Lemke, William

Lemke, William (Frederick)

(1878–1959) U.S. representative; born in Albany, Minn. Son of a homesteader, he practiced law in Fargo, N.D. (1905–20) where he joined the populist Nonpartisan League to create institutions that would benefit small farmers. He turned to business after conservatives attacked the league and had a second political career in the U.S. House of Representatives (Rep., N.D., 1933–59) where he sponsored the Farm Mortgage Moratorium Act of 1935. An isolationist, he supported conservation measures after the war.