Harold LeVander

{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2021}} {{Infobox officeholder |name=Harold LeVander |image=Harold LeVander.jpg |caption=LeVander as Governor, 1967 |order= 32nd |office= Governor of Minnesota |term_start=January 2, 1967 |term_end=January 4, 1971 |lieutenant=James B. Goetz |predecessor= Karl Rolvaag |successor= Wendell Anderson |birth_name = Karl Harold Phillip LeVander |birth_date= {{birth date|1910|10|10|mf=y}} |birth_place= Polk County, Nebraska, US |death_date= {{death date and age |1992|03|30|1910|10|10}} |death_place= Saint Paul, Minnesota, US |party=Republican |profession=lawyer |alma_mater=Gustavus Adolphus College<br>University of Minnesota Law School |spouse=Iantha Powrie |children = 3 |footnotes= }} '''Karl Harold Phillip LeVander''' (October 10, 1910{{spaced ndash}}March 30, 1992) was an American attorney and politician. A Republican, he served as the 32nd governor of Minnesota from January 2, 1967 to January 4, 1971, after defeating incumbent governor Karl Rolvaag in the 1966 election.

==Background== LeVander was born in Swedehome, Nebraska (near Stromsburg, Polk County) and attended high school in Watertown, Minnesota. His father, Peter Magni LeVander, was a Swedish immigrant and clergyman.<ref name=":0">Knight News Wire. "Ex-Minnesota Gov. LeVander dead at age 82." ''The Daily Dispatch''. Moline, Illinois. April 1, 1992. Print.</ref>

He graduated magna cum laude from Gustavus Adolphus College in 1932, where he served as class president and student council president. He was also on the debate team, winning the National Peace Oratorical Contest, and the football team and track team, where he competed in the high hurdles and pole vault.<ref>LeVander, Harold. "What I Remember Most." Minneapolis Tribune Picture Magazine. January 1, 1967. Print.</ref> After graduating from Gustavus, he attended the University of Minnesota Law School. He married Iantha Powrie in 1938, and they raised a family of three children: Harold "Hap," Jean, and Diane LeVander.<ref>[http://www.mnhs.org/library/findaids/00146.xml Iantha LeVander Papers]</ref><ref name=":1">"Harold LeVander: a strong governor for Minnesota." LeVander for Governor Volunteers. Print.</ref>

==Career== After graduation, LeVander worked as assistant county attorney for Dakota County from 1935 to 1939. He also worked for the law firm of Stassen & Ryan in South St. Paul, and taught speech and coached debate at Macalester College. He was active in local commerce, acting as president of South Saint Paul's Chamber of Commerce from 1952 to 1954 and of the South Saint Paul United Federal Savings and Loan Association from 1953 to 1967. He was politically connected, having worked with future governor Harold Stassen and future U.S. Representative Elmer Ryan at their law firm. In 1962, he earned the Greater Gustavus Alumni Award for Distinguished Career in Law.<ref name=":1" />

===As Governor=== LeVander took the governorship in 1967, with the support of both houses of the state legislature. In his inauguration address, he pledged to focus on urban renewal, support the ongoing civil rights movement, raise pay for teachers and all state employees, and increase fundings to allow for improvements to highways and hospitals. During his term the first Minnesota sales tax was created, favoring "initiative and referendum" on the issue, and vetoed two bills that did not contain it. The sales tax was passed on the legislature's third attempt, however as a compromise no sales tax would be implemented on basic needs, defined as food, clothing, and medicine.<ref>{{cite web|last=Nelson|first=Paul|title=LeVander, Karl Harold Phillip (1910–1992)|publisher=Minnesota Historical Society|url=https://www.mnhs.org/mnopedia/search/index/person/levander-karl-harold-phillip-1910-1992}}</ref>

He created the Metropolitan Council, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, and the inaugural Human Rights Department. During his term, the legislature ratified the Twenty-sixth Amendment, which lowered the minimum voting age nationwide to 18.

In a surprise move, LeVander declined to seek reelection in 1970, returning to his law practice and business interests. He became a director of The St. Paul Companies (1973–1981), the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (1974–1981), and the Saint Paul Chamber of Commerce (1975–1978). In 1992 he died from Parkinson's disease at the age of 81.<ref name=":0" />

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== *[https://web.archive.org/web/20080221103441/http://www.mnhs.org/people/governors/gov/gov_34.htm Minnesota Historical Society] * [https://gustavus.edu/library/archives/college/vertical/alumni.php "Harold LeVander." Alumni Files.] [https://gustavus.edu/library/archives/index.php Gustavus Adolphus College and Lutheran Church Archives.]

{{s-start}} {{s-ppo}} {{s-bef|before=Elmer L. Andersen}} {{s-ttl|title=Republican nominee for Governor of Minnesota|years=1966}} {{s-aft|after=Douglas M. Head}} {{s-off}} {{succession box|title=32nd Governor of Minnesota|years=1967{{spaced ndash}}1971|before=Karl Rolvaag|after=Wendell Anderson}} {{s-end}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Levander, Harold}} Category:1910 births Category:1992 deaths Category:People from Polk County, Nebraska Category:Gustavus Adolphus College alumni Category:University of Minnesota Law School alumni Category:Macalester College faculty Category:Republican Party governors of Minnesota Category:20th-century American lawyers Category:Minnesota lawyers Category:Lutherans from Minnesota Category:American people of Swedish descent Category:Deaths from Parkinson's disease in Minnesota Category:20th-century Minnesota politicians Category:Minnesota gubernatorial candidates