# Fred Biermann > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Fred_Biermann > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Fred_Biermann.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Biermann > Source revision: 1350880146 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|American politician (1884–1968)}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Fred Biermann | image = Fred Biermann.png | office = Member of the
[U.S. House of Representatives](/source/United_States_House_of_Representatives)
from [Iowa's 4th District](/source/Iowa's_4th_congressional_district) | term_start = March 4, 1933 | term_end = January 3, 1939 | predecessor = [Gilbert N. Haugen](/source/Gilbert_N._Haugen) | successor = [Henry O. Talle](/source/Henry_O._Talle) | birth_name = Frederick Elliott Biermann | birth_date = {{birth date|1884|3|20}} | birth_place = [Rochester, Minnesota](/source/Rochester%2C_Minnesota), U.S. | death_date = {{death date and age|1968|7|1|1884|3|20}} | death_place = [La Crosse, Wisconsin](/source/La_Crosse%2C_Wisconsin), U.S. | party = [Democratic](/source/Democratic_Party_(United_States)) | spouse = | alma_mater = [Columbia University](/source/Columbia_University) | branch = {{army|United States}} | allegiance = {{flag|United States of America}} | service_years = April 1917–June 1919 | rank = 10px [First lieutenant](/source/First_lieutenant) | unit = [88th Infantry Division](/source/88th_Infantry_Division_(United_States)) | battles = {{tree list}} * [World War I](/source/World_War_I) {{tree list/end}} | awards = }} '''Frederick Elliott Biermann''' (March 20, 1884 – July 1, 1968) was an American politician who was a three-term Democratic [U.S. Representative](/source/United_States_House_of_Representatives) from [Iowa's 4th congressional district](/source/Iowa's_4th_congressional_district). Elected as part of the 1932 Roosevelt landslide, he was defeated when running for a fourth term by an opponent from his own small community of [Decorah, Iowa](/source/Decorah%2C_Iowa). ==Personal background== Born in [Rochester, Minnesota](/source/Rochester%2C_Minnesota) in 1884, Biermann moved to Decorah four years later, following his mother's death, to live with an aunt."Biermann in Race for Congressman," Oelwein Daily Register, 1932-03-09, at 2. After graduating from Decorah High School in 1901, he attended the [University of Minnesota](/source/University_of_Minnesota) in [Minneapolis](/source/Minneapolis) for three years before transferring to [Columbia University](/source/Columbia_University) in [New York City](/source/New_York_City), where he graduated in 1905. He wrote his senior thesis on "Jefferson and Jackson as Leaders of the Democracy" at [Columbia](/source/Columbia_University).{{Cite web|title=Columbia College A.B. Theses Collection, 1878-1905 {{!}} Columbia University Archives {{!}} Columbia University Libraries Finding Aids|url=https://findingaids.library.columbia.edu/ead/nnc-rb/ldpd_12533121/dsc|access-date=2020-08-13|website=findingaids.library.columbia.edu}} He returned to Decorah and taught at Valder's Business College. He [homesteaded](/source/homestead_(buildings)) in [Morton County](/source/Morton_County%2C_North_Dakota), [North Dakota](/source/North_Dakota), then attended [Harvard Law School](/source/Harvard_Law_School) in 1906 and 1907, before returning to Decorah the following year to become half-owner of the Decorah Journal. He became the sole owner in 1911. Starting in 1913, he also served as Decorah's postmaster. His service as editor and postmaster was interrupted when he volunteered for service in the [U.S. Army](/source/U.S._Army) during the [First World War](/source/First_World_War). He was commissioned as a second lieutenant and then as a first lieutenant in the [88th Infantry Division](/source/88th_Infantry_Division_(United_States)). He served from April 1917 until June 1919, including ten months overseas. After the war, he continued to serve as postmaster (until 1923) and editor and publisher of the Journal. In the 1920s his editorials and speeches were often repeated and critiqued on the editorial pages of other area newspapers, such as the Mason City Globe-Gazette and the Oelwein Daily Register.Editorial, "Old Methods are Still Basic," Mason City Globe-Gazette, 1931-07-11, at 3. When he sold the Journal in 1931, he explained that burns he had received nine years earlier in an X-ray accident had crippled him.Editorial comment, "Ill Health the Cause,' Oelwein Daily Register, 1931-11-20, at 2. ==Political service== During the 1920s, Biermann was actively involved in the Democratic Party, serving on the Central Committee of the Iowa Democratic Party for eight years, and as delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 1928. In March 1932 Biermann announced his candidacy for the U.S. House seat in [Iowa's 4th congressional district](/source/Iowa's_4th_congressional_district), then held by the longest-serving member of Congress, sixteen-term Republican [Gilbert N. Haugen](/source/Gilbert_N._Haugen)."Biermann Leads Haugen Thruout Fourth District," Waterloo Daily Courier, 1932-11-09 at 2. As part of the Roosevelt landslide, Biermann [won by over 20,000 votes](/source/Iowa's_4th_congressional_district). Biermann won the next two elections, but by increasingly narrow margins. His adversary in 1936 was [Henry O. Talle](/source/Henry_O._Talle), a professor of economics at [Luther College](/source/Luther_College_(Iowa)) in Decorah. While Biermann defeated Talle that year, two years later (as part of a Republican sweep of all but two U.S. House seats) Talle defeated Biermann by over 4,000 votes. Biermann's Congressional service, which began March 4, 1933, ended on January 3, 1939. As a congressman, Biermann served as delegate to the Interparliamentary Union Conference at Paris in 1937. ==After Congress== Biermann was appointed [United States Marshal](/source/United_States_Marshal) for northern Iowa in October 1940, in which capacity he served until 1953. He was also a delegate to Democratic National Conventions in 1940 and 1956. He died in [La Crosse, Wisconsin](/source/La_Crosse%2C_Wisconsin), on July 1, 1968. He was interred in Phelps Cemetery, in Decorah. ==External links== * The [https://aspace.lib.uiowa.edu/repositories/2/resources/128 Frederick Elliott Biermann Papers] are housed at the University of Iowa Special Collections & University Archives. ==References== {{reflist}} {{CongBio|B000449}} {{s-start}} {{s-par|us-hs}} {{US House succession box | state=Iowa | district=4 | before=[Gilbert N. Haugen](/source/Gilbert_N._Haugen) | after=[Henry O. Talle](/source/Henry_O._Talle) | years=1933–1939 }} {{s-end}} {{IARepresentatives}} {{USCongRep-start|congresses= 73rd–75th [United States Congress](/source/United_States_Congress)es |state=[Iowa](/source/Iowa)}} {{USCongRep/IA/73}} {{USCongRep/IA/74}} {{USCongRep/IA/75}} {{USCongRep-end}} {{Bioguide}} {{authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Biermann, Frederick Elliott}} Category:1884 births Category:1968 deaths Category:Law enforcement officials from Iowa Category:University of Minnesota alumni Category:Harvard Law School alumni Category:United States Army officers Category:20th-century United States Marshals Category:Democratic Party United States representatives from Iowa Category:Columbia College, Columbia University alumni Category:Editors of Iowa newspapers Category:20th-century American newspaper editors Category:People from Decorah, Iowa Category:Iowa postmasters Category:Military personnel from Iowa Category:20th-century United States representatives --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Fred Biermann](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Biermann) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Biermann?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.