John Moses

Infobox Governor
name = John Moses


order = 22nd
office = Governor of North Dakota
term_start = 1939
term_end = 1945
lieutenant = Jack A. Patterson
1939-1940
Oscar W. Hagen
1941-1942
Henry Holt
1943-1944
Clarence P. Dahl
1945
predecessor = William Langer
successor = Fred G. Aandahl
birth_date = June 12, 1885
birth_place = Strand, Norway
death_date = March 3, 1945
death_place = Rochester, Minnesota
party = Democratic
spouse =
profession =
religion =

John Moses (June 12, 1885ndash March 3, 1945) was the 22nd Governor of North Dakota from 1939 to 1945, and served in the United States Senate in 1945 until his death that year.

Biography

Born in Strand, Norway in 1885, John Moses attended high school and junior college in Norway. He came to the United States in 1905 and worked for the Great Northern Railway from 1906 to 1911. He entered the University of North Dakota, receiving his A.B. in 1914 and his J.D. in 1915. He began practicing law at Hazen in 1917 and served as state's attorney for Mercer County for several years. In 1936 he came in third in the three-way governor's race, behind former governors William Langer and Walter Welford. Moses became governor in 1939, following William Langer's second term in the office. Moses worked hard to reduce Langer's influence. He sought to cut government spending and to balance the state's budget. Moses was in office during World War II. He tried to encourage war-time industries to locate in the state, but North Dakota ranked last in the nation for receiving war spending. Despite the lack of wartime appropriations, Moses' administration was a time of prosperity for the state. Rainfall was plentiful and there was a ready market for agriculture products. Moses was a popular governor. During his election campaign he gave speeches in English, German, or Norwegian, depending on his audience. A Democrat, Moses was noted for his support from both political parties. In 1944 Moses defeated Gerald P. Nye for a seat in the United States Senate. He died on March 3, 1945, shortly after taking his place in the Senate. [ [http://www.state.nd.us/hist/ndgov5.htm ] at www.state.nd.us]

Notes

External links

* [http://www.und.edu/dept/library/Collections/og15.html John Moses Papers at The University of North Dakota]