Capitol in Saint Paul and it consists of two houses: the lower Minnesota House of Representatives and the Minnesota Senate...
was officially nonpartisan
Nonpartisan
In political science, nonpartisan denotes an election, event, organization or person in which there is no formally declared association with a political party affiliation....
, but was, in reality, dominated by conservative Republicans who opposed most of what Olson stood for.
Nevertheless, Olson soon proved himself skilled at the art of politics and he managed to fulfill the vast majority of his campaign promises. During his three terms as governor, Olson proposed, and the legislature passed, bills that instituted a progressive income tax
Progressive tax
A progressive tax is a tax by which the tax rate increases as the taxable base amount increases. "Progressive" describes a distribution effect on income or expenditure, referring to the way the rate progresses from low to high, where the average tax rate is less than the marginal tax rate...
, created a social security
Social security
Social security is primarily a social insurance program providing social protection or protection against socially recognized conditions, including poverty, old age, disability, unemployment and others. Social security may refer to:...
program for the elderly, expanded the state's environmental conservation
Conservation ethic
Conservation is an ethic of resource use, allocation, and protection. Its primary focus is upon maintaining the health of the natural world: its, fisheries, habitats, and biological diversity. Secondary focus is on materials conservation and energy conservation, which are seen as important to...
programs, guaranteed equal pay for women
Equal pay for women
Equal pay for women is an issue regarding pay inequality between men and women. It is often introduced into domestic politics in many first world countries as an economic problem that needs governmental intervention via regulation...
and the right to collective bargaining
Collective bargaining
Collective bargaining is a process of negotiations between employers and the representatives of a unit of employees aimed at reaching agreements that regulate working conditions...
, and instituted a minimum wage
Minimum wage
A minimum wage is the lowest hourly, daily or monthly remuneration that employers may legally pay to workers. Equivalently, it is the lowest wage at which workers may sell their labour. Although minimum wage laws are in effect in a great many jurisdictions, there are differences of opinion about...
and a system of unemployment insurance
Unemployment benefit
Unemployment benefits are payments made by the state or other authorized bodies to unemployed people. Benefits may be based on a compulsory para-governmental insurance system...
.
Despite these changes, the thing that Olson wanted the most, a bill that would have put Minnesota's electric utilities
Power station
A power station is an industrial facility for the generation of electric energy....
, iron mines
Mining
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, from an ore body, vein or seam. The term also includes the removal of soil. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock...
, oil field
Oil field
An oil field is a region with an abundance of oil wells extracting petroleum from below ground. Because the oil reservoirs typically extend over a large area, possibly several hundred kilometres across, full exploitation entails multiple wells scattered across the area...
s, grain elevator
Grain elevator
A grain elevator is a tower containing a bucket elevator, which scoops up, elevates, and then uses gravity to deposit grain in a silo or other storage facility...
s, and meatpacking plants
Meat packing industry
The meat packing industry handles the slaughtering, processing, packaging, and distribution of animals such as cattle, pigs, sheep and other livestock...
under state ownership, never saw the light of day, as the legislature balked at what they saw as socialism and Olson insisted was "cooperativism."
As the platform
Party platform
A party platform, or platform sometimes also referred to as a manifesto, is a list of the actions which a political party, individual candidate, or other organization supports in order to appeal to the general public for the purpose of having said peoples' candidates voted into political office or...
of his party grew successively more radical, Olson's support amongst the middle class gradually began to erode. His support with labor and agriculture, however, remained undiminished and he was easily re-elected in 1932 and 1934.
In its April 24, 1933, issue, Time magazine quoted Olson speaking from the steps of the state capitol:
"I am making a last appeal to the Legislature. If the Senate does not make provision for the sufferers in the State and the Federal Government refuses to aid, I shall invoke the powers I hold and shall declare martial law. ... A lot of people who are now fighting [relief] measures because they happen to possess considerable wealth will be brought in by provost guard and be obliged to give up more than they would now. There is not going to be misery in this State if I can humanly prevent it. . . Unless the Federal and State governments act to insure against recurrence of the present situation, I hope the present system of government goes right down to hell."
Despite considerable achievements and popular support, Olson's administration was marred by allegations made by crusading newspaper editor Walter Liggett
Walter Liggett
Walter W. Liggett , was an American journalist.Liggett was a crusading newspaper editor in the Minnesota of the 1930s...
that there were links between some members of his administration and organized crime. Although no evidence ever linked Olson personally, Liggett was gunned down in front of his family in 1935. Kid Cann
Kid Cann
Isadore Blumenfeld , commonly known as Kid Cann, was a Jewish-American organized crime figure based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, for over four decades and remains the most notorious mobster in the history of Minnesota...
