Thomas S. Kleppe

The Honorable Thomas S. Kleppe
41st United States Secretary of the Interior
In office October 17, 1975 – January 20, 1977
President	Gerald R. Ford
Preceded by	Stanley K. Hathaway
Succeeded by	Cecil D. Andrus
10th Administrator of the Small Business Administration
In office 1971–1975
President	Richard M. Nixon Gerald R. Ford
Preceded by	Hilary J. Sandoval, Jr.
Succeeded by	Mitchell P. Kobelinski
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from North Dakota's 2nd district
In office January 3, 1967 – January 3, 1971
Preceded by	Rolland W. Redlin
Succeeded by	Arthur A. Link
Personal details
Born	(1919-07-01)July 1, 1919 Kintyre, North Dakota, United States
Died	Bethesda, Maryland, United States
Resting place	Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia, United States
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Glendora "Glen" Kleppe
Children	Janis Eileen Kleppe Cunningham Thomas Stewart Kleppe Jane Paula Kleppe Sutermeister Jill Marie Kleppe McClelland
Parents	Lars O. Kleppe (homesteaders) Hannah Savig Kleppe
Alma mater	Valley City High School Valley City State University Valley City Teachers College
Profession	Politician
Religion	Lutheran
Military service
Service/branch	United States Army
Years of service	1942–1946
Battles/wars	World War II

Thomas Savig Kleppe (July 1, 1919 – March 2, 2007) was an American politician who served as the Representative from North Dakota. He was also the Administrator of the Small Business Administration and the U.S. Secretary of the Interior.

Early life and military service

Kleppe was born on July 1, 1919, in Kintyre, North Dakota, the son of Lars O. Kleppe and his wife Hannah Savig Kleppe. He graduated from Valley City High School in Valley City, North Dakota in 1936. Kleppe graduated from Valley City State University, (then Valley City Teachers College). During World War II, Kleppe served from 1942 to 1946 as a Warrant Officer.

Career

From 1950 to 1954, Kleppe was the Mayor of Bismarck, North Dakota. From 1946 to 1964, he was the president and treasurer of the Gold Seal Company. In 1964, Kleppe was the Republican nominee for United States Senate but lost to the popular incumbent Democrat Quentin N. Burdick. In 1966 he was elected to the Ninetieth United States Congress, and he was reelected in 1968 to the Ninety-first United States Congress (January 3, 1967 – January 3, 1971). In 1970 he was again an unsuccessful candidate for election to the Senate, losing a rematch to Burdick by a wide margin.

He served as the Administrator of the Small Business Administration, and later served as the Secretary of the Interior for President Gerald Ford. In his capacity as the Secretary of the Interior, Kleppe was the appellant in the Supreme Court case Kleppe v. New Mexico (1976), in which it was decided that a state could not challenge the authority of the federal government to regulate federal lands within its borders.

In 1977, he joined the faculty at University of Wyoming.

Personal life

His first wife, Frieda K. Kleppe, died in 1957. Kleppe married his second wife, Glendora Loew Gompf, on December 18, 1958. He had two children from his first marriage and two daughters from his second marriage. He resided in Bismarck, North Dakota. Kleppe died of Alzheimer's disease, in Bethesda, Maryland, on March 2, 2007. He was buried in Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia.

See also

• North Dakota United States Senate election, 1970
• North Dakota United States Senate election, 1964

Other Sources

• Thomas S. Kleppe at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress

External Links

• The Thomas S. Kleppe Papers (Chester Fritz Library. University of North Dakota)

United States House of Representatives
Preceded by Rolland W. Redlin	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from North Dakota's 2nd congressional district 1967–1971	Succeeded by Arthur A. Link
Political offices
Preceded by Stanley K. Hathaway	U.S. Secretary of the Interior Served under: Gerald R. Ford 1975–1977	Succeeded by Cecil D. Andrus