616 - Former Governors' Mansion - Governor Langer

Imagine that the governor living in this house had been convicted of a federal crime and removed from office, but refused to recognize their decision. That’s the situation North Dakota found itself in back in 1934.

Local legend holds that when Governor William “Wild Bill” Langer was removed from office, he barricaded himself inside the governor’s office at the capitol and threw a spittoon out the window at his enemies. In fact, Langer did declare martial law, called out the National Guard, drafted a “Declaration of Independence,” and refused to move out of the governor’s mansion, all while all while his supporters demonstrated in the streets of Bismarck. Some feared that democracy in North Dakota was at risk.

How did it come to this? William Langer had always been a firebrand politician who cared more about results than social expectations. This came to a head in 1934 when the United States District Court for North Dakota convicted him of fraud. The jury found that he had been extorting 5% of federal employees’ wages to support his own party. The court sentenced him to 18 months in prison, but agreed to wait until after the appeals court had ruled. The state supreme court, however, didn’t wait at all. They ruled that under North Dakota law, a convicted felon could not be governor, meaning the office fell on his Lieutenant Governor. Ole Olson took the oath of office a short time later. This was a constitutional crisis, with state government internally divided. The state office responsible for the mansion sided with Langer, letting him stay till the normal end of his term six months later.

For his part, the new governor didn’t push to move in. Mrs. Olson even told the New York Herald Tribune that she’d rather stay home on the farm. “I seldom go anywhere. Why should I start now? . . . Why, the children have to go to school here, where they belong.”

In the end, the appeals court found Langer not guilty. He even ran for governor again and won, followed by 18 years of service in the United States Senate.