41 Facts About Alf Landon

Alfred Mossman Landon was an American oilman and politician who served as the 26th governor of Kansas from 1933 to 1937.

The margin of victory in the electoral college was the largest of Roosevelt's four elections to the office of president, as Landon won just 8 electoral votes to Roosevelt's 523.

Alf Landon died on October 12,1987, becoming the only presidential candidate from either of the major parties to live to the age of 100 until Jimmy Carter in 2024, and is to date the only Republican candidate to do so.

Alf Landon's business made him a millionaire, and he became a leader of the liberal Republicans in Kansas.

Alf Landon won election as Governor of Kansas in 1932 and sought to reduce taxes and balance the budget in the midst of the Great Depression.

Alf Landon supported components of the New Deal but criticized aspects that he found inefficient.

Alf Landon proved to be an ineffective campaigner and carried just two states in the election, neither of which was Kansas despite him being the sitting governor of that state.

Alf Landon gave the first in a series of lectures, now known as the Landon Lecture Series, at Kansas State University.

Alf Landon lived to the age of 100 and died in Topeka, Kansas, in 1987.

Alfred Mossman Landon was born on September 9,1887, in West Middlesex, Pennsylvania, the son of Anne Mossman and John Manuel Landon.

Alf Landon moved with his family to Kansas at age 17 and graduated from the University of Kansas in 1908.

Alf Landon first pursued a career in banking, but in 1912 he became an independent petroleum producer in Independence, Kansas.

Alf Landon was commissioned in the Chemical Corps and attained the rank of captain.

Alf Landon was preparing to depart for France when the Armistice ended the war, so he was discharged and returned to Kansas.

Alf Landon was married to Margaret Fleming until her death in 1918.

Alf Landon supported Theodore Roosevelt's Progressive Party in 1912, and by 1922, was private secretary to the governor of Kansas.

Alf Landon later became known as the leader of the liberal Republicans in the state.

Alf Landon was elected chairman of the Republican state central committee in 1928 and directed the successful Republican presidential and gubernatorial campaigns in Kansas in that year.

Alf Landon decided to run in 1932 as a candidate who would reunite the Kansas GOP, and he won the nomination.

Alf Landon was re-elected governor in 1934, over Democrat Omar B Ketchum ; Gov.

Frank Merriam of California and Alf Landon were the only Republican governors in the nation to be re-elected that year.

Alf Landon is often described as a fiscal conservative who nevertheless believed that government must address certain social issues.

Alf Landon supported parts of the New Deal and labor unions.

Later in life, Alf Landon would come out against Right-to-Work laws.

For reasons I never understood, some friction developed between President Hoover and my friend, Governor Alf Landon, who had a summer place in Evergreen, Colorado.

Alf Landon was competent, compassionate, and a man of unequaled qualifications.

In 1936, Alf Landon sought the Republican presidential nomination opposing the re-election of Roosevelt.

Alf Landon won the nomination on the first ballot; the convention selected Chicago newspaper publisher Frank Knox as his running mate.

Alf Landon proved to be an ineffective campaigner who rarely traveled.

Alf Landon respected and admired Roosevelt and accepted much of the New Deal but objected that it was hostile to business and involved too much waste and inefficiency.

Alf Landon lost his home state of Kansas and carried only Maine and Vermont for a total of eight electoral votes to Roosevelt's 523.

Alf Landon played an important role in ending this internal bickering in 1938 by helping to prepare a new group of leaders for the presidential campaign of 1940, and in trying to bring about a compromise between the isolationist and internationalist viewpoints in foreign policy.

Alf Landon was in the American delegation led by Secretary of State Cordell Hull to the 1938 Pan-American Conference in Lima, Peru.

However, Alf Landon declined a position in Franklin Roosevelt's Cabinet because he made his acceptance contingent upon the President's renunciation of a third term.

In 1961, Alf Landon urged the United States to join the European Common Market.

On December 13,1966, Alf Landon gave his first "Alf Landon Lecture" at Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kansas.

Alf Landon addressed the Republican National Convention in 1976 in Kansas City.

Nine days after his birthday, Alf Landon was hospitalized at Stormant-Vail Regional Medical Center after complaining of internal pain.

On January 7,1915, Alf Landon married Margaret Fleming of Oil City, Pennsylvania.

Alf Landon then "devoted himself to managing his oil interests and raising his young daughter", remaining unmarried until January 15,1930, when he married Theo Cobb, of Topeka, Kansas.

Alf Landon's daughter, Nancy Alf Landon Kassebaum, was a United States Senator from Kansas.