Victor Emanuel Anderson

For other people named Victor Anderson (disambiguation), see Victor Anderson (disambiguation) (disambiguation).

Gov. Victor Anderson, c. 1958

Victor Emanuel Anderson (March 30, 1902 – August 15, 1962) was a Nebraska republican politician and the 28th Governor of Nebraska.

Anderson, the son of Swedish immigrants, Ernest F. and Marie Larson Anderson, was born in what is now a part of Lincoln, Nebraska but at the time was called Havelock, Nebraska. He attended the University of Nebraska after his graduation from Havelock High School in 1920. However, he left the university two and one-half years later to become a partner in his father's plumbing and hardware business. He was married on December 27, 1941 to Elizabeth (Betty) May and the couple had one son, Roger Lee.

Career

Anderson's first political appointment was in 1936 when he received the appointment as trustee of Lancaster County Sanitary District. No. 1. He was then elected to that position three times. He bought the controlling interest in the Havelock National Bank in 1949 and was named president. He held that position until his death.

In 1949, Anderson began the Victor E. Anderson Bottled Gas and Propane Company. During that same year, he ran and won a seat in the Nebraska unicameral. He resigned the position in 1950 when he was unanimously chosen Mayor by the Lincoln City Council to fill an unexpired term. Running for reelection in 1951, he won by a large majority. While he was in office, Lincoln Air Force Base was re-activated, the city charter was amended, the "O" street viaduct was replaced, and for the first time in fifteen years, street resurfacing was done.

Losing his 1952 bid for governor in the Republican Primary election, Anderson won the gubernatorial nomination in 1954 and then won the general election then reelected by a large majority in 1956. During his tenure, while taxes and expenditures were reduced, mental health programs were improved, and a prison riot was successfully calmed. His attempt for a third term in 1958 was lost in the closest election in Nebraska history.

Appointed by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1959, Anderson was a U.S. delegate to the NATO-sponsored Atlantic Congress in London, England. He was a delegate to the 1960 Republican National Convention.

Death and legacy

Anderson died of a heart attack in Lincoln, Nebraska on August 15, 1962. He is interred at Wyuka Cemetery, Lincoln, Lancaster County, Nebraska USA. He belonged to the Freemasons, the Elks, the Moose, the Odd fellows, Sigma Phi Epsilon, and was a member of the Methodist church.

A library in the Lincoln City Libraries public library system is named after Anderson.

External links

• "The Political Graveyard". Anderson, Victor Emanuel. Retrieved January 6, 2006.
• Nebraska Historical Society
• National Governors Association
• Interline City of Lincoln
• Soylent Communications