North Dakota’s ‘Race of the Century’ pitted a popular senator against a well-regarded governor

Editor’s word: That is the third and ultimate installment in a sequence of tales from InForum historical past columnist Curt Eriksmoen on the lifetime of Milton Younger. Revisit

how Younger advocated for North Dakota farmers right here

and the way

dropping an election was a lucky break for Younger’s political profession right here.

In his first 4 elections to the U.S. Senate, Milton Younger cruised to victories, receiving over 60% of the ballots solid in every election. Then, in 1974, when over 236,000 votes had been solid for U.S. Senate candidates, he gained by solely 177 votes in what turned generally known as the “Race of the Century.”

Younger’s opponent in that race was Invoice Man, a Democrat, who had been popularly elected governor 4 instances. A lot of the votes for Man weren’t solid by individuals who had been sad with Younger’s work as a senator. The vast majority of these voters had been both happy with Man’s report as governor or they had been involved about Younger’s age. Younger was a month away from his 77th birthday, and he can be 83 years outdated on the finish of his time period.

By 1951, after serving within the U.S. Senate for six years, Younger might lastly really feel comparatively safe in his place in Congress.

In 1950, he had dominated in each the first and normal elections, receiving higher than twice as many votes as his opponents.

Whereas he was senator, Younger determined to work with William Langer on many political points. Previous to that point, Langer had been Younger’s bitter foe. Langer belonged to the Nonpartisan League faction of the Republican Occasion, and Younger embraced the Republican Organizing Committee faction. Probably the most noticeable points the place Langer and Younger demonstrated unity had been overseas involvement and farm applications.

In 1949, each U.S. senators from North Dakota had been opponents of the North Atlantic Treaty. With the invasion of South Korea by North Korean troopers in 1950, President Harry Truman introduced assist for South Korea in repelling the invasion and the U.S. entered the Korean battle. Since a ballot confirmed that almost all North Dakotans opposed our involvement within the battle, Younger, Langer and Rep. Usher Burdick opposed the U.S. sending American troops to combat in that battle.

Burdick, like Langer, was additionally an NPL Republican.

In addition to serving on the Senate Agriculture Committee, Younger had additionally been appointed to the necessary Appropriations Committee. Serving on that committee was Sen. Richard Russell, a Democrat from Georgia. Since agriculture was a spotlight for each senators, the 2 males turned shut mates. Younger additionally admired Russell due to his data of historical past.

It got here as a shock to many Republicans when Younger introduced in 1952 that he would endorse Russell for president within the occasion that he was nominated by the Democratic Occasion. The endorsement triggered a stir again house, and a few Republicans known as on Younger to go away the social gathering. Russell didn’t obtain the nomination, and Younger threw his assist to Ohio Sen. Robert Taft. After Gen. Dwight Eisenhower obtained the nomination on the Republican Conference, Younger eagerly campaigned for Eisenhower for president.

In 1956, Younger was up for reelection and, within the major election, he simply defeated Ray R. Lake, a storage operator from Dunseith. Within the normal election, Younger was opposed by the son of the U.S. congressman whom he steadily labored with on political points. His Democratic opponent was Quentin Burdick, son of Usher Burdick. Each Burdicks had been members of the NPL when membership included candidates from the 2 main political events.

In 1956, the NPL aligned with the Democratic Occasion.

Quentin Burdick had run unsuccessfully for state lawyer normal in 1934 and 1940, Cass County state senator in 1936, lieutenant governor in 1942, and governor in 1946. Within the normal election, Burdick suffered his sixth defeat, dropping to Younger by a vote of 155,365-87,919.

Nonetheless, Quentin Burdick gave the impression to be a hybrid character out of Greek mythology, whereby every defeat made him stronger. With the dying of Langer in 1959, Burdick was elected to complete Langer’s time period in 1960 and was reelected 5 extra instances. Younger and Burdick are the one two senators from North Dakota to serve in that physique for over 30 years, and so they served collectively from 1960 till 1980.

At first, Younger was happy with the Eisenhower administration, though he was suspicious of the president’s appointment of Ezra Taft Benson as secretary of agriculture.

