Preceded by Joseph P. O'Hara Profession farmer, politician Succeeded by Tom Hagedorn Political party Republican Party Republican Party | Preceded by C. Elmer Anderson Role Politician Governor C. Elmer Anderson Name Ancher Nelsen | |
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Born October 11, 1904
Buffalo Lake, Minnesota ( 1904-10-11 ) Spouse(s) Ilo Zimmerman (1929), Elvern Krasean Died November 30, 1992, Hutchinson, Minnesota, United States | ||
Ancher Nelsen (October 11, 1904 – November 30, 1992), was a politician who served as the 34th Lieutenant Governor of the state of Minnesota and an eight-term congressman.
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Biography
He was born near Buffalo Lake, Minnesota to Danish parents. Nelsen attended elementary school in Brownton, Minnesota, and graduated from Brownton High School in 1923. In 1924 he began operation of his 280-acre diversified farm at Hutchinson, McLeod County. In 1929 he married Ilo Zimmerman of Brownton; they had three children.
He was a member of the Minnesota Senate, 1935–1949; delegate to the 1948 Republican National Convention and 1952 Republican National Convention. He was elected the 34th Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota in 1952. He served less than one year (January 5, 1953- May 1, 1953). He resigned to become administrator of the Rural Electrification Administration Program, in Washington, D.C., 1953–1956; He was elected as a Republican to the US House of Representatives in 1958 and served in Congress; from January 3, 1959 – December 31, 1974 in the 86th, 87th, 88th, 89th, 90th, 91st, 92nd, and 93rd congresses.
In popular culture
In a declassified FBI Case File on The Beatles (File Number 145-0), Nelsen is shown to be one of presumably several U.S. Congressmen who received letters from their constituents regarding the "obscene" photograph on the cover of John Lennon and Yoko Ono's 1969 album "Unfinished Music No. 1: Two Virgins". The letter's author (name redacted) describes the album cover as being "the most discolored and vulgar display of garbage" he or she had ever seen. A subsequent letter to Nelsen from the desk of J. Edgar Hoover dated March 10, 1969, however, states that the United States Department of Justice did not find the image to be in violation of the then current obscenity laws.