Mark Andrews | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait,c. 1975 | |
| United States Senator fromNorth Dakota | |
| In office January 3, 1981 – January 3, 1987 | |
| Preceded by | Milton Young |
| Succeeded by | Kent Conrad |
| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives fromNorth Dakota | |
| In office October 22, 1963 – January 3, 1981 | |
| Preceded by | Hjalmar Carl Nygaard |
| Succeeded by | Byron Dorgan |
| Constituency | 1st district(1963–1973) at-large district(1973–1981) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1926-05-19)May 19, 1926 |
| Died | October 3, 2020(2020-10-03) (aged 94) Fargo, North Dakota, U.S. |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 3 |
| Alma mater | North Dakota State University |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  United States |
| Branch/service |  United States Army |
| Years of service | 1944-1946 |
| Battles/wars | World War II |
Mark Andrews II (May 19, 1926 – October 3, 2020) was an American politician from the state ofNorth Dakota. He was a member of theRepublican Party who served in both chambers of theUnited States Congress, theUnited States House of Representatives from 1963 to 1981 and theUnited States Senate from 1981 to 1987.
Andrews was born on May 19, 1926 inCass County, North Dakota to Mark Andrews I and the former Lillian Hoyler, where he attended public school. In 1944 at the age of 18, Andrews was admitted to theUnited States Military Academy. He quit in 1946 after receiving a disability discharge. He then attendedNorth Dakota State University atFargo, North Dakota, where he became a member of the Gamma Tau chapter of theSigma Chi fraternity, and graduated in 1949.
Andrews then became a farmer. He was a third-generation farmer on a Red River Valley plot that was started by his grandfather.[1]
During the 1950s he began to enter politics, serving on farmers' organizations and Republican committees. In 1962, Andrews ran forGovernor of North Dakota, losing to incumbentWilliam L. Guy by 2,000 votes out of over 228,500 cast.[2]
The next year, he became the Republican candidate for a seat in theUnited States House of Representatives from North Dakota when a special election was required after the death of CongressmanHjalmar Nygaard. Andrews won the election. He was reelected to a full term in 1964 and served in the House until 1981, being reelected every two years. Andrews supportedNelson Rockefeller in the1964 Republican presidential primaries.[3] During his time in the House, Andrews voted in favor of theCivil Rights Act of 1964,[4] theCivil Rights Act of 1968,[5] and theVoting Rights Act of 1965.[6] Regarding his support for civil rights legislation, Andrews said: "It was the right thing to do. People needed to be treated with dignity." Andrews was one of thirty-one Republicans in the House to vote in favor of theComprehensive Child Development Act of 1971.[7]
In 1980, Andrews did not run for reelection to the House, but instead ran for theUnited States Senate seat being vacated by long-serving Republican SenatorMilton Young, who was retiring. Andrews won the election with 70% of the vote and served in the Senate for one term, from 1981 to 1987.[8] He was chairman of the select committee on Indian affairs from 1983 to 1987. As Senator and Representative, Andrews was socially moderate to liberal, opposing abortion bans and school prayer, and conservative on economic policies, but was also supportive of subsidies for farmers. Andrews was good friends with fellow North Dakota senatorQuentin Burdick, U.S. Senate memberTed Kennedy ofMassachusetts, and U.S. House of Representatives memberRobert Bergland ofMinnesota.[3]
In 1986, Andrews lost reelection toNorth Dakota Democratic–Nonpartisan League Party Tax CommissionerKent Conrad by 2,120 votes in what was considered an upset, and subsequently retired from electoral politics. He started a consultancy firm inWashington, D.C., but lived inMapleton, North Dakota.Grand Forks International Airport inGrand Forks, North Dakota, has sometimes been called Mark Andrews International Airport, but usage of the name has declined.
Despite North Dakota's Republican bent at the presidential level, Andrews was the last Republican to represent the state in Congress until 2010, whenRick Berg was elected to the House andJohn Hoeven to the Senate.
Later in life, Andrews lamented the lack of bipartisanship in Congress, saying: "People from both parties talked to each other in those days, and we got things done. It's damn foolishness now. Nobody compromises anymore. Nobody gets things done now because they don't work together."[9]
Andrews married the former Mary Ann Willming on June 29, 1949. Together, they had three children, Mark Andrews III, Sarah, and Karen.[10] On July 16, 2020, Mary Ann Willming Andrews died at age 93.[11]
Andrews died on October 3, 2020, inFargo, North Dakota, at age 94, 79 days after his wife's death.[1][12]
| Party political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Republican nominee forGovernor of North Dakota 1962 | Succeeded by Donald Halcrow |
| Preceded by | Republican nominee forU.S. Senator fromNorth Dakota (Class 3) 1980,1986 | Succeeded by |
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
| Preceded by | Member of the U.S. House of Representatives fromNorth Dakota's 1st congressional district 1963–1973 | Elected statewide at-large |
| New district | Member of the U.S. House of Representatives fromNorth Dakota's at-large congressional district 1973–1981 | Succeeded by |
| U.S. Senate | ||
| Preceded by | U.S. senator (Class 3) from North Dakota 1981 – 1987 Served alongside:Quentin Burdick | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Chairman of theSenate Indian Affairs Committee 1983 – 1987 | Succeeded by |
| Class 1 |  | |
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| Class 3 | ||
Chairs of theUnited States Senate Committee on Indian Affairs | ||
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| Full Committee (1820–1947) | | |
| Select Committee (1977–1993) | ||
| Full Committee (1993–) | ||
| One seat at-large (1889–1903) |   | ||||||
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| Two seats at-large (1903–1913) |
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| Three districts (1913–1933) |
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| Two seats at-large (1933–1963) |
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| Two districts (1963–1973) |
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| One seat at-large (1973–present) | |||||||
| International | |
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| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
