Ernest Lundeen

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Ernest Lundeen
Ernest Lundeen

In office
January 3, 1937 – August 31, 1940
Preceded by Guy V. Howard
Succeeded by Joseph H. Ball

Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Minnesota's 5th district
In office
1915–1917
Preceded by George Ross Smith
Succeeded by Walter Newton

Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Minnesota
General Ticket Seat Eight
In office
1933–1935
Preceded by General Ticket Adopted
Succeeded by General Ticket Abolished

Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Minnesota's 3rd district
In office
1935–1937
Preceded by General Ticket Abolished
Succeeded by Henry Teigan

Born August 4, 1878(1878-08-04)
Beresford, South Dakota
Died August 31, 1940 (aged 62)
Lovettsville, Virginia
Political party Republican
Minnesota Farmer-Labor Party
Alma mater Carleton College
University of Minnesota Law School
Religion Methodism
Military service
Service/branch United States Army
Unit Company B-12th Minnesota Volunteer Regiment
Battles/wars Spanish-American War

Ernest P. Lundeen (August 4, 1878 – August 31, 1940) was an American lawyer and politician.

Lundeen was born and raised on his father's homestead in Brooklyn Township of Lincoln County near Beresford, South Dakota. His father, C. H. Lundeen, was an early pioneer who was credited with the naming of Brooklyn Township as well as with helping to establish the school and other institutions located there. Most of Ernest Lundeen's brothers and sisters died during a diphtheria epidemic during the 1880s. In 1896, Lundeen and his family moved to Harcourt, Iowa and then to Minnesota. He graduated from Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota in 1901 and then studied law at the University of Minnesota Law School. In 1906, he was admitted to the bar.

Lundeen served in the United States Army during the Spanish-American War. He served in the Minnesota House of Representatives 1911-1914.[1] He then served as a Republican from Minnesota in the United States House of Representatives, from March 4, 1917 to March 3, 1919 in the 65th congress. As representative, he was one of 50 Congressman to vote against the declaration of war against Germany on April 6, 1917.[2] He served as a Minnesota Farmer-Labor Party member in the House from March 4, 1933 to January 3, 1937 in the 73rd and 74th congresses. He was elected to the United States Senate in 1936 as a member of the Farmer-Labor Party. He served from January 3, 1937 in the 75th and 76th congresses, until his death.

He remained sympathetic to Germany. According to Alton Frye, he had close ties to George Sylvester Viereck, a leading German agent. Viereck often used Lundeen's office, and "sometimes dictated speeches for Lundeen, openly using the Senator's telephones to obtain material from Hans Thomsen at the [German] embassy."[3]

On the afternoon of August 31, 1940, Lundeen was a passenger on Flight 19 of Pennsylvania Central Airlines, flying from Washington, D.C. to Detroit. The plane, a Douglas DC-3, flew into turbulence from a thunderstorm. The plane crashed near Lovettsville, Virginia and all 25 persons on board were killed, including Senator Lundeen.[4]

Speculation arose as to if the plane was sabotaged in order to assassinate Senator Lundeen. The FBI has never officially closed the case in part being two of their special agents died on the ill-fated plane. Lundeen was a strong friend of Germany and voted against a Declaration of War when he was a congressman during World War One.[5] British intelligence assassinating the Senator remains a strong possibility when on realizes that William Rhodes Davis an oil millionaire was assassinated by the British for selling oil to National Socialist Germany.

Norma Lundeen

The Senator's wife Norma Lundeen ran for her late husband's office for Senator in 1942 but came in second in a three person race.[6]

See also

References

Template:CongBio http://www.planecrashinfo.com/1940/1940-14.htm

External links

United States House of Representatives
Preceded by
George Ross Smith
U.S. Representative from Minnesota's 5th congressional district
1917–1919
Succeeded by
Walter Newton
Preceded by
General Ticket Adopted
U.S. Representative from Minnesota
General Ticket Eighth Seat

1933–1935
Succeeded by
General Ticket Abolished
Preceded by
General Ticket Abolished
U.S. Representative from Minnesota's 3rd congressional district
1935–1937
Succeeded by
Henry Teigan
United States Senate

Template:U.S. Senator box

Template:USSenMN Template:Third Party US Senators Template:MNRepresentatives