Governor Lynn Frazier

Governor Lynn Frazier
Name	Lynn Frazier
Caption	Lynn J. Frazier circa 1918
Birth date	July 29, 1874
Birth place	Breckenridge, Minnesota
Death date	February 2, 1947
Death place	Minneapolis, Minnesota
Occupation	Farmer, politician
Party	Nonpartisan League, Republican
Office	12th Governor of North Dakota
Term start	1917
Term end	1921
Other positions	United States Senator (1923–1941)

Governor Lynn Frazier was an American farmer and politician who served as the twelfth Governor of North Dakota from 1917 to 1921 and later represented North Dakota in the United States Senate from 1923 to 1941. A founding leader of the Nonpartisan League and a leading figure in the Progressive Era politics of the American Midwest, he presided over state-owned enterprises such as the Bank of North Dakota and the North Dakota Mill and Elevator. Frazier's tenure included contentious battles with business interests, legal challenges, and a rare gubernatorial recall, and his political career intersected with national debates involving figures like Woodrow Wilson, Calvin Coolidge, and Robert M. La Follette.

Early life and education

Born near Breckenridge, Minnesota in 1874, Frazier moved with his family to a homestead near Hillsboro, North Dakota amid westward settlement and the Homestead Act era, which shaped his upbringing on the Great Plains. He attended rural schools and briefly studied at institutions in Grand Forks, North Dakota before returning to farming, influenced by agrarian leaders such as Oliver H. Kelley and the national discourse surrounding the Populist Party. His early life placed him among contemporaries like Asle Gronna and W. E. Langer who also rose from prairie backgrounds to political prominence.

Business and early political career

Frazier worked as a farmer and local businessman, joining farmers' organizations including the Grange and cooperative movements tied to figures like Edward A. Weeks and Milton A. Cato, and he became active in local government in Pierce County, North Dakota. He served as a county commissioner and agricultural leader, interacting with regional markets centered in cities such as Fargo, North Dakota, Bismarck, North Dakota, and Minot, North Dakota. His practical experience on the land connected him with national networks like the National Farmers' Alliance and the Farmers' Holiday Association, and with progressive reformers who advocated alternatives to commercial grain exchanges dominated by interests near Chicago, Illinois and Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Progressive League and gubernatorial campaigns

As a founder and prominent organizer of the Nonpartisan League, Frazier allied with leaders such as Arthur C. Townley, William Lemke, and A. C. Townley to advance state ownership of key industries, drawing inspiration from Progressivism and the policies of reformers like Robert M. La Follette Sr. and Hiram Johnson. Running for governor in 1916, he benefited from endorsements and organizing by figures in the Social Gospel and farm cooperatives, campaigning against established interests including the Northern Pacific Railway and grain trade firms connected to Marshall Field & Company. His campaign mobilized support from rural newspapers and speakers who had worked with organizations like the National Progressive Republican League.

Governorship (1917–1921)

Elected in 1916 and inaugurated in 1917, Frazier implemented Nonpartisan League programs by establishing the Bank of North Dakota and the state-owned North Dakota Mill and Elevator, working with state legislators and administrators in Bismarck to challenge private banking and milling monopolies associated with Chicago Board of Trade traders and companies such as Washburn-Crosby Company. His administration coincided with the administration of Woodrow Wilson and the national mobilization for World War I, requiring cooperation with federal agencies including the United States Department of Agriculture and the War Industries Board. Legal and political opposition arose from business coalitions involving entities like the American Bankers Association and media outlets aligned with politicians such as C. J. Haugen and governors in neighboring states, precipitating litigation that reached state courts and engaged legal minds comparable to those appearing before the Supreme Court of the United States. In 1921, Frazier became the first governor in U.S. history successfully removed by a statewide recall election, a contest that featured opponents backed by banking, rail, and press interests and figures connected to the national Republican establishment.

U.S. Senate career and later political activity

After his governorship, Frazier continued political activity and was elected to the United States Senate in 1922, where he served on committees and engaged with national debates alongside senators like Gerald Nye, William E. Borah, and Hiram Bingham. During his Senate tenure he confronted issues tied to the Great Depression, interacted with Franklin D. Roosevelt administrations, and opposed certain New Deal measures while supporting farmer relief programs influenced by organizations such as the American Farm Bureau Federation and the Civilian Conservation Corps policies. He lost reelection in 1940 amid shifting alignments and the rise of candidates such as John Moses and local opponents connected to the Republican Party (United States). Frazier remained active in state affairs, advising successor politicians, speaking at civic gatherings in Fargo and Grand Forks, and participating in veterans' and agricultural events involving groups like the American Legion and Farm Credit Administration.

Policies and political legacy

Frazier's advocacy for state ownership of banking and milling established enduring institutions—the Bank of North Dakota and the North Dakota Mill and Elevator—that became models cited by later reformers and occasionally referenced in debates involving thinkers like Milton Friedman and John Maynard Keynes on public versus private roles in finance. His successes and controversies influenced regional political movements including the Farmer–Labor Party and politicians such as William Langer and William Lemke, and his recall set a precedent examined by scholars of recall elections and progressive reform. Historians compare his populist strategy with those of national figures like Huey Long and state progressives like La Follette, assessing the balance between cooperative enterprise and market competition in the Upper Midwest.

Personal life and death

Frazier married and raised a family in North Dakota while maintaining ties to agricultural networks stretching to Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, and he was involved in civic organizations similar to contemporary prairie leaders who allied with the Nonpartisan League. He died in 1947 in Minneapolis and was buried in North Dakota; his life is commemorated in state histories, archival collections held at institutions like the State Historical Society of North Dakota, and municipal records in cities such as Hillsboro and Bismarck.

Category:1874 births Category:1947 deaths Category:Governors of North Dakota Category:United States Senators from North Dakota Category:Nonpartisan League politicians