My Ancestor : My Great, Great Grandfather

I found this on the internet about my great, great grandfather. I thought it was interesting.

BOEN, Haldor Erickson, (1851 - 1912)

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”The House of Representatives of the Fifty Third Congress” (detail), The Graphic Chicago, 1893, Collection of U.S. House of Representatives

 

 

 

 

 

Haldor Erickson Boen (January 2, 1851 – July 23, 1912) was an American congressman from Minnesota.

Haldor Erickson Boen was born in Sondre Aurdal, Valdres, a traditional district in Oppland county, Norway. Boen immigrated to the United States in 1868 and settled in Mower County, Minnesota. He attended the St. Cloud Normal School in 1869 and 1870. Boen relocated to Fergus Falls in Otter Tail County on January 1, 1871. In 1872 he was employed in the auditor’s office, computing the first taxes levied in Otter Tail County. He taught in the common schools of that county from 1874 to 1879. He acted as justice of the peace from 1875 – 1900. In 1880 he was elected county commissioner. He acted as register of deeds from 1888 – 1892.

Boen was elected as a Populist to the 53rd congress, representing the newly-created 7th congressional district, March 4, 1893 – March 3, 1895. He was unsuccessful in his reelection bid in 1894 to the 54th congress. Boen then became editor of the Fergus Falls Globe and resumed agricultural pursuits in Otter Tail County. He died in Aurdal Township in Otter Tail County and was interred in Aurdal Cemetery, near Fergus Falls, Minnesota. (Wikipedia)

BOEN, Haldor Erickson - Biographical Information

Vocabulary In the News : Politico (Online Article from 15 November 2010)

In January when the new Republican-controlled Congress convenes, California Democrat Nancy Pelosi will no longer be Speaker of the House, the second most powerful position in the US government and second-in-line to the presidency. She appears to have enough votes though from her Democrat colleagues to maintain her leadership position, but as Minority Leader. However some of the more moderate Democrats are unhappy with her maintaining leadership of the Democrats in the House. Since they don’t have enough votes to remove her from leadership, they are attacking Pelosi’s power to appoint lieutenants.

If you appoint someone to do a job, you choose that person. Pelosi, as leader of the Democrats in the House, has the power to appoint the lieutenants. These are Democrat members holding other lower ranking leadership positions in the party and are considered the leader’s ‘enforcers.’

Nancy Pelosi is scrambling to stop opposition from the more moderate Democrat members. This means that she is hurrying and working very hard in competition against these member to maintain her authority. She wants to thwart a Democrat rebellion in her party. In other words, she is trying to prevent or stop this rebellion.

This is seen as the first test of her might (or power) in the new Congress. The article states that she is trying to extinguish the rebellion. If you extinguish a fire or a cigarette, you stop the burning. The rebellion is viewed like a fire that has to be stopped.

To read the article, click on the above image.

US 2010 Midterm Election Results

This is a congressional district map of the United States since the 2008 elections. All the districts in blue have a Democratic representative and all those in red have a Republican representative. Before the election Tuesday, there were 255 Democratic seats, 178 Republican seats, and 2 vacant seats.

Here’s the new map for the House of Representatives starting in January 2011 when the new Congress is sworn in.

Here are the results as they stand now. The votes for two Senate seats (Washington and Alaska) are still being counted. There are 10 House seats being recounted because the races are very close.

Prior to Tuesday, there were 59 Democratic seats (including 2 Independent) and 41 Republican seats in the Senate.

Vocabulary in the News : The Wall Street Journal (Front Page from 3 November 2010)

Let’s look at some of the vocabulary found in the article titles. If you want to read each article on The Wall Street Journal webpage, click on the each title.

GOP Claims House in Huge Swing, Tea-Party Wave Creates New Dynamic in Washington and the States; Democrats to Retain Senate Despite Drubbing

• A swing is seat that hangs from ropes or chains and moves back and forth which is usually used by children. So you can imagine the illusion here of a swing. In politics, we this word to describe when one ruling party has been replaced by a new one. The term can be used to describe any change in emotion, idea, condition, etc, to another. For example, Spain was a very conservative and Catholic country but there was a swing away from traditional family values when the country allowed same-sex marriage. In Amsterdam, there is a swing in the government position on legalized marijuana which may cause coffee shops to close down in the future.

• A change in political parties in power at a national level can also be described as a wave or even a tidal wave. A wave of course is a raised line of water you find in the ocean or other body of water. Last night a Republican wave swept (past irregular form of ‘to sweep’ – balayer) across the country pushing Democrats out of power.
• The Majority Leader Harry Reid, despite the drubbing the Democrats received by the Republicans last night, surprisingly won his reelection in Nevada. If you received a drubbing, this means that you were severely beaten. This word is believed to have been possibly derived from the Arabic word darb which means a beating, particularly by a stick.

