The Langer Housecleaning
In 1919, Attorney General Bill Langer defected from the Non-Partisan League, threatening the future of its Industrial Program. In 1932, Bill Langer was elected governor with the League's endorsement. Langer had campaigned on two issues: reducing taxation and wiping out nepotism. Following the election, he went to work with a will. He fired Bank of North Dakota manager Colonel C.F. Mudgett, promoting assistant manager P.H. Butler to acting manager. Butler began to sweep house. Within days, about a third of bank employees including many directors were fired and replaced with new employees. Open warfare ensued.
Langer had not informed nor received the consent of the other two members of the Industrial Commission before making such draconian changes. They demanded the retirement of every employee appointed by Butler. Langer refused. Langer and his political advisor Frank Vogel were careful not to threaten the Bank's operations and retained those employees they felt were "real" bankers, targeting only those who held their jobs due to their IVA support.
Unfortunately, despite his professed aim of cleaning up state government, Langer replaced IVA supporters with League supporters. In 1934, Langer was convicted of soliciting money from federal employees for political purposes, sentenced to 18 months in a federal penitentiary and removed as governor in July of that year. The remainder of his terms was completed by Republican Lieutenant Governor Ole Olsen. That fall, voters elected Democrat Thomas Moodie as governor but less than two months after taking office, Moodie was disqualified by the state Supreme Court, as he had not lived in the state the required length of time. Republican lieutenant governor Walter Welford served out the term. Thus in a seven-month period, North Dakota had four governors: one Non Partisan Leaguer, two Republicans and one Democrat.
In 1935, Langer was cleared of the federal charges and his conviction overturned allowing him to re-enter the political arena. Langer again ran for governor, this time as an independent candidate, defeating both the Republican and Democratic candidates.
When Langer returned to office, he appointed his political advisor and friend Frank Vogel to the office of Bank of North Dakota manager. Even after Langer was elected to the US Senate and left the Industrial Commission, Vogel stayed on as bank manager surviving attempts by governor John Moses to remove him. It wasn't until 1945 that he was finally replaced.