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Peterson, Frederick

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Frederick Valdemar Erastus Peterson (July 18, 1903 – October 17, 1983), also known as Val Peterson, was an American Republican politician who served as governor of Nebraska from 1947 to 1953.

Peterson was born in Oakland, Burt County, Nebraska. He received his BA degree from Wayne State Teachers College and a master's degree in political science from the University of Nebraska in Lincoln. Following 1933, Peterson maintained his permanent residence in Elgin, Nebraska.

Before World War II, Peterson worked as a teacher, school administrator, and newspaper man. During World War II, he served in the United States Army Air Forces.

In December 1951, Governor Peterson appointed Fred Andrew Seaton to the U.S. Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Kenneth S. Wherry.

Peterson served in the Eisenhower administration as director of the Federal Civil Defense Administration (FCDA) from 1953–1957.

As Federal Civil Defense Administrator, Val Peterson is reputed to have speculated about the possibility of creating a cobalt doomsday bomb [1].

Peterson served as U.S. U.S. ambassador to Denmark, 1957–1961 and to Finland, 1969–1973.

Peterson died October 17, 1983 in Fremont, Nebraska. He is interred at Oakdale Cemetery, Oakdale, Nebraska. The fine arts building at his alma mater, Wayne State College, was named in his honor soon afterward. A variety of autographed photographs representing his political career (particularly a full Eisenhower Cabinet photo with autographs of each member, as well as a personally inscribed color photograph of Richard Nixon) were on display for many years at the Wayne State library. However, the photos began to deteriorate due to exposure, and had to be removed; they are still in the possession of the college.

See related

  • "Peterson, (Frederick) Val(demar Erastus)" in Current Biography 1949.

Sources

Preceded by
Dwight Griswold
Governor of Nebraska
1947–1953
Succeeded by
Robert B. Crosby
Preceded by
Robert D. Coe
U.S. Ambassador to Denmark
1957–1961
Succeeded by
William McCormick Blair, Jr.
Preceded by
Tyler Thompson
U.S. Ambassador to Finland
1969–1973
Succeeded by
V. John Krehbiel

This biographical information was gathered from the Frederick_Peterson page, courtesy of the Wikipedia project.

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