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Alfred Landon is an American politician serving as the 26th Governor of Kansas since 1933. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as Chairman of the Kansas Republican Party from 1928 to 1930.
Biography[]
Early Life[]
Alf Landon was born on 9 September 1887 in Middlesex, Pennsylvania to Anne Mossman and John Manuel Landon. Landon spent his childhood and adolescence in Marietta, Ohio, but in 1904 his father's career as an oilman led the family to relocate to Independence, Kansas. He attended law school at the University of Kansas, where he earned the nickname "The Fox" for his political skill while in student government. After graduating in 1908, he briefly worked as a bookkeeper for an Independence bank before following his father into the oil business, establishing his own independent petroleum firm in 1912. His ambition and capability for surveying and developing oil fields eventually secured him a sizeable fortune, and in 1917 he helped to found the Oklahoma-Kansas Division of the United States Oil & Gas Association, a petroleum lobbying group with ties to Standard Oil.
Political Career[]
Landon had supported Theodoore Roosevelt's Progressive "Bull Moose" Party during the 1912 presidential election, campaigning vigorously for Roosevelt in Kansas and forging lasting ties with Progressive leaders such as editor of The Emporia Gazette William Allen White. In 1922 Landon worked a brief stint as private secretary to Kansas Governor Henry Allen and decided to reenter politics, serving on the local Republican Party committee and gradually rising through the party ranks. He became the informal leader of reform-minded liberal Republicans in the state, but was also known for his willingness to reach out to the conservative old guard. In 1924 he endorsed the independent campaign of his friend William Allen White to protest the Klan-backed major party nominees.
Landon was elected Chairman of the Kansas Republican Party in 1928 and helped to direct the successful gubernatorial campaign of Republican candidate Clyde M. Reed. Two years later, however, Reed was defeated in the Republican primary by Frank Haucke, who would in turn be defeated in the general election by Democrat Harry H. Woodring. With his party damaged and divided after the election, Landon ran as a candidate who could reunite the state GOP and won the nomination. Landon went on to be elected Governor of Kansas in the general election, where he narrowly defeated both the incumbent Woodring and independent challenger John R. Brinkley in a closely contested race.
As Governor, Landon has sought to reduce taxes and balance the state budget while promoting moderately progressive policies. He has endorsed utility regulation, passed a moratorium on mortgage foreclosures, and sponsored laws to bolster Kansas's ailing banking system. Both the America First Party (AFP) and the Socialist Party of America (SPA) have criticized Governor Landon for his ties to the Standard Oil Company. He is expected to become the Republican Party nominee for the 1936 presidential election.
Personal Life[]
Landon married Margaret Fleming on 9 January 1915, but she died only three years later while giving birth to their daughter, Margaret Anne. He married his second wife, Theo Cobb, on 15 January 1930, and together they had two children: Nancy (b. 1932) and John.