Wild Bill & Good Will

When North Dakota's aging (65) Senator "Wild Bill" Langer decided to run for re-election this year, he seemed to be a candidate's dream of an opponent. There were so many things in his record.

In 1934, Langer was ousted as governor of North Dakota after being convicted and sentenced to 18 months in prison for extracting political contributions from public employees. He was finally acquitted after an appeal and two new trials, but there was more trouble ahead. Elected to the U.S. Senate in 1940 after a surprising political comeback, he faced a "moral turpitude" accusation. The Senate Elections Committee voted 13-3 to exclude him, after the majority agreed that his record was studded with "gross impropriety, lawlessness, shotgun law enforcement" and property deals which amounted to "briberies." Despite all this, the Senate as a whole finally seated him by a vote of 52-30.

Lantern in the Belfry. In Washington, Langer soon got a reputation for being long on wind and trivial proposals, short on judgment and accomplishment; he was on almost all lists of the ten worst Senators. Among the bills he introduced was one to issue a special series of stamps to encourage mailing of good-will letters. This year, when Winston Churchill was coming to the U.S., Langer asked the vicar of Old North Church in Boston to place a lantern in the belfry to give the U.S. a Paul Revere warning. But worst of all, by Midwest Republican standards, Langer usually voted with the Democrats.

With all that to talk about, Representative Fred G. Aandahl, a former three-term governor who had never lost a state election, took Bill Langer on in the Republican primary. The winner would be a sure bet in November; North Dakota has sent only one labeled Democrat to Congress.

Aandahl soon found there was another side to Langer which appeals to North Dakota voters. Always an errand boy for the folks back home, Langer sends a letter signed "Bill" to mark almost every North Dakota birth, death, marriage and golden-wedding anniversary.

"Antiseptic Age." Wild Bill campaigned around the state shaking hands, slapping backs, complimenting husbands on their wives' beauty, and asking for a third term. His key line: "If you have a problem, write to me." Reporters noticed, however, that Langer did not kiss babies. An admirer explained: "Old Bill, he's smart. He knows this is the antiseptic age." Traveling with him was Reporter Alden MacLachlan of Bismarck, representing ten A.P. newspapers. Langer always introduced him as "the reporter from the Fargo Forum [an anti-Langer paper] who follows me around to write lies about me . . . Stand up and let them see what your kind of man looks like." Back in the car, Langer would chuckle: "Well, Mac, how many votes did you make for me tonight?"

Last week, when the votes were in, Bill Langer had walloped Fred Aandahl by the overwhelming (for North Dakota) margin of 25,000 votes.

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