Gruening, Ernest (1887–1974)

US politician. He was territorial governor of Alaska (1939–53), and worked to get Alaska accepted into the Union as a state, writing The State of Alaska (1954). A Democrat, he became one of the new state's first two US senators (1959–69). He cast one of the two votes in opposition to the Gulf of Tonkin resolution (1964) that committed the USA to pursuing the war in Vietnam, and remain firmly opposed to US involvement throughout the conflict. Gruening was born in New York City. He graduated from Harvard Medical School, and then pursued a career writing and editing (1912–34); he was editor of the Nation (1920–23). The state of Alaska placed his statue in the US Capitol.