Ted Schwinden, a wheat farmer and World War II veteran who gained national attention for keeping his home phone number listed during two terms as Montana’s governor, has died. He was 98. According to his son Dore Schwinden, Schwinden passed away on Saturday at his daughter’s house in Phoenix. The reason of death was “old age,” according to his son: “He went to sleep in the afternoon and didn’t wake up.”
Ted Schwinden was a Democrat who served as Montana’s 19th governor from 1981 and 1989. He and his wife, Jean, opened the governor’s mansion to the public for the first time and often welcomed the public tours in person.
In the vicinity of Wolf Point, Montana, on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation, Schwinden was born on his family’s farm. He entered the U.S. Army after being the class valedictorian and served in both the European and Pacific Theaters of World War II. He continued his education after moving back home, receiving degrees from the University of Montana and enrolling in the University of Minnesota’s economics program.
In 1958, Schwinden made his political debut when he was elected to the Montana House of Representatives. He was elected to two terms but was denied a third. He was chosen as the Grain Growers Association’s president in 1965, and from 1969 to 1976, he was the Commissioner of State Lands. He then gave up the position to run for lieutenant governor, winning the election in 1977 before making the leap to governor in 1981.
Schwinden served two terms, earning a reputation as an honest straight shooter who could work with people from both parties. Even as governor, his personal phone number remained in the phone book, and he made a point of responding to almost every letter he received. Schwinden’s poll numbers looked good going into a third term, despite being a Democrat in a largely Republican state, but he had promised to serve only two terms and declined to run for a third. After leaving office, he taught at Carroll College and the University of Montana, then volunteered at a hospice after retiring to Arizona.
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