Nils Boe

Nils Andreas Boe (September 10, 1913 – July 30, 1992)^[1] was an American attorney who served as the 23rd Governor of South Dakota from 1965 to 1969. He served as a Judge for the United States Customs Court, later the United States Court of International Trade. ^[2]

Nils Andreas Boe was born in Baltic in Minnehaha County, South Dakota. He was the youngest son of Lutheran minister Nils N. Boe (1861-1938) and Sissel Catherine Finseth (1874-1960), both immigrants from Norway.^[3] He was a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison (1935), where he was a member of the track team, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison Law School (1937). Boe served as a Lieutenant in the U.S. Navy during World War II.^{[4] [5]}

Boe was later elected to the state legislature representing Sioux Falls from 1953 to 1958. He was the 28th Lieutenant Governor from 1963 to 1965 and Governor from 1965 to 1969. Boe, who was unmarried, was South Dakota's only bachelor governor. His sister, Borghild Marie Boe (1906-1994), served as the state's official hostess during his term in office.^[6]

The Boe administration improved the state's reservoir system, enacted a worker training program to attract new industry to South Dakota, increased state aid to schools, and created a retirement program for state employees. The administration also was noteworthy for advocating property tax cuts and starting the state's educational television system. The legislature also passed laws prohibiting employment discrimination against women and guaranteeing women equal wages for equal work.

After leaving office, Boe was appointed by Richard M. Nixon as the first director of the Office of Intergovernmental Affairs in the Executive Office of the President of the United States 1969 to 1971.^[4]

On July 28, 1971, President Nixon nominated Boe to serve as a Judge for the United States Customs Court, to the seat vacated by Judge Samuel Murray Rosenstein. He was confirmed by the Senate on August 6, 1971 and received his commission on August 10, 1971. He served as Chief Judge of the Court from 1971 to 1977. On November 1, 1980, he was transferred by operation of law to the newly created United States Court of International Trade. He took senior status on April 30, 1984 and served in that capacity until his death. He was succeeded by Judge Nicholas Tsoucalas.^[4]

Nils Boe died of cancer on July 30, 1992, at Sioux Valley Hospital in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

In 1971, members of the Boe family had established an endowment at Augustana College (now Augustana University) for the Center for Western Studies to support a non-partisan lecture series. Nils Boe is memorialized by The Boe Forum on Public Affairs conducted annually at Augustana University.^{[4] [7] [8]}

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Nils Boe.

• Nils A. Boe Papers, White House Central Files, 1969-1971
• National Governors Association

• Nils Boe at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a publication of the Federal Judicial Center.