1/6/2010:
Following his conviction as a federal felon, Governor William Langer was summarily stripped of his office on July 17, 1934. For ordinary politicians, this would mean the end of their career. But William Langer was not your typical politician. With the ink not yet dry on his conviction papers, the crafty man from Casselton began his political comeback.
As a politician, Langer was divisive at best. His abrasive personality, firebrand nature and controversial governorship made him a political lightning rod; earning him the animosity of politicians and businessmen alike. But Langer's tireless work for both the farming community and the common man earned him the undying gratitude of thousands of North Dakotans. Even after his conviction, his supporters rallied around their fallen hero, comparing his political death to that of Lincoln or even Christ. With this backing, Langer redoubled his efforts, and like that carpenter from Nazareth, the battle-hardened politician would arise from the dead.
But there was still the matter of his federal conviction; as a felon, William Langer was barred from running for governor. Instead, he focused his efforts on appealing his conviction and throwing his considerable political weight behind others in the Republican Party; expending the bulk of his effort on his wife Lydia's bid for the governorship.
The gubernatorial election of 1934 turned out to be a barn-buster. In a three way race, Mrs. Langer lost to Democrat Thomas Moodie by just over 17,000 votes. But the Langers would have their revenge. The North Dakota State Constitution required that all gubernatorial candidates reside in North Dakota for at least five years prior to their election. While Governor Moodie had resided in the state since 1898, he had briefly lived in Minneapolis from 1929 to 1931 to work as an editor of the Minneapolis Tribune. When this came to light shortly after Moodie's election, Langer pushed hard for his disqualification. On February 2, 1935, Langer's work paid off. Democrat Thomas Moodie was stripped of his governorship and replaced by Republican Walter Welford.
If 1934 and '35 were Langer's years in the political wilderness, 1936 was the year of his glorious return. After numerous trials and appeals, Langer finally shook off his federal conviction, and in late 1935 was cleared of all charges. Now released from his legal limbo, Langer was free to resurrect his political career. However, a collation of conservatives within the North Dakota Republican Party were not excited by the return of the liberal Langer and successfully blocked his nomination to the Republican gubernatorial ticket; choosing incumbent Walter Welford instead. Undeterred, Langer ran for Governor as an independent. While his opponents in the general election mounted effective campaigns against the former governor, they were unable to unite; splitting their votes between Welford and Democrat John Moses. And so, with only 36% of the total votes, William Langer was reelected Governor and inaugurated to his second term on this date, January 6, 1937.
Dakota Datebook written by Lane Sunwall
Sources
"North Dakota Governors", State Historical Society of North Dakota http://www.nd.gov/hist/tgov.htm (accessed 2008).
Robinson, Elwyn B. History of North Dakota. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press, 1966.
"William Langer Papers: Biographical Sketch", University of North Dakota http://www.und.nodak.edu/dept/library/Collections/Langer/og19.html (accessed September 9, 2009).