Nov. 17, 1964 - Gov. Karl Rolvaag named Walter Mondale (right), 36‐year-old Minnesota Attorney General, to the United States Senate today, replacing Senator Hubert Humphrey, the Vice President-elect.
Mondale will fill the two years remaining in Senator Humphrey’s term, beginning with the Senator’s resignation next month.
The Democratic Governor thus ended several weeks of speculation on whether he would name himself to the Senate or appoint one of a handful of leading Democratic contenders.
Naming himself would have involved Rolvaag’s resignation as Governor and his subsequent appointment to the Senate by A. M. Keith, who would have moved up from Lieutenant Governor to the Governor’s chair.
The appointment of Mondale is certain to create some division in the state’s Democratic‐Farmer‐Labor party, especially among supporters of Representative John Blatnik of Minnesota’s Eighth District.
Blatnik, the dean of Minnesota’s Congressional delegation, had openly sought the appointment to the Senate. Last week, he flew to the Virgin Islands, where Humphrey was on vacation, in an apparent effort to enlist the support of the Senator his behalf.
But Governor Rolvaag had insisted that the choice would be his, and named Mondale.
Humphrey will be sworn in as Vice President Jan. 20. Mondale’s appointment will allow him to gain a few days’ seniority over newly elected Senators who will be taking office next year, since he is expected to be sworn in shortly after Humphrey’s resignation.
Governor Rolvaag said his choice of a successor to Humphrey, once he had eliminated himself, had been made more difficult by “the fact that all of the men and women considered for the post are eminently qualified.”
He was referring particularly to Rep. Blatnik and Orville Freeman, former Minnesota Governor and now Secretary of Agriculture. At one time, Rolvaag said that some 15 persons had been suggested to him as potential Senators.
The office of Vice President-elect Humphrey issued a statement today hailing the appointment of Mondale.
Humphrey, who is vacationing in the Virgin Islands, said in the statement: “Attorney General Mondale is a highly respected and unusually able public servant. I am confident he will make an outstanding United States Senator.
“I will, of course, cooperate wholeheartedly with Mr. Mondale as he assumes his new responsibilities in Washington. It is my intention to resign my Senate seat in sufficient time to enable Mr. Mondale to acquire the seniority accruing to a member of the 88th Congress.”
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