Unaligned Voters Tilt Rightward In Droves

• Voters who don’t identify themselves as Republicans or Democrats tilted rightward in this election. In other words, they favored the particular program or opinion of those running as Republicans. Literally, to tilt means to incline or to cause to slope to one side. For example, these slashes ‘///////’ all tilt to the right.  If these unaligned (or nonaligned) voters had favored the Democrats, we would have said that they tilted leftward. In any case, the election is over and the United States must now move forward and not backward.
• The headline also said that these independent voters favored the political right in droves. If people do something in droves, it means they do it in very large numbers.

How the Rout Was Won : Careful Plans, Timely Wave

• A rout is a term to describe the complete defeat of your opponent in a battle, competition or an election. The word is also a verb. For example, Spain won the FIFA World Cup after having routed the Netherlands.
• If something happens in a timely manner, it happens at the most suitable or proper time.
   

Vocabulary In the News : US Midterm Elections

On 2 November, Americans will vote in national midterm elections to elect the entire House of Representatives and one-third of the Senate. National elections take place every two years in the United States. This year’s elections are called midterm elections because they fall fall in the middle of a president’s 4-year term in office. This Election Day, all 435 seats of the House of Representatives, whose members only have a 2-year term, are up for election. In the Senate, one-third of Senate seats out of 100 are up for election. Members of that body have 6-year terms.

Currently there are 253 Democrat seats, 178 Republican seats and 6 empty seats in the House of Representatives. The Representative from California’s 8th congressional district, Nancy Pelosi is the current Speaker of the House. She is the 60th and first female to preside over the chamber. The Speaker of the House is probably the closest thing that the United States has to a prime minister. The Speaker is the second in line to the presidency after the Vice President and is in a leadership position of the majority party. He or she also works to set the political agenda for their party giving the Speaker a great deal of power. It is the second most powerful position in the US Government.

All polls in the US project a Republican sweep in the elections. This means that the party will pick up seats in a very large number retaking control of that chamber. The polls currently predict that the Republicans will win 212 seats with Democrats maintaining 183 seats. Forty seats are considered tossups. If pollsters say a seat is a tossup, they are indicating that they can’t predict which candidate will win because poll numbers are too close. If Republicans are swept into office in November, the current Minority Leader John Boehner will probably become the 61st Speaker of the House. Mr. Boehner represents Ohio’s 8th congressional district. To be a member of the House, the Constitution requires that the representative to be a minimum of 25 years of age when he is sworn into office.

In the Senate, one-third of that body’s seats are up for election. There are currently 57 Democrats, 41 Republicans and 2 Independents who caucus with the Democrats. If a member caucuses with a certain party, this means they meet with and vote with that party. In effect, this gives the Democrats 59 seats but one vote short of an absolute majority of 60 votes. Sixty votes are need to stop a filibuster by the minority party and to proceed to a vote. In the Senate, there are no time limits to how long a senator may speak on the floor. To stop or delay a proposal known as a bill, a senator can filibuster till the end of debate. In other words, he talks the bill to death. The only way to stop a filibuster, is to have 60 senators willing to vote for cloture.

The Vice President of the United States is also the President of the Senate as written in the US Constitution. Vice President Joseph Biden is the current President. Today, modern vice presidents rarely preside over the Senate except for the swearing in of new members, joint sessions of Congress and to cast a tie-breaking (or “casting”) vote if there is a 50/50 vote. Other than this exception, the President of the Senate cannot vote nor participate in debate. In the absence of the vice president, the Senate chooses a president pro tempore to preside who is usually the highest-ranking senator. The President pro tempore is also third in line to the presidency after the Speaker of the House.

If polls hold true, Republicans will also gain seats in the Senate. The current projection is 49 Democrats, 46 Republican and 5 tossups. If the Senate is divided 50/50, then the President of the Senate’s party retains control. In this case, the Democrats would still have control but with neither party having a 60-seat, filibuster-proof majority. According to the Constitution, a senator must be a minimum of 30 years old when he takes office.

In these elections, Americans are not only voting for Congress, they are also going to the polls to vote for over a million different offices at the state and local level including governors, lieutenant governors, members of state assemblies, local and state judges, local education boards, sheriffs, etc…. Most states will also have referendums and state constitutional amendments on the ballot. Republicans are expected to hold the majority of governorships. Of the 50 states, polls predict 14 Democrat governors, 26 Republican and 10 seats are still a tossup.

This election has been described as an anti-incumbent election because many Americans are tired of the same old politics by what has come to be called the political establishment or the ruling class. This negative term is used to describe that elite group of politicians that have power or authority. In many cases, they have held elected position for a long time. An incumbent is the term used for any outgoing politician who is running for reelection. The anti-incumbent movement has not only targeted Democrats but has also targeted establishment Republicans, many of whom lost in state primaries to a more conservative Republican. If an incumbent is not running for reelection, then the candidates are running for an open seat.

