William Shane Beardsley (May 13, 1901 – November 21, 1954) was an American politician. He served in the Iowa Senate from 1933 to 1941, and was a member of the Iowa House of Representatives between 1947 and 1949. Beardsley was the 31st Governor of Iowa from 1949 to 1954.[1][2][3]
Beardsley was born in Beacon, Iowa to William Beardsley, a pharmacist and Carrie Shane, and grew up in Birmingham, Iowa.[1][2] He worked in his father's pharmacy after school until his father died in 1914.[3]
He attended pharmacy school at Bowen Institute of Pharmacy and Chemistry in Brunswick, Missouri and graduated in 1921.[1][3] He then established a drugstore in New Virginia, Iowa in 1922.[1][3]
He attended Methodist Church.[2] In June 1919, he married Charlotte Ellen Manning and had 5 children.[2] One son, William Shane Beardsley Jr., died of Polio in 1930 at age 11.
He was elected to the Iowa Senate, and served from 1933 to 1941.[1][3] In 1941, he retired from politics and he raised cattle and hogs on his farm in New Virginia and focused on his drugstore.[3]
He was appointed to the Iowa House of Representatives in 1947 to fill the term of Harold Felton, who had died of a heart attack in December 1946.[1][3] He became a prominent opponent of the labor and education policies of Governor Robert D. Blue, a fellow Republican.[2]
In June 1948, Beardsley successfully challenged Blue in the Republican primary, and went on to an easy victory in the general election.[1][2][3]
Beardsley was known for his advocacy of a balanced state budget, and his opposition to the Truman administration's Brannan Plan. He was reelected in 1950[1][2] and 1952,[1][2] but chose not to run for a fourth term in 1954. During his tenure the following notable accomplishments were achieved: workmen's compensation benefits were increased; the highway patrol was expanded; anti-gambling laws were sanctioned; roads, schools, and institutions were all advanced; and a World War II veteran's bonus was authorized.
On November 21, 1954, Beardsley was killed in a highway accident, where he came over a hill and hit the back end of a pickup truck that had slowed to help another motorist, on Iowa 60 just north of Des Moines.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7] He was returning, with his wife, from a visit to his son, Dan, a student at Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7] Unfortunately, Dan was at the movies and did not get to visit with his parents.[5][6] Dan heard about his father's death on the radio.[5][6] Charlotte had been injured to the point of partial paralysis.[8]
President Eisenhower released a statement the next day saying:
I WAS SHOCKED to hear of the tragic accident which took the life of Governor William S. Beardsley of the State of Iowa. The people of Iowa have lost a devoted public servant whom they elected three times as Chief Executive of their State. Mrs. Eisenhower and I extend to Mrs. Beardsley our deep sympathy in the great personal loss she has sustained.[9]
He was interred at the New Virginia Cemetery in New Virginia, Iowa.[1][3][6]
Charlotte died in 1995 of a heart issue in Des Moines, aged 93.[10]
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