Alf Landon was the 26th Governor of Kansas. He was a Republican politician from the United States. He was one of the most important people in politics and a strong leader, but ironically, most people remember him for losing the 1936 presidential election to Franklin D. Roosevelt. Politics was not his first choice, and he didn’t decide to go into politics until much later in life. He went to law school, got into the oil business, and then made a million dollars. He went to a convention, which changed the way he thought about politics and led him to join the Republican Party. He first worked for the party as a campaigner, and it was his strong will that led him to become Governor of Kansas twice in his life. People thought he was the best candidate from his party to run against Franklin Roosevelt in the 1936 presidential election. But he lost badly to his opponent, who he thought would make a great leader of a country. After that, he decided not to run for office again. In his later years, he kept talking about politics quite often, and he did so until the day he died.
Early years and childhood
He was born on September 9, 1887, in West Middlesex, Pennsylvania, U.S.A., at the home of his maternal grandfather. His parents were John Manuel Landon, an oil prospector and promoter in the Pennsylvania fields, and Anne Mossman, his wife.
He grew up in Ohio and went to school at Marrietta Academy, Ohio when he was young. When he was 17, his family moved to Kansas.
He went to the University of Kansas to get a law degree, which he got in 1908. At first, he tried his luck in banking. Later, in 1912, he went into the oil business and became a successful, independent oil producer in Kansas.
Alf Landon’s Career
In 1912, his father was a delegate to the Bull Moose convention in Chicago, which he went to. The Progressive Party, which was made when the Republican Party broke up, chose Theodore Roosevelt as their presidential candidate at the conference. Meeting some of the party leaders inspired him to go into politics.
He joined the Republican Party and helped Theodore Roosevelt win the election. He suggested things to happen about women’s right to vote, laws against monopolies, and the end of child labor.
He was also a first lieutenant in the Army during World War I. He was given a commission in the Chemical Warfare Corps, but when the Armistice was signed, he was still in training at Lakewood, New Jersey.
In 1928, he became the head of the Republican state central committee and helped Herbert Hoover win the election with the most votes of any state in the country.
By 1929, he had made $1 million from his oil business. He helped start the “Mid-Continent Oil and Gas Association,” a group that advocates for the oil and gas industry.
In 1932, he ran for and won the position of Governor of Kansas. He became an important member of the Republican Party and was re-elected as Governor in 1934.
In 1936, the Republican Party chose him to run for president against President Franklin Roosevelt, who was from the Democratic Party. Roosevelt gave Landon the worst loss in the history of U.S. presidential races.
Landon only got 8 electoral votes in the presidential election, while Roosevelt got 523 electoral votes. Landon only won two states, Maine and Vermont, and he also lost in his home state of Kansas. Even though he didn’t win, he had a lot of respect and admiration for Roosevelt.
He was sure that America’s future would be bright as long as Roosevelt was in charge. He agreed with much of the New Deal but said that it was bad for business and wasted too much money.
Landon went back to Kansas after the elections and finished his term as Governor in 1937. He never ran for public office again. In his later years, he was a leader and advisor for the Republican Party on a number of political issues.
Awards & Achievements
He was re-elected Governor of Kansas in 1934. That year, he was the only Republican governor who was re-elected.
After he died, the Landon State Office Building was built by the state of Kansas to honor him.
Personal History and Legacies
On January 9, 1915, he married Margaret Fleming, and they had a daughter named Margaret Anne. In 1918, though, his wife passed away.
In 1930, he got married to Theo Cobb. Nancy and John were their children. Nancy, his daughter, also became a successful politician. From 1978 to 1996, she represented the state of Kansas in the U.S. Senate.
On his 100th birthday, President Ronald Reagan and First Lady Nancy Davis Reagan went to see him in person and give him their best wishes.
He died in Topeka, Kansas, on October 12, 1987. He is buried at Mount Hope Cemetery in Topeka, Shawnee County, Kansas. He had ten grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren who took care of him after he died.
Estimated Net worth
Alf is one of the wealthiest politicians and is on the list of the most popular ones. Based on what we’ve found on Wikipedia, Forbes, and Business Insider, Alf Landon has a net worth of about $1.5 million.