Al Quie

Quie's grandfather joined the newly founded Republican Party and supported Abraham Lincoln for president in the 1860 United States presidential election.

Quie was a devout Lutheran.

Albert Harold Quie (September 18, 1923 – August 18, 2023) was an American politician and farmer.

The third of four children, Quie was born on September 18, 1923, on his family's farm in Wheeling Township near Dennison, Minnesota, in Rice County.

Three of his grandparents were Norwegian immigrants.

The farm on which he was born and grew up on had been purchased by his grandfather upon returning to Minnesota from fighting in the Civil War.

A third-generation farmer, Quie grew up on the farm learning to ride horses and milk cows.

Quie graduated from Northfield High School in Northfield, Minnesota, in 1942.

He served in the United States Navy during World War II as a fighter pilot, finishing flight school just as the war ended.

Quie never saw active combat.

He married artist Gretchen Quie, whom he met at St. Olaf, on June 5, 1948.

Following his military service, he graduated from St. Olaf College in 1950, with a degree in political science.

It was during this time that he met his future wife Gretchen Hansen.

Like his great-grandfather, grandfather, and father before him, Quie became a dairy farmer.

A Republican, Quie ran a campaign as a write-in candidate to the Minnesota House of Representatives in 1952, but lost.

He served in the Minnesota State Senate from 1955 to 1958, representing the old 18th District, which encompassed Rice County in the southeastern part of the state.

Quie served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1958 to 1979 and as Governor of Minnesota from 1979 to 1983.

U.S. Representative August Andresen died in January 1958 and Quie ran in the special election to succeed him as the representative for MN's 1st congressional district.

Quie won the Republican nomination at a party convention and then defeated Democratic-Farmer-Labor nominee Eugene Foley by 655 votes in the February special election.

He defeated Foley in the November 1958 general election to win a full term.

Quie voted in favor of the Civil Rights Acts of 1960, 1964, and 1968, as well as the 24th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

He was also on Gerald Ford's list for possible vice presidents following the resignation of Richard Nixon in 1974.

Quie was briefly considered for Vice President of the United States in 1974 after Gerald Ford became president upon the resignation of Richard Nixon.

The position was eventually taken by Nelson Rockefeller.

Quie ran against incumbent Rudy Perpich and was elected governor of Minnesota in 1978.

During his single term, he grappled with a budget crisis.

Regarded as a moderate Republican, Quie was considered by Ronald Reagan for his choice of a running mate for the office of Vice President of the United States during the 1980 presidential election.

He opted not to run again in 1982.

After leaving politics, Quie became involved with a nonprofit prison ministry.

He sold the family farm and traveled extensively, including horseback riding excursions.

Quie was a member of the 85th, 86th, 87th, 88th, 89th, 90th, 91st, 92nd, 93rd, 94th, and 95th Congresses.

He served on the House Agriculture Committee and the House Education and Labor Committee.

She died of Parkinson's disease on December 13, 2015, at the age of 88.

Quie died on August 18, 2023, at his home in Wayzata, Minnesota, one month before his 100th birthday.

At the time of his death, he was both the oldest living former American governor and the oldest living former U.S. representative.

Quie lay in state in the Rotunda of the Minnesota State Capitol on Saturday, September 9.