Forrest H. Anderson was born in Helena, Montana, on January 20, 1913, the son of Oscar Anderson, a Swedish immigrant, and his wife Mary O'Keefe, an Irish immigrant. He attended public schools in Helena, and then studied pre-law at the University of Montana in Missoula. He got his law degree from Columbus University in Washington, D.C.
Anderson was admitted to practice before the Montana Supreme Court in 1938. He was elected to the Montana legislature in 1942, and also served as Lewis and Clark County Attorney. He was elected to the Montana Supreme Court in 1952 and served 4 years, before running for Montana Attorney General in 1956. He was re-elected as Attorney General three times. During the 1959 State Prison riot, he personally negotiated with the prisoners in helping to resolve the conflict. In 1968 he defeated incumbent Governor Tim Babcock, largely on an anti-sales tax platform. His slogan was "Pay More, What For?"
Anderson's one term as Governor was filled with controversy, but made significant accomplishments. The early years of his administration were dominated by conflict with Frank Dunkle, Fish and Game Commissioner, and the Fish and Game Commission, over the direction of the Commission on environmental issues and on fisherman and hunter access issues. In 1971 the Legislature deadlocked over a sales tax. Anderson called two special sessions to deal with the issue, and finally resorted to putting the tax to a public referendum. The sales tax was resoundingly defeated. Anderson actively supported the Montana Constitutional Convention. He later viewed his greatest Gubernatorial accomplishments as the Executive Reorganization, which combined several hundred agencies, boards, commissions, and councils, into 19 Departments; and his establishment of the Board of Investments to remove state funds from low yield bank accounts to place them in higher yield investment accounts. Anderson did not run for re-election due to health problems.
Anderson was also active in many civic and fraternal organizations. He married Evelyn Samson in 1941. They had three children. Forrest Anderson died in Helena on July 20, 1989, of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Collection consists of 6 oral histories all in digital format. Oral Histories total approximately five hours in audio recording. All include a summary index of the interview.
Researchers requesting copies of interviews should refer to the OH number and name of interviewee when ordering.
Inventory is arranged by item, with each oral history interview listed by the name of the interviewee. An abstract for each interview is provided in the inventory to allow keyword searchability. The abstract includes the number of cassettes, CDs or transcript pages for the interview, as appropriate. Researchers requesting copies of interviews should refer to the OH number, recording number (if it exists) and the name of the interviewee when ordering.
Collection is open for research.
The Montana Historical Society is the owner of the materials in the Research Library and makes available reproductions for research, publication, and other uses. Written permission must be obtained from the Research Library before any reproduction use. The Society does not necessarily hold copyright to all of the materials in the collections. In some cases, permission for use may require seeking additional authorization from the copyright owners.
[OH number][Interview title] Montana Historical Society Research Center. Archives. Helena, Montana.
Interviews were conducted by Brian Shovers, Library Manager at the Montana Historical Society Research Center, to aid the research for his article "Forrest Anderson, the 1972 Constitution, and the Reshaping of Montana" which appeared in the Spring 2014 issue of Montana: The Magazine of Western History.
This collection is indexed under the following headings. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons, or places should search under these terms.
In this June 2, 2014 interview Newell Anderson recalls his memories of his father, Forrest Anderson, growing up, including what he remembers of his father's political career; Executive reorganization. Also discusses his father's declining health; his work with seven different governors; and a few anecdotes about his father.
In this August 15, 2011 interview Tom Mangan discusses his youth and how he came to know and work for Forrest Anderson; Tom's role in the executive reorganization; crackdown on gambling and prostitution; Forrest's failing health, struggle with pain, and suicide. He also discusses his work as a private investigator in the 1981 prison riots and reforms to the corrections system that followed.
In this November 30, 2012 interview Diana Dowling discusses how she got involved in the executive reorganization; what occurred during the process; its impact. Her role in the 1972 Constitutional Convention, why it worked. Also discusses her role in state legislation after the Con Con, including the beginning of the state lottery in 1987.
In this August 17, 2011 interview Alec Hansen discusses growing up in Butte, working as a miner for the Anaconda Copper Mining Company and later as a reporter for the Montana Standard; Urban Renewal in butte; executive reorganization; sales tax ballot issue; re-writing of the Montana Constitution; Anderson's efforts with all three of these; anecdotes from Alec on the type of person Forrest Anderson was.
In this December 4, 2012 interview Rich Bechtel discusses how the 1972 Constitutional Convention came about; his job of staffing the Legislative Committee; other involved in the Con Con; the creation of the new constitution and its passage and the more open government as a result; his thoughts and feelings on Forrest Anderson as governor.
In this August 10, 2011 interview George Bousliman discusses the executive reorganization staff; reasons behind Forrest Anderson's success as governor and his administrative style; the importance of citizen groups; the importance of a new constitution on issues of privacy and the environment; the economic impact of reorganization.