Farmer-Labor Party of Minnesota
The Farmer-Labor Party of Minnesota was established in 1918 as a coalition of farmers and workers advocating for moderate political and economic reforms, alongside more radical elements like socialists and isolationists. Throughout the 1920s, the party gained traction, notably electing Henrik Shipstead to the U.S. Senate and positioning itself as a significant competitor to the Republican Party in the state. Its most prominent leader, Floyd B. Olson, served as governor during the early years of the Great Depression, implementing a moderate reform agenda aimed at bolstering labor rights and providing economic relief.
Olson's leadership was characterized by strong public communication, particularly through radio, and he managed to maintain support from both moderate and radical factions within the party. However, following his untimely death in 1936, the Farmer-Labor Party faced internal strife that ultimately led to its decline. Although it achieved a final electoral victory under Elmer Benson's leadership, the party could not sustain its momentum and suffered a significant defeat in 1938. By the 1940s, the party dissolved and merged with the Minnesota Democratic Party, illustrating the complexities and challenges faced by third-party movements in the American political landscape.
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Farmer-Labor Party of Minnesota
Identification Political party
Date Established in August-November, 1918
The Farmer-Labor Party of Minnesota achieved dominance in the state in the first half of the 1930’s. Under the leadership of Floyd B. Olson, who served as governor from 1931 to 1936, it stood as a major third-party response to the economic problems of the times. Olson gained a national reputation prior to his untimely death early in the second half of the decade.
The Farmer-Labor Party of Minnesota came into existence during the late summer and fall of 1918 and was a sometimes uneasy amalgamation of a number of different groups, including farmers and workers seeking moderate political and economic reforms and individuals of a more radical bent such as socialists, isolationists, and members of the radical farm organization known as the Nonpartisan League. During the 1920’s, it achieved a modest level of success, electing Henrik Shipstead to the U.S. Senate in 1922 and three individuals to the U.S. House of Representatives and positioning itself as the chief rival of the Republican Party in the state. It attained its greatest level of prominence under the leadership of Olson.
Born in 1891, Olson began his political career in Minneapolis, where he served several terms as county attorney during the 1920’s. After an unsuccessful run for the governorship on the Farmer-Labor Party ticket in 1924, he was elected to that office as a member of the Farmer-Labor Party six years later. Taking office during the early years of the Depression, Olson embarked on a moderate reform agenda during his first term. True to the ideals of his party, he sought legislation to strengthen the rights of organized labor, to postpone farm mortgage foreclosures, and to initiate a system of old-age pensions. He also launched extensive relief efforts as the economic hardships of the Depression increased. Like Franklin D. Roosevelt, Olson was a powerful speaker and used the new medium of radio to communicate directly with his constituents.
The combination of modest legislative successes and a high level of personal appeal gained Olson reelection in both 1932 and 1934. During this period, while frequently supporting Roosevelt and the New Deal, he continued to maintain the support of the radical wing of his party, which moved further to the left over time. To keep this latter alliance in place, his rhetoric in the 1934 campaign also took on a heightened radical tone. At the same time, his moderate, but basically prolabor, stand during the Minneapolis truck-drivers’ strike in 1934 helped to gain him increasing national attention. Despite this popularity, however, he consistently rebuffed efforts to obtain his support for the formation of a national third party to oppose Roosevelt in the 1936 presidential election.
As the 1936 election approached, Olson decided to step down as governor and run for the U.S. Senate seat vacated by the death of Republican Thomas Schall the previous year. However, Olson died in August of that year.
In the period immediately following Olson’s death, the Farmer-Labor Party triumphed in one more election, with left-leaning Farmer-Laborite Elmer Benson winning the governorship by a large majority in 1936. Under Benson’s leadership, however, the internal divisions between the party’s moderate and radical wings, which Olson had managed to control, helped lead to a devastating defeat by the Republicans in 1938. The party never again achieved success and eventually, following a purge of its radical left-wing element, merged with the Minnesota Democratic Party during the 1940’s.
Impact
Under the leadership of Olson, the Farmer-Labor Party of Minnesota was one of the most successful third-party movements at the state level during the 1930’s. Eventually, the inherent conflicts within its membership proved too divisive for its future existence once Olson died. The party’s meteoric rise and fall offers a good example of the volatile political climate of the decade.
Bibliography
Gieske, Millard L. Minnesota Farmer-Laborism: The Third Party Alternative. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1979.
Haynes, John E. Dubious Alliance: The Making of Minnesota’s DFL Party. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2009.
Mayer, George H. The Political Career of Floyd B. Olson. St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society Press, 1987.