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Orville Lothrop Freeman
	Orville Lothrop Freeman
	; State of Minnesota's official oil painting of governor Orville Lothrop Freeman
29th Governor of Minnesota
	In office; January 5, 1955 – January 2, 1961
Lieutenant	Karl Rolvaag
Preceded by	C. Elmer Anderson
Succeeded by	Elmer L. Andersen
Born	May 9, 1918; Minneapolis, Minnesota
Died	February 20, 2003 (aged 84); Minneapolis, Minnesota
Political party	Farmer-Labor
Spouse(s)	Jane C. Shields
Alma mater	University of Minnesota
Profession	Marine, politician
Religion	Lutheran
	Military service
Service/branch	USMC
Rank	Major
Battles/wars	World War II; * Battle of Bougainville

Orville Lothrop Freeman (May 9, 1918 – February 20, 2003) was an American Democratic politician who served as the 29th Governor of Minnesota from January 5, 1955 to January 2, 1961, and as the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture from 1961 to 1969 under Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson. He was one of the founding members of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party and strongly influential in the merger of the pre-DFL Minnesota Democratic and Farmer-Labor Parties.

[edit] Biography

[edit] Early years

Born in 1918 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, from Swedish and Norwegian ancestry, Freeman is best remembered for initiating the Food Stamp Program for under-resourced people which is still in use today.^[1] Freeman was a 1940 graduate of the University of Minnesota, where he met his life-long friend and political ally, Hubert Humphrey. During World War II, he served as a combat officer in United States Marine Corps, achieving the rank of major.

[edit] Marine Corps service

Figuring that the United States was going to be getting involved in World War II, Freeman signed up for the Marine Reserves in late 1940 with the understanding he could finish law school before fulfilling his required service. The attack on Pearl Harbor changed all that and on December 31, 1941 he received orders to report to Officer Candidate School at Marine Corps Base Quantico.^[2]

After graduating OCS and follow on training to be an infantry officer he reported to Camp Elliot which was just outside of San Diego, California. He was soon assigned to the 9th Marine Regiment, more specifically Kilo Company, 3rd Battalion, 9th Marines. His unit would eventually ship out overseas for a periods of training in New Zealand and later Guadalcanal.^[2]

On November 1, 1943 he saw his first combat when his unit came ashore at Torokina on Bougainville in what would turnout to be the first battles of the Bougainville Campaign. A few days later, while leading a patrol, he came across a group of 5 or 6 Japanese soldiers in a clearing. He was able to shoot a few with his weapon but was also shot himself in the jaw and left arm. Eventually he was evacuated to an Army hospital on New Caledonia and later a Naval hospital on Noumea. He returned back to the United States in 1944 but was never able to recover enough movement in his arm to pass a Marine Corps physical and get back to combat.^[2]

[edit] Post-war and governorship

He earned his LL.B. from the University of Minnesota Law School in 1946. On November 13, 1955, he was a guest on the variety show Toast of the Town (which would later be called The Ed Sullivan Show). He died from Alzheimer's Disease in 2003 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Freeman was elected Governor in 1954 and re-elected in 1958, resigning to serve as U.S. Secretary of Agriculture. As Governor, Freeman took the unusual action of declaring martial law in the city of Albert Lea on December 11, 1959, to maintain law and order during a strike at the Wilson Packing Company. After twelve days, a federal court ruled that the Governor's imposition of martial law was inappropriate. ^[3]

Orville's son Mike Freeman was ran unsuccessfully for Governor in 1998, and has served non-consecutive terms as County Attorney for Hennepin County, Minnesota (1991 to 1999, and from 2007 to the present).

[edit] Awards and Decorations

Known decorations and medals include:

Purple Heart			Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal w/ service star			World War II Victory Medal

[edit] See also

World War II portal

United States Marine Corps portal

List of notable United States Marines

[edit] Notes

^ [1]
^ ^a ^b ^c Berry (1982), p.149-162.
^ "Martial Law Ordered in Meat Strike", Oakland Tribune, December 11, 1959, p1; "Court Ends Wilson Closure", December 23, 1959, p4

[edit] References

Bibliography

Berry, Henry (1982). Semper Fi, Mac - Living Memories of the U.S. Marines in World War II. New York, N.Y.: William Morrow and Company. ISBN 0-68814-956-1.

Web

Minnesota Historical Society

[edit] External links

The Personal papers of Orville Freeman are available for research use at the Minnesota Historical Society.

Political offices
Preceded by C. Elmer Anderson	28th Governor of Minnesota 1955 – 1961	Succeeded by Elmer L. Andersen
Preceded by Ezra Taft Benson	Secretary of Agriculture 1961 – 1969	Succeeded by Clifford M. Hardin

[0] [1]

[Bery_p143-162-1] Berry (1982), p.149-162.

[2] "Martial Law Ordered in Meat Strike", Oakland Tribune, December 11, 1959, p1; "Court Ends Wilson Closure", December 23, 1959, p4

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