Nils P. Haugen
Encyclopedia
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
from Wisconsin
Wisconsin
Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...
. He was a leading member of the Progressive Movement and a national expert on tax reform
Tax reform
Tax reform is the process of changing the way taxes are collected or managed by the government.Tax reformers have different goals. Some seek to reduce the level of taxation of all people by the government. Some seek to make the tax system more progressive or less progressive. Some seek to simplify...
.
Background
Born in ModumModum
Modum is a municipality in Buskerud county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Hallingdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Vikersund. The municipality of Modum was established on 1 January 1838 .The area has a long tradition of skiing with several famous...
, Buskerud
Buskerud
is a county in Norway, bordering Akershus, Oslo, Oppland, Sogn og Fjordane, Hordaland, Telemark, and Vestfold. The county administration is located in Drammen.-Geography:...
, Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
, Haugen immigrated to the United States in 1854 with his parents. They settled in Pierce County, Wisconsin
Pierce County, Wisconsin
Pierce County is a county located in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of 2010, the population was 41,019. Its county seat is Ellsworth. Pierce County is part of the Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI Metropolitan Statistical Area .-Geography:...
in 1855. Haugen attended Luther College
Luther College (Iowa)
Luther College is a four-year, residential liberal arts institution of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, located in Decorah, Iowa, USA...
, in Decorah, Iowa
Decorah, Iowa
Decorah is a city in and the county seat of Winneshiek County, Iowa, United States. The population was 8,172 at the 2000 census. Decorah is located at the intersection of State Highway 9 and U.S...
. Haugen graduated from the law department of the University of Michigan
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...
in 1874. He was admitted to the bar
Bar (law)
Bar in a legal context has three possible meanings: the division of a courtroom between its working and public areas; the process of qualifying to practice law; and the legal profession.-Courtroom division:...
the same year and commenced practice in River Falls, Wisconsin
River Falls, Wisconsin
River Falls is a city in Pierce and St. Croix counties in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The population was 15,000 at the 2010 census, making it the second largest city in the Twin Cities Wisconsin suburbs, which is the eighth largest metropolitan area in the state...
. He also served for several years as a court reporter for the 8th and later the 11th judicial circuits.
Career
Haugen served in the Wisconsin State AssemblyWisconsin State Assembly
The Wisconsin State Assembly is the lower house of the Wisconsin Legislature. Together with the smaller Wisconsin Senate, the two constitute the legislative branch of the U.S. state of Wisconsin....
in 1879 and 1880. He was the Wisconsin State Railroad Commissioner from 1882 until 1887. In 1887, Haugen was elected as a Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
Congressman to the Fiftieth Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the death of William T. Price
William T. Price
William Thompson Price was a U.S. Representative from Wisconsin, father of Hugh H. Price.Born in Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania, Price attended the common schools....
. He was reelected to the Fifty-first, Fifty-second, and Fifty-third Congresses, serving from March 4, 1887 until March 3, 1895. He did not seek renomination in 1894 but was an unsuccessful candidate for the nomination for Governor of Wisconsin
Governor of Wisconsin
The Governor of Wisconsin is the highest executive authority in the government of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The position was first filled by Nelson Dewey on June 7, 1848, the year Wisconsin became a state...
.
Haugen was often associated with and served as a political ally of Robert M. La Follette
Robert M. La Follette
Robert M. La Follette is the name of:* Robert M. La Follette, Sr. , senator, congressman, governor of Wisconsin and candidate for President, * Robert M. La Follette, Jr. , his son, also a senator from Wisconsin...
. Wisconsin Republican Party
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
dissidents who joined La Follette became known as the Progressive
Progressivism in the United States
Progressivism in the United States is a broadly based reform movement that reached its height early in the 20th century and is generally considered to be middle class and reformist in nature. It arose as a response to the vast changes brought by modernization, such as the growth of large...
faction. Progressive stressed the need for more direct voter control and championed consumer rights. Their call for reform gained more support after the Panic of 1893
Panic of 1893
The Panic of 1893 was a serious economic depression in the United States that began in 1893. Similar to the Panic of 1873, this panic was marked by the collapse of railroad overbuilding and shaky railroad financing which set off a series of bank failures...
shook up the economic, class, and ethnic assumptions held by many Americans. In 1894, the Progressives began to openly campaign for leadership of the Republican Party in Wisconsin. Nils Haugen sought the party nomination for governor in 1894 and Robert La Follette followed in 1896 and 1898.
After Robert LaFollette was elected governor of Wisconsin, he appointed Haugen to the Tax Commission in 1901. Haugen served on the Wisconsin State Tax Commission throughout the Progressive era, from 1901 until 1921. During that time he made the commission an important part of the Progressive movement. In 1915 Haugen helped preserve the law's strength by persuading Gov. Emanuel Philipp not to transfer collection activities from the commission to local governments. From 1919 until 1920, Haugen served as president of the National Tax Association, a nonpartisan, educational association that studies tax theory and public finance. Haugen was adviser to the State of Montana
Montana
Montana is a state in the Western United States. The western third of Montana contains numerous mountain ranges. Smaller, "island ranges" are found in the central third of the state, for a total of 77 named ranges of the Rocky Mountains. This geographical fact is reflected in the state's name,...
Board of Equalization from 1921 to 1923. He died April 23, 1931 in Madison, Wisconsin
Madison, Wisconsin
Madison is the capital of the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Dane County. It is also home to the University of Wisconsin–Madison....
, where he was interred in Forest Hill Cemetery
Forest Hill Cemetery
Forest Hill Cemetery is located in Dane County, Madison, Wisconsin and was one of the first U.S. National Cemeteries established in Wisconsin.After the first permanent settlers arrived in Madison in the 1830s, the first non-native burials occurred on the current University of Wisconsin–Madison...
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Other sources
- Brandes, Stuart Dean. Nils P. Haugen and the Wisconsin Progressive Movement (Master’s thesis, University of Wisconsin, 1925)
- Brøndal, Jørn. Ethnic Leadership and Midwestern Politics: Scandinavian Americans and the Progressive Movement in Wisconsin, 1890-1914. (Northfield, Minnesota: Norwegian-American Historical Association, 2004)
- Haugen, Nils Pederson. Pioneer and Political Reminiscences. (Evansville, Wis.: The Antes Press, 1930)