J. A. O. Preus
American politician (1883-1961)
Jacob Aall Ottesen Preus ( PROYSS; August 28, 1883 – May 24, 1961) was an American politician. He served as the eighth state auditor of Minnesota from January 5, 1915, to January 5, 1921, and as the 20th governor of Minnesota from January 5, 1921, to January 6, 1925. He was a Republican.
Background
He was born in Columbia County, Wisconsin, on August 28, 1883, of Norwegian descent. The grandson, son, father, grandfather, and great-grandfather of Lutheran pastors, he chose to serve the state rather than the church. He was a 1903 graduate of Luther College in Decorah, Iowa, where his extended family has had a key role in the development, governance, and academic life of the college-community since its founding in 1862.
As a recent graduate of the University of Minnesota Law School he cut his political teeth in Washington as executive clerk to Senator Knute Nelson. Back home after three years, he continued his climb up the Republican ladder of state service toward the governor's office.
Career
When Preus first ran for governor in 1920, he adamantly opposed the Farmer-Labor Party, a coalition of discontented farmers and laborers who had formed a new political organization. The party, he declaimed, represented "socialism—a political cult that would destroy the principles of private property, our religion, and our homes." Preus would be successful among independents, who were the deciding demographic in the election.
“J. A. O. Preus” enters the record as american politician (1883-1961). Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Preus, American and politician can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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Biographical claims are most persuasive when dates, appointments and relationships can be traced to records created close to the events described. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 11, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1676256. VIAF identifies the subject as 265279784. The Library of Congress control number is n80139462. 2 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1883, 1961, 1915 and 1921.
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This entry incorporates text from “J. A. O. Preus” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.