Orville Lothrop Freeman was an American Democratic politician who served as the 29th governor of Minnesota from 1955 to 1961, and as the 16th United States Secretary of Agriculture from 1961 to 1969 under administrations Presidents John Fitzgerald Kennedy and Lyndon Baines Johnson.
20 Facts About Orville Freeman
2.
Orville Freeman was one of the founding members of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party and strongly influential in the merger of the pre-DFL Minnesota Democratic and Farmer-Labor Parties.
3.
In 1940, Orville Freeman graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Minnesota, where he met his lifelong friend and political ally Hubert Humphrey.
4.
Orville Freeman met his wife, Jane Charlotte Shields, in college.
5.
Figuring that the United States would eventually become involved in World War II, Orville Freeman signed up for the Marine Reserve in 1940 with the understanding he could finish law school before he fulfilled his required service.
6.
Orville Freeman was assigned to the 9th Marine Regiment, Kilo Company, 3rd Battalion, 9th Marines.
7.
Orville Freeman's unit shipped out overseas for periods of training in New Zealand and Guadalcanal.
8.
On November 1,1943, Orville Freeman saw his first combat when his unit came ashore at Torokina on Bougainville in what were the first battles of the Bougainville Campaign.
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An exchange of gunfire followed, and Orville Freeman was wounded in the jaw and left arm.
10.
Orville Freeman was evacuated to a US Army hospital on New Caledonia and then to a Naval hospital on Noumea.
11.
Orville Freeman returned to the US in 1944 but never recovered enough movement in his arm to pass a Marine Corps physical to return to combat.
12.
Orville Freeman ran unsuccessfully for attorney general of Minnesota in 1950 and for governor in 1952.
13.
Orville Freeman was elected governor in 1954 and reelected in 1956 and 1958.
14.
Orville Freeman took the unusual action of declaring martial law in the city of Albert Lea on December 11,1959, to maintain law and order during a strike at the Wilson Packing Company.
15.
On November 13,1955, Orville Freeman was a guest on the variety show Toast of the Town, which was later called The Ed Sullivan Show.
16.
In July 1960, Freeman nominated US Senator John F Kennedy for president at the Democratic National Convention.
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Later, Orville Freeman headed two consulting businesses and practiced law in Washington, DC He was president and CEO of Business International Corporation from 1970 to 1985.
18.
Orville Freeman died from complications of Alzheimer's disease on February 20,2003, in Minneapolis.
19.
Orville Freeman is remembered for submitting proposed legislation to establish the Food Stamp Program for the poor, which is still in use today.
20.
Orville Freeman's name was mentioned in a 1963 episode of The Beverly Hillbillies.