In 1956, Younger was instrumental in getting the Agricultural Act of 1956 handed, which created the “Soil Financial institution Program.” This program inspired farmers to take away farmland from manufacturing in an effort to scale back massive crop surpluses constructed up after World Battle II. This program additionally helped increase the costs of farm commodities and helped protect the fertility of the soil.

Younger believed Benson mismanaged this system and wished Eisenhower to dump him. One other issue that bothered Younger was that Benson was extremely considered by the ultra-right John Birch Society, a gaggle that Younger denounced in 1961.

Younger proved to be one of the centrist Republicans within the Senate, not just for denouncing the John Birch Society, but in addition for voting in favor of the Civil Rights Acts in 1957, 1960, 1964 and 1968, in addition to the Voting Rights Act of 1965. For probably the most half, Younger additionally remained within the good graces of the Farmers Union, a strong assist group throughout the Democratic Occasion.

Younger had the wind to his again going into the 1962 election, though plenty of Republicans in North Dakota had been supportive of the John Birch Society. He crushed his opponent, Roger Vorachek, a Walsh County banker, within the major election.

Younger discovered himself in a rematch with the identical Democratic opponent he had defeated 16 years earlier when he was pitted towards William Lanier Jr. This time, the margin of victory over Lanier was larger, leaping from 55.5% to 60.7% of the votes.

One of many greatest problems with the Sixties was the conflict in Vietnam. Initially, Younger was against our involvement within the conflict, however as a rating member of the Appropriations Committee, he was supportive of funding U.S. army motion. The conflict was the central focus within the 1968 presidential race between Richard Nixon and Hubert Humphrey, however much less so between Younger and his Democrat challenger Herschel Lashkowitz, who had been mayor of Fargo since 1954.

As regular, Younger once more obtained over 60% of the votes, defeating Lashkowitz by a vote of 154,968-80,815.

By the point the 1974 election approached, Younger was one of the highly effective members of the U.S. Senate, with seniority on each the highly effective Appropriations and Agriculture committees. Nonetheless, many citizens thought of him to be too outdated to carry a place within the Senate. Younger was 76 heading into the election. His possibilities to get reelected had been significantly lowered when his Democrat opponent turned out to be North Dakota Gov. William Man.

Man, a Cass County farmer who had served as governor since 1960 and had proved to be highly regarded with voters within the state. He was thought of a shoo-in if he wished to run for reelection, however he turned that right down to run towards Younger within the Senate race.

One other incident that might have factored into this race towards Republican candidates was the Watergate scandal of 1973. Believing this might be a really shut contest, the press labeled it the “race of the century.” The race was additional difficult when James Jungroth and Kenneth Gardner had been included on the poll as Independents.

To maintain in form, Younger took classes in tae kwon do, which concerned studying kicking and punching abilities. To show to the voters that he nonetheless had vigor, marketing campaign adverts had been proven on tv the place Younger, utilizing his naked hand, smashed an inch-thick board with a karate chop.

When the election was held on Nov. 4, 1974, Younger gave the impression to be the winner with a vote complete of 114,852 and 114,675 for Man. Jungroth obtained 6,679 votes and Gardner 853 votes. With Younger having a successful margin of lower than 0.5%, Man was entitled to a recount. When the recount was accomplished on Dec. 11, Younger’s lead elevated from 177 votes to 186 votes and Younger was formally declared the winner.

Younger accomplished his sixth time period within the Senate in 1980 and determined to retire. On the time, he was the longest-serving Republican senator. The Democratic-controlled Senate on Dec. 5 elected Younger as president professional tempore of the Senate, and he served sooner or later earlier than retiring.

He informed a reporter he was most happy with the federal pork he obtained for his state. He mentioned he used his place on the highly effective Senate Appropriations Committee to acquire seven main water initiatives and several other federal analysis laboratories for the state in addition to air drive bases in Minot and Grand Forks.

The buildings in North Dakota that bear his identify embody the Milton R. Younger Towers public housing venture in Minot. It’s the tallest constructing in Minot and was constructed in 1972. Additionally constructed within the Seventies is the Milton R. Younger Energy Plant, a coal-fired plant in Oliver County. In his outdated age, Younger moved to Solar Metropolis, Arizona, the place he died on Could 31, 1983.