Dwight Palmer Griswold (November 27, 1893 – April 12, 1954) was an American publisher and politician from the U.S. state of Nebraska. He served as the 25th governor of Nebraska from 1941 to 1947, and in the United States Senate from 1952 until his death in 1954. Griswold was a member of the Republican Party.

Dwight Palmer Griswold
United States Senator
from Nebraska
In office
November 5, 1952 – April 12, 1954
Preceded byFred A. Seaton
Succeeded byEva Bowring
25th Governor of Nebraska
In office
January 9, 1941 – January 9, 1947
LieutenantWilliam E. Johnson
Roy W. Johnson
Preceded byRobert Leroy Cochran
Succeeded byVal Peterson
Member of the Nebraska Senate
In office
1925–1929
Member of the Nebraska House of Representatives
In office
1920
Personal details
Born(1893-11-27)November 27, 1893
Harrison, Nebraska, U.S.
DiedApril 12, 1954(1954-04-12) (aged 60)
Bethesda, Maryland, U.S.
Political partyRepublican

Early life

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Griswold was born in Harrison, Nebraska, and attended public schools in Gordon, Nebraska. He attended the Kearney Military Academy and Nebraska Wesleyan University. Griswold received a B.A. degree from the University of Nebraska in Lincoln in 1914.[1]

Griswold served as an infantry sergeant on the U.S.–Mexico border from 1916 to 1917, and became a captain in field artillery during World War I.

Career

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Griswold was the editor and publisher of the Gordon Journal in Gordon, Nebraska, from 1922 to 1940.[2] He served in the Nebraska House of Representatives in 1920 and in the Nebraska Senate from 1925 to 1929.[3] He was an unsuccessful candidate for governor in 1932, 1934, and 1936. He was elected governor in 1940 and reelected in 1942 and 1944. Griswold challenged Sen. Hugh A. Butler in the 1946 Republican primary, but was badly defeated.[4]

Griswold served in the Military Government of Germany in 1947 and was chief of the American mission for aid to Greece from 1947 to 1948. He was elected to the United States Senate in 1952 to complete an unexpired term scheduled to end on January 3, 1955, but died on April 12, 1954, in the Bethesda Naval Hospital of a heart attack. Griswold was the third of six Senators to serve during the fifteenth Senate term for Nebraska's Class 2 seat, from January 3, 1949 to January 3, 1955. He is interred at Fairview Cemetery in Scottsbluff, Nebraska.[2][5]

Legacy

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Bust of Griswold created by George Lundeen in 1994 for the Nebraska Hall of Fame.

Griswold is a member of the Nebraska Hall of Fame,[6] inducted in 1993.

References

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  This article incorporates public domain material from the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress

  1. ^ "Griswold, Dwight Palmer, (1893 - 1954)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved October 6, 2012.
  2. ^ a b "Griswold, Dwight Palmer" (PDF). NebraskaHistory.org. Archived from the original on December 2, 2006. Retrieved October 6, 2012.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  3. ^ "Dwight Palmer Griswold". govtrack.us. Retrieved October 6, 2012.
  4. ^ "Stassen Friends Discount Nebraska Primary Rebuff". St. Petersburg Times. Associated Press. June 13, 1946. Retrieved October 6, 2012.
  5. ^ "Sen. Griswold, Republican of Nebraska, Dies". Chicago Tribune. April 12, 1954.
  6. ^ "Nebraska Hall of Fame". NebraskaHistory.org. p. 79 (8). Retrieved October 6, 2012.

Further reading

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Nebraska Blue Book, 1954. (Lincoln, NE: Nebraska Legislative Council, 1954) This biographical sketch is based largely on the entry in the Nebraska Blue Book, 1954.

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Political offices
Preceded by Governor of Nebraska
January 9, 1941 – January 9, 1947
Succeeded by
U.S. Senate
Preceded by U.S. senator (Class 2) from Nebraska
November 5, 1952 – April 12, 1954
Served alongside: Hugh A. Butler
Succeeded by
Party political offices
Preceded by Republican nominee for Governor of Nebraska
1932, 1934, 1936
Succeeded by
Preceded by Republican nominee for Governor of Nebraska
1940, 1942, 1944
Succeeded by
Preceded by Republican nominee for U.S. Senator from Nebraska (Class 2)
1952
Succeeded by