Al Quie
Congressional portrait, 1977
35thGovernor of Minnesota
In office January 4, 1979 – January 3, 1983
Lieutenant	Lou Wangberg
Preceded by	Rudy Perpich
Succeeded by	Rudy Perpich
Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromMinnesota's1st district
In office February 18, 1958 – January 3, 1979
Preceded by	August H. Andresen
Succeeded by	Arlen Erdahl
Member of theMinnesota Senate from the 18th district
In office January 3, 1955 – January 3, 1958
Preceded by	Homer Covert
Succeeded by	Arnin Sundet
Personal details
Born	Albert Harold Quie (1923-09-18)September 18, 1923 Wheeling Township, Minnesota, U.S.
Died	August 18, 2023(2023-08-18) (aged 99) Wayzata, Minnesota, U.S.
Resting place	Valley Grove Cemetery
Political party	Republican
Spouse	Gretchen Hansen ​ ​ (m. 1948; died 2015)​
Children	5
Education	St. Olaf College (BA)
Military service
Branch/service	United States Navy
Years of service	1943–1945
Unit	Naval Air Force Atlantic
Battles/wars	World War II
Awards	World War II Victory Medal

Albert Harold "Al" Quie (/kwiː/KWEE; September 18, 1923 – August 18, 2023) was an American politician and farmer. Quie served as a member of theUnited States House of Representatives from 1958 to 1979 and asGovernor of Minnesota from 1979 to 1983.

Regarded as amoderate Republican,^[1] Quie was considered byRonald Reagan for his choice of a running mate for the office ofVice President of the United States during the1980 presidential election. He was also onGerald Ford's list for possible vice presidents following the resignation ofRichard Nixon in 1974.

The third of four children, Quie was born on September 18, 1923, on his family's farm inWheeling Township nearDennison, Minnesota, inRice County.^[2] Three of his grandparents wereNorwegian immigrants.^[3] The farm on which he was born and grew up on had been purchased by his grandfather upon returning toMinnesota from fighting in theCivil War. A third-generation farmer, Quie grew up on the farm learning to ride horses and milk cows.^[4]

Quie graduated fromNorthfield High School inNorthfield, Minnesota, in 1942.^[5] He served in theUnited States Navy duringWorld War II as a fighter pilot, finishing flight school just as the war ended. Quie never saw active combat.^[4] Following his military service, he graduated fromSt. Olaf College in 1950, with a degree inpolitical science. It was during this time that he met his future wife Gretchen Hansen.^[5][6]

Like his great-grandfather, grandfather, and father before him, Quie became a dairy farmer. ARepublican, Quie ran a campaign as awrite-in candidate to theMinnesota House of Representatives in 1952, but lost. He served in theMinnesota State Senate from 1955 to 1958, representing the old 18th District.^[5][7]

U.S. RepresentativeAugust Andresen died in January 1958 and Quie ran in thespecial election to succeed him as the representative forMinnesota's 1st congressional district. Quie won the Republican nomination at a party convention and then defeatedDemocratic-Farmer-Labor nomineeEugene Foley by 655 votes in the February special election.^[6][5] He defeated Foley in the November 1958 general election to win a full term.^[5] Quie was a member of the85th,86th,87th,88th,89th,90th,91st,92nd,93rd,94th, and95th Congresses.^[8] He served on theHouse Agriculture Committee and theHouse Education and Labor Committee.^[5]

Quie voted in favor of theCivil Rights Acts of 1960,^[9][10]1964,^[11][12] and1968,^[13][14] as well as the24th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and theVoting Rights Act of 1965.^[15][16][17]

Quie was briefly considered for Vice President of the United States in 1974 afterGerald Ford became president upon the resignation ofRichard Nixon. The position was eventually taken byNelson Rockefeller.^[18]

^[6][19] Quie ran for governor of Minnesota in1978 against incumbent Rudy Perpich, Quie won the election by 111,775 votes. During his term, he grappled with a budget crisis. Cash-flow problems soon overtook the state government. The old surplus turned into a deficit, estimated at between $600 million and $700 million. A strike by state employees that year symbolized Minnesota’s newfound economic woes. The state had not previously run a deficit since World War II.

Minnesota’s fiscal troubles gaveJim Florio, a Democratic politician running for governor in New Jersey, ammunition for attackingsupply-side economics, the theory, then growing in popularity among Republicans, which holds that cutting taxes, spending and regulations fosters economic growth.

After having promised not to raise taxes, Quie was finally forced to do so, “causing much of his political support to evaporate,”. He did not run for re-election in 1982.^[20]

In November 1979, 5 foreign students were arrested for allegedly plotting to kidnap Quie, they were later released due to a lack of evidence.

After leaving politics, Quie became involved with a nonprofit prison ministry. He sold the family farm and traveled extensively, including horseback riding excursions.^[6]

Quie's grandfather joined the newly foundedRepublican Party and supportedAbraham Lincoln for president in the1860 United States presidential election.^[21]

Quie was a devoutLutheran.^[22] He married artistGretchen Quie, whom he met at St. Olaf, on June 5, 1948.^[2] She died ofParkinson's disease on December 13, 2015, at age 88.^[23]

Quie lived in a senior living community inWayzata, Minnesota for the last decade of his life. Although his health had been declining for months into 2023, he was reportedly healthy in his last few days. He died fromnatural causes on August 18, 2023 in Wayzata at the age of 99, a month before his 100th birthday.^[24]

At the time of his death, he was both the oldest living former American governor and the oldest living former U.S. representative.^[2][25] Quie lay in state in the Rotunda of theMinnesota State Capitol on Saturday, September 9,^[26] and was buried atValley Grove Cemetery inNerstrand, Minnesota later that day, next to his late wife Gretchen.^[27]

InGarrison Keillor'sLake Wobegon Days, Quie is said to be the first governor ever to set foot in the mythical town ofLake Wobegon, "slipping quietly away from his duties to attend a ceremony dedicating a plaque attached to the Statue of the Unknown Norwegian" and making a few remarks.

• United States Congress."Al Quie (id: Q000010)".Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
• Al Quie atMinnesota Legislators Past & Present
• Al Quie Congressional PapersArchived June 12, 2011, at theWayback Machine.
• Appearances onC-SPAN as Albert Quie
• Appearances onC-SPAN as Al Quie

• 1923 births
• 2023 deaths
• 20th-century members of the Minnesota Legislature
• 20th-century United States representatives
• 20th-century Minnesota politicians
• American Lutherans
• American people of Norwegian descent
• Farmers from Minnesota
• Military personnel from Minnesota
• People from Dennison, Minnesota
• Republican Party governors of Minnesota
• Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Minnesota
• Republican Party Minnesota state senators
• St. Olaf College alumni
• United States Navy personnel of World War II

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