Elmer A. Benson

Born in 1895 in Appleton, Minnesota, Benson studied law at William Mitchell College of Law (then the St. Paul College of Law) and served for a year in the U.S. Army during World War I. He never practiced law after returning from active duty, choosing instead to pursue a banking and business career. ==Olson's ally==

Benson was a close ally of Governor Floyd B. Olson, another member of the Farmer-Labor Party, who helped orchestrate Benson's political rise. Olson appointed Benson state Commissioner of Securities before choosing him to replace Thomas D. Schall in the United States Senate after Schall's death in December 1935. Benson served in the 74th congress, until November 3, 1936. ==Governor of Minnesota==

After Olson's premature death from cancer in 1936 and the interregnum of Lieutenant Governor Hjalmar Petersen, Benson stepped into the breach and was elected the 24th governor of Minnesota by the largest margin in state history. He served as the 24th governor of Minnesota from January 4, 1937, to January 2, 1939. His defeat by a record margin in 1938 is seen as the beginning of the end of the Farmer-Labor Party as an independent political force and a setback for progressive politics in Minnesota. Benson launched his initial campaign on September 21, 1936, in Appleton, Minnesota. Benson argued in his keynote address against the Republican plan to pass a constitutional amendment banning property tax and increasing sales tax. Benson argued that the state should instead deliver tax relief through a raised income tax on the rich, inheritance tax, and various forms of higher corporate tax. Benson's address was so well attended, the 2000 seats in the county armory were filled, as was all standing room, and 3000 people gathered in a nearby park to listen to the broadcast. Benson found it difficult to deliver the speech due to the amount of applause received. On October 9, 1936, Franklin D. Roosevelt delivered an address at the Minnesota State Capitol in which he endorsed Benson for governor. Roosevelt called Benson "...A man who has done more for industrial workers, small business men and farmers than any other man in this generation”. Benson, like previous Farmer-Laborite candidates, faced regular accusations of communism. Specifically, Benson was accused of being a supporter of Earl Browder. Benson stated these accusations were created to distract from real issues. Benson chose not to treat these claims as serious, and mostly ignored them. Former political allies from Wisconsin, Governor Philip La Follette and Senator Robert M. La Follette Jr., broke with Benson. The La Follettes has sought to unite the Farmer-Labor party with the Wisconsin Progressive Party into the National Progressives of America, with candidates already slated in Iowa. Benson refused the union, resulting in the collapse of relations between the two. While running for re-election in 1938, Benson would face serious primary opposition from Hjalmar Petersen, leader of the more moderate wing of the party. Benson was renominated, but only with 51.91% of the primary vote. Franklin D. Roosevelt did not endorse him for a second term. ==Post-Governor==

In 1940, he ran for the United States Senate against Henrik Shipstead, an incumbent senator who defected from the Farmer-Labor Party to join the Republicans. Benson took second place, receiving 25% of the vote, in a race that also involved a Democrat, while Shipstead was reelected. He ran for the Senate for the last time in 1942, losing to Republican Joseph H. Ball in a four-way race. DFL Party Benson was also the chief figure behind a schism within the DFL Party in Minnesota between 1946 and 1948. The DFL (Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party) had been created in 1944 with the merging of the Minnesota Democratic Party and the Farmer-Labor Party. Benson and his supporters actively took control of the party's main committee in 1946, but were displaced by the supporters of Hubert H. Humphrey (then the mayor of Minneapolis) in 1948. The influence of Humphrey and his supporters had grown significantly within the party between 1946 and 1948 due to Humphrey's popularity and his work through the ADA, the state farm co-ops, and support from the national arm of the CIO. Humphrey's group of supporters—which included such future DFL political stars as Arthur Naftalin, Orville Freeman, and Walter Mondale—wrested control of the DFL from Benson's supporters at a February 1948 party convention. Humphrey's later successful Senate campaign signaled a significant victory for his faction within the fledgling DFL Party and the defeat of Benson's candidates in the DFL primaries. The 1948 schism eventually led Benson and his supporters to leave the DFL. ==Death==

Before ill health drove him from the public arena, Benson became a force within the short-lived Progressive Party, managing the 1948 presidential campaign of its candidate, Henry Wallace. Benson died in 1985 in Minneapolis, and is buried at the Appleton Cemetery in the town of his birth, Appleton, Minnesota. ==Further reading==