, Minnesota gangster, was charged with but not convicted of the killing.
Final days
As the 1936 election neared, Olson ruled out the possibility of running for President as a third party candidate, and instead announced his intention to run against Thomas Schall for one of Minnesota's U.S. SenateUnited States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
seats.
Unbeknownst to Olson, however, his health was beginning to fail. Having suffered from severe ulcers
Peptic ulcer
A peptic ulcer, also known as PUD or peptic ulcer disease, is the most common ulcer of an area of the gastrointestinal tract that is usually acidic and thus extremely painful. It is defined as mucosal erosions equal to or greater than 0.5 cm...
ever since his election, Olson went to the Mayo Clinic
Mayo Clinic
Mayo Clinic is a not-for-profit medical practice and medical research group specializing in treating difficult patients . Patients are referred to Mayo Clinic from across the U.S. and the world, and it is known for innovative and effective treatments. Mayo Clinic is known for being at the top of...
in December 1935 and was diagnosed with stomach cancer
Stomach cancer
Gastric cancer, commonly referred to as stomach cancer, can develop in any part of the stomach and may spread throughout the stomach and to other organs; particularly the esophagus, lungs, lymph nodes, and the liver...
. Although the cancer would eventually prove fatal, Olson was not told of the seriousness of his condition, as was the practice of the day.
Thus reassured of his "good health," Olson proceeded to further weaken himself by not only resuming his duties as governor, but also beginning to organize his party's state convention
Political convention
In politics, a political convention is a meeting of a political party, typically to select party candidates.In the United States, a political convention usually refers to a presidential nominating convention, but it can also refer to state, county, or congressional district nominating conventions...
and returning to his senatorial campaign. As he stumped across the state, promising to support federal ownership of monopolies
Monopoly
A monopoly exists when a specific person or enterprise is the only supplier of a particular commodity...
. He further weakened his immune system
Immune system
An immune system is a system of biological structures and processes within an organism that protects against disease by identifying and killing pathogens and tumor cells. It detects a wide variety of agents, from viruses to parasitic worms, and needs to distinguish them from the organism's own...
, allowing his cancer to metastasize
Metastasis
Metastasis, or metastatic disease , is the spread of a disease from one organ or part to another non-adjacent organ or part. It was previously thought that only malignant tumor cells and infections have the capacity to metastasize; however, this is being reconsidered due to new research...
.
Olson last made a public appearance on June 29, 1936, giving a stump speech in Minnehaha Park
Minnehaha Falls
Minnehaha Creek is a tributary of the Mississippi River located in Hennepin County, Minnesota that extends from Lake Minnetonka in the west and flows east for 22 miles through several suburbs west of Minneapolis and then through south Minneapolis. Including Lake Minnetonka, the watershed for the...
in Minneapolis. The next day, he returned to the Mayo Clinic for treatment, but it was too late. He died there on August 22. He was 44 years old.
Monuments
Statue
A statue is a sculpture in the round representing a person or persons, an animal, an idea or an event, normally full-length, as opposed to a bust, and at least close to life-size, or larger...
s of Olson have been constructed throughout the state, many of which declare him to be the state's "greatest governor."
Shortly after Olson died, Minnesota State Highway 55
Minnesota State Highway 55
Minnesota State Highway 55 is a highway in west-central, central, and east-central Minnesota, which runs from the North Dakota state line near Tenney and continues east and southeast to its eastern terminus at its intersection with U.S...
(a highway that was then being constructed) was renamed the "Floyd B. Olson Memorial Highway" in his honor. A proposal by the Taxpayer's League
Taxpayers League of Minnesota
The Taxpayers League of Minnesota is a fiscally conservative lobbying group dedicated to lowering taxes and increasing government accountability in Minnesota. Phil Krinkie, a former state legislator, has been the group's president since February 2007. Prior to that, David Strom served as President...
in late 2004 to rename the highway after the recently-deceased President Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
met with widespread public condemnation and was soon abandoned.
In 1974, Olson's home
Floyd B. Olson House
The Floyd B. Olson House is a house in Minneapolis, Minnesota listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The building was the residence of Floyd B. Olson, who was Minnesota Farmer-Labor Party governor from 1931 to 1936,. It is a bungalow with an unusual ornamental feature: it has two...
at 1914 West 49th Street in Minneapolis was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
.
See also
- Floyd of RosedaleFloyd of RosedaleFloyd of Rosedale is the name of a bronze pig trophy that is awarded to the winner of the annual college football game between the Universities of Iowa and Minnesota...
, a sculpture of a pig that Governor Olson had won in a football bet.