Ernest Lundeen

Ernest Lundeen (August 4, 1878 – August 31, 1940) was an American lawyer and politician who represented Minnesota in the United States House of Representatives from 1917 to 1919 and 1933 to 1937, and in the United States Senate from 1937 until his death in 1940. He was a member of the Republican Party before joining the Minnesota Farmer–Labor Party. He opposed American involvement in both World War I and World War II. At the end of his life, he became controversial for his close ties with George Sylvester Viereck, a Nazi agent in the U.S. A veteran of the Spanish–American War, Lundeen got his start in politics when he served in the Minnesota House of Representatives between 1911 and 1914. He was elected to the U.S. Congress in 1916 as the representative from Minnesota's 5th congressional district. However, when seeking reelection in 1918, he was defeated in the Republican primary due to his unpopular opposition to American entry into World War I. On August 31, 1940, Senator Lundeen and 24 other passengers died in a plane crash near Lovettsville, Virginia. At the time, he was the subject of a probe by the Federal Bureau of Investigation for his alleged links to Nazi Germany. Investigations into the cause of the crash turned up nothing conclusive.