Harold Stassen

Harold Edward Stassen was the 25th Governor of Minnesota from 1939 to 1943. After service in World War II, he was president of the University of Pennsylvania from 1948 to 1953. In popular culture, his name has become most identified with his fame as a perennial candidate for other offices, most notably and frequently President of the United States.

Stassen, the third of five children, was born in West St. Paul, Minnesota, to Elsie Emma and William Andrew Stassen, a farmer and severaltimes mayor of West St. Paul. His mother was German and his father was born in Minnesota, to German and Czech parents. He graduated from high school at age 14. At the University of Minnesota, Stassen was an intercollegiate debater, captain of the champion university rifle team in 1927, and received bachelors and law degrees in 1929. After opening a law office with Elmer J. Ryan in South St. Paul that year, he was elected District Attorney of Dakota County in 1930 and 1934, then elected Governor of Minnesota in 1938. Stassen was seen as an up and comer after delivering the keynote address at the 1940 Republican National Convention. There he worked to help Wendell Willkie win the Republican Party nomination for the presidency.

Source: Wikipedia