Norman A. Erbe

{{Infobox officeholder

|name = Norman Erbe

|image = Norman A. Erbe (cropped).jpg

|order = 35th

|office = Governor of Iowa

|term_start1 = January 12, 1961

|term_end1 = January 17, 1963

|lieutenant1 = W. L. Mooty

|predecessor1 = Herschel C. Loveless

|successor1 = Harold Hughes

|office2 = Attorney General of Iowa

|term_start2 = 1957

|term_end2 = 1961

|governor2 = Herschel C. Loveless

|preceded2 = Dayton Countryman

|succeeded2 = Evan Hultman

|office3 = Assistant Attorney General of Iowa

|term_start3 = 1955

|term_end3 = 1958

|preceded3 =

|succeeded3 =

|office4 = Boone County Attorney

|term_start4 = 1952

|term_end4 = 1952

|preceded4 =

|succeeded4 =

|birth_name = Norman Arthur Erbe

|birth_date = {{birth date|1919|10|25}}

|birth_place = Boone, Iowa, U.S.

|death_date = {{death date and age|2000|06|08|1919|10|25}}

|death_place = Boone, Iowa, U.S.

|party = Republican

|spouse = {{marriage|Jacqueline Doran|1941}}

|children = 3

| branch = {{tree list}}

| battles = {{tree list}}

| branch_label = Branch

| serviceyears = 1941-1962

| unit = Eighth Air Corps (Army Air Force)
Judge Advocate's Corps (Iowa National Guard)

| rank = Colonel

|mawards = Distinguished Flying Cross

}}

Norman Arthur Erbe (October 25, 1919 – June 8, 2000) was an American attorney and politician who served as the 35th governor of Iowa, holding the position from 1961 to 1963.{{cite web|url=https://www.nga.org/governor/norman-arthur-erbe/|title=Governor Norman A. Erbe|publisher=National Governors Association|access-date=May 12, 2025}}{{cite web|url=https://uipress.lib.uiowa.edu/bdi/DetailsPage.aspx?id=109|title=THE BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF IOWA University of Iowa Press Digital Editions Erbe, Norman Arthur|publisher=University of Iowa|access-date=May 12, 2025}}

Early life

He was born in Boone, Iowa in 1919, the last of 6 children of Rev. Otto L. Erbe and Louise J. Sestner.{{Cite news|date=2000-06-12|title=Norman Erbe, 80|pages=4|work=Iowa City Press-Citizen|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/iowa-city-press-citizen/172476583/|access-date=2025-05-15}} He graduated from Boone High School in 1937.

He served as a Second Lieutenant in the United States Army from 1941 to 1945. He then transferred to the United States Army Air Forces as a pilot, spending the rest of World War II as a pilot, flying 32 bomber missions over Germany and flew during the D-Day invasion. He was a pilot of the B-17. He received the Distinguished Flying Cross and 4 air medals. He then served for 17 years in the Judge Advocate Corps in the Iowa National Guard, rising to be a Colonel.

After the war, he studied at the University of Iowa, obtaining a law degree in 1947.

Erbe married Jacqueline Doran on September 27, 1942 and had 3 daughters.

Political career

= Local politics =

In 1952, he was appointed for two months to be the Boone County Attorney. He was Assistant Attorney General attached to the Iowa Highway Commission. During this time he co-authored, with Daniel T. Flores, the special counsel to the Iowa Highway Commission, Iowa Highway, Road and Street Laws (1956) and Iowa Drainage Laws (1957).{{cite book |last2=Erbe |first2= Norman A.|last1=Flores|first1=Daniel T.|date= March 1, 1956 |title= Iowa Highway, Road and Street Laws |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015021066694&seq=5 |publisher= State of Iowa |isbn=978-3337998189|access-date=May 12, 2025}}{{cite book |last2=Erbe |first2= Norman A.|last1=Flores|first1=Daniel T.|date= May 1, 1956 |title=Iowa drainage laws |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015021032944&seq=5|publisher= State of Iowa |isbn=978-1373028945|access-date=May 12, 2025}}

= Iowa Attorney General =

He entered state politics, serving as Iowa Attorney General from 1957 to 1961. In 1959, he removed 42 books off of shelves due to their "filthy literature".

