George L. Sheldon

American politician, Nebraska (1870–1960)

George Lawson Sheldon (May 31, 1870 – April 4, 1960) was an American politician and 14th governor of Nebraska with service from 1907 until 1909. He was the first native of his state to become its governor. He was a Republican from the progressive wing of that party, which was identified nationally with Theodore Roosevelt of New York. As a cadet at Nebraska he commanded Company A of the university's Military Department headed by Lieutenant John J. Pershing. He led Company A to win the Maiden Prize of $1,500 at the National Competitive Drills in Omaha on June 13, 1892. Sheldon was also a founding member of the Varsity Rifles, which became Pershing Rifles. He then attended Harvard University for one year, receiving a second bachelor's degree cum laude in 1893. He married Rose Higgins in 1895, and they had four children.

During the Spanish–American War, Sheldon served as a captain in the 3rd Nebraska Volunteer Infantry, commanded by Colonel William Jennings Bryan of Nebraska, who had just lost to William McKinley of Ohio in the race for president two years before. En route to Cuba, the regiment traveled through Mississippi, and Sheldon liked what he saw there. In 1927, he organized the moribund state Republican Party. After the election, Herbert Hoover appointed Sheldon the Mississippi state head of the Internal Revenue Service. He ran unsuccessfully for governor in 1947, having polled only 2.5 percent of the ballots cast.

Sheldon died in Greenville, Mississippi, on April 4, 1960.