Wendell Anderson (1933-2016): Governor of "The Good Life"

English: Wendell Anderson (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Wendell Anderson, who died at 83 this past weekend, was already well known before he entered state politics.  He played hockey for the University of Minnesota, then played on the United States team that won the silver medal at the 1956 Olympic Winter Games in Italy.

After more than a decade of service in the Legislature, Anderson was elected Governor of Minnesota as a Democrat (known here as the Democratic Farmer Labor Party) in 1970.  Once in office, he was responsible for creating an agenda of reforms in school financing, property and state taxes and the environment that became known as the "Minnesota Miracle".  Those improvements got him a Time magazine cover story in 1973, the one where he held up a fish besides the title "The Good Life in Minnesota".  That turned out to be the high point of Anderson's political career.

Then Senator Walter Mondale became President Jimmy Carter's vice president in 1976.  That gave Anderson the idea of resigning as governor, then having his successor Rudy Perpich appoint him to Mondale's old seat, which is what happened.

That power play (and not the hockey kind) resulted in the Independent-Republican (the name the state GOP chose at the time to distance themselves from the Watergate-era national party) sweep of all three major state offices in the 1978 election.  Anderson was defeated by plywood magnate Rudy Boschwitz for his Senate seat.  Dave Durenberger won the other seat from businessman Bob Short.  And Al Quie took over the governor's chair from Perpich.

Then Anderson settled into a relatively quiet life away from politics, which included stints as a University of Minnesota regent and as a political analyst for KSTP-TV.

Wendell Anderson was a popular governor for his time, but remains a cautionary tale of what happens when politicians take their popularity one step too far.