E. W. Marland

Ernest Whitworth Marland ( born May 8, 1874 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, † October 3, 1941 in Ponca City, Oklahoma ) was an American politician and from 1935 to 1939, the tenth Governor of the State of Oklahoma.

Early years and rise in Oklahoma

Marland attended the local schools of his home and a private school in Rugby ( Tennessee). After studying law at the University of Michigan, he was admitted to the bar in 1895. He then began working in Pittsburgh in this profession. He soon rose in Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia one into the oil business. There he brought it very quickly became a millionaire. During an economic crisis in 1907, however, he lost his entire fortune.

After the loss of his fortune, he moved in 1908 to Ponca City, Oklahoma, where he summed up again in the oil business foot. He was very successful and again until the year 1920, he had again achieved a million fortune. Later he came again into economic crises and lost his fortune a second time. Politically, Marland member of the Democratic Party. Between 1933 and 1935 he sat as an MP in the U.S. House of Representatives. Then he was elected governor of his state, where he prevailed with 58:39 percent of the vote to Republican William B. Pine.

Governor of Oklahoma

Marland took up his new post on January 15, 1935. In his four-year tenure, he worked to overcome the global economic crisis. He was from the beginning a supporter of President Franklin D. Roosevelt and his New Deal policies. In Oklahoma, he supplemented these measures yet. He managed to create over 90,000 new jobs. Through the construction of hydropower plants both jobs were created as also improves the energy supply of the country. The school system has also been improved, reducing the budget deficit, but not eliminated. Marland also campaigned outside his States to win the favor of industrial companies that he wanted to move to investment in Oklahoma. During his tenure, a covenant between the oil-producing U.S. states was closed ( Interstate Oil Compact). One purpose of this association was to keep the price of oil stable. Finally, even a tax reform was carried out in Oklahoma. All this led ultimately to overcome the economic crisis. Marland had other plans, however, were partially rejected by the Legislature of Oklahoma.

Further CV

After the end of his tenure, Marland dedicated back to the oil business. But he remained politically active. Already in 1936, so even during his time as governor, he ran unsuccessfully for a seat in the U.S. Senate. Another attempt to be elected to Congress, failed in 1940. Marland became known in the 1920s for its bid for a monument to American pioneer women in Oklahoma. He died in 1941 of heart failure. Ernest Marland was married twice and had a total of two children.