= Iowa Governor =

File:Norman A. Erbe 1962.jpg

In 1960, he won the Iowa gubernatorial race, against Lt. Governor Edward McManus, winning by 52,963 votes.{{cite web|url=https://sos.iowa.gov/elections/pdf/results/60s/1960gencanv.pdf |title=Summary of Official Canvass of Votes Cast in Iowa General Election |publisher=Secretary of State of Iowa |year=1960 |access-date=March 25, 2020}} In his inaugural address, he suggested in his State of the State, that the 99 county attorneys be consolidated into 21 judicial attorneys for the 21 judicial districts in Iowa and that the attorneys serve for 4 years instead of 2.

In 1961, during his term, he increased funding for educational programs, and authorized prison improvements, and approved a federal low rental housing plan, and signed a bill that permitted Iowa to join the Kerr Mills medical program. Erbe presided over the last two state executions in Iowa, that of Charles Brown and Charles Kelley. In a 1995 interview, Erbe said that while he had no second thoughts over the executions, he did not believe capital punishment was a deterrent.{{Cite news|date=1995-02-04|title=Last Iowa governor to allow executions doubts their effect|pages=1|work=The Des Moines Register|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-des-moines-register/172476396/|access-date=2025-05-15}}{{Cite news|date=1995-02-04|title=Last Iowa governor to allow executions doubts their effect|pages=3|work=The Des Moines Register|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-des-moines-register/172476419/|access-date=2025-05-15}} He maintained a $118 million surplus in that was in the treasury. He established the Iowa National Guard Military Academy and the first tourist program in Iowa.

In the 1962 election he lost re-election to Harold E. Hughes by 41,944 votes.{{cite web|url=https://sos.iowa.gov/elections/pdf/results/60s/1962gencanv.pdf |title=Summary of Official Canvass of Votes Cast in Iowa General Election |publisher=Secretary of State of Iowa |year=1962 |access-date=March 22, 2020}}

He hosted the world premiere of the motion picture Meredith Willson's The Music Man in Mason City, Iowa during the North Iowa Band Festival on June 19, 1962 in the hometown of the main actress.{{cite magazine|magazine=Daily Variety|page=1|title=WB Expends 175G Overturing 'Music'|date=June 20, 1962}}

Later life

In 1974, he received the Secretary of Transportation Outstanding Achievement Medal for his service to the US Government.

From 1971 to 1979, he assisted the White House in getting expedited funding for Alaska, the Pacific Northwest, and the Great Lakes.

He served on the boards of the State Historical Society of Iowa and the Boone County Historical Society.

After leaving politics, he served as Executive Vice-President of the Associated Builders and Contractors in 1979. He published his memoirs, Ringside at the Fireworks, in 1997, specifically talking about his military service.

He died on June 8, 2000 of congestive heart failure. He is buried in the Linwood Park cemetery in Boone, Iowa.

References

External links

[http://www.nga.org/portal/site/nga/menuitem.29fab9fb4add37305ddcbeeb501010a0/?vgnextoid=c62d224971c81010VgnVCM1000001a01010aRCRD&vgnextchannel=e449a0ca9e3f1010VgnVCM1000001a01010aRCRD National Governors Association Biography: Norman Arthur Erbe]
[https://aspace.lib.uiowa.edu/repositories/2/resources/220 Norman A. Erbe Papers]are housed at University of Iowa Libraries Special Collections & Archives

{{s-ttl|title=Republican nominee for Attorney General of Iowa|years=1956, 1958}}

{{s-ttl|title=Republican nominee Governor of Iowa|years=1960, 1962}}

{{Succession box|title=Attorney General of Iowa |before=Dayton Countryman |after=Evan Hultman |years=1957{{spaced ndash}}1961}}

{{Succession box|title=Governor of Iowa |before=Herschel C. Loveless |after=Harold Hughes |years=January 12, 1961{{spaced ndash}}January 17, 1963}}

Category:1919 births

Category:2000 deaths

Category:American Lutherans

Category:Republican Party governors of Iowa

Category:Iowa attorneys general

Category:People from Boone, Iowa

Category:United States Army officers

Category:United States Army Air Forces officers