For further election news and to track election poll numbers as they change, go to http://www.realclearpolitics.com/

Vocabulary In the News: House impeaches Texas judge accused of sex crimes

http://edition.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/06/19/U.S.impeachment.judge/index.html?eref=rss_politics

June 19, 2009

(CNN) -- The House of Representatives voted Friday to impeach a federal judge convicted of obstruction of justice while in office

U.S. District Judge Samuel B. Kent of Texas pleaded guilty in February, admitting he lied to investigators about nonconsensual sexual contact with two employees in his courthouse. As part of a plea agreement, other counts alleging sexual misconduct were dropped.

Kent was the first federal judge to be charged with sexual crimes while in office.

He has submitted his resignation, but made it effective June 1, 2010, meaning he would be paid for a year while in prison.

That drew a heated response among some members of Congress, and a House Judiciary Committee task force unanimously approved four articles of impeachment against Kent on the grounds of sexual assault, obstruction of justice and providing false statements to federal investigators.

Before the House vote, Judiciary Committee member Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Virginia, said to House members that Kent collecting a salary of about $174,000 while in prison constituted "an attempt to extort hundreds of thousands of dollars from the American people."

There were no dissenting votes.

The decision on whether to convict Kent will be made by the Senate. A conviction would mean he would lose his seat on the federal bench and his pension.

Kent, who turns 60 this month, was sentenced in May to 33 months in prison and began serving the sentence Monday. He was ordered to undergo treatment for alcoholism while in prison.

An attempt to reach Kent's attorney for comment was unsuccessful Friday afternoon.

President George H.W. Bush nominated Kent, who took his seat on the bench of the Southern District of Texas on October 1, 1990. Kent is the 14th federal judge to be impeached by the House. The last impeachment -- on charges of lying to a federal grand jury -- was of Mississippi Judge Walter Nixon in 1989.

See the post below to understand the impeachment process in the United States.

Culture Spot: Impeachment in the United States

The US Constitution provides for the removal from office of the president, vice president and other “officers” of the United States (e.g. federal judges, justices of the Supreme Court, etc.). The first step of removal is impeachment.

According to the US Constitution, article of impeachment must first be voted on by the House of Representatives. The sole power to impeach is given to the House and may only be done for “treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.” Once the House of Representatives votes and approves articles of impeachment, the accused is officially impeached. However, this is only the first step in removal from office.

Next, the US Senate, functioning like a court, tries the accused. Members of the House who represent the prosecution and present the charges in this trial are called “managers.” The senators function as the jury. The accused will be defended by his own lawyers. Before the senators deliberate, they must take an oath swearing to perform their duties honestly and with due diligence.

After hearing the charges, the Senate will deliberate in private and will vote to either convict or acquit. In order to convict and remove from office, a two-thirds majority is required. If convicted, the judgment is filed with the Secretary of State and the official is immediately removed from office.

During the impeachment process of a president, the US Constitution requires the Chief Justice of the United States (Supreme Court) to preside over the impeachment trial, however in the case of the vice president or other official, the Constitution is silent. In most cases, either the president pro tempore or vice president (constitutionally he is President of the Senate) will preside.

Only two presidents have been impeached: President Andrew Johnson in 1868 and President William Clinton in December of 1998. Both were acquitted and not removed from office.

Only 18 federal officials have been impeached in US history including the recently impeached Judge Samuel B. Kent. Before Kent, President Clinton was the last impeached official. For a complete list of federal officials impeached and results of impeachment, go to the link below.

Impeachment can also occur at a state level according to the rules laid out by the constitutions of the individual states. Governor Rod Blagojevich of Illinois was impeached on charges of corruption and misconduct by the Illinois House of Representatives on January 14, 2009 and the Illinois Senate voted unanimously on January 29, 2009 to remove the governor from office and to bar him from ever running for public office again in the state of Illinois.

For more detail on the Impeachment in the United States, go to: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impeachment_in_the_United_States

See also: Impeachment of President William Clinton and Impeachment of President Andrew Johnson

Photo of the impeachment trial of President William Clinton in 1999 with Chief Justice of the United States William Rehnquist presiding.

Feel free to leave questions or comments by clicking on the comments link at the end of this post!

Culture Spot: On This Day … April 2nd – First Woman Elected to US Congress

On this day in 1917, 3 years before women received the right to vote in the United States, Jeannette Rankin was elected as the first woman to United States House of Representatives from the state of Montana. Here is a short video about it:

To learn more:

Wikipedia article

Biography at US Congress website

Women’s History at About.com