Volstead, Andrew (John) (1860-1947)

US Republican representative. He served in the US House of Representatives 1903-23, guarding the interests of wheat farmers. In 1919 he persuaded Congress to override President Woodrow Wilson's veto to secure passage of the Volstead Act, which prohibited the sale of alcoholic beverages until repealed in 1933. He worked to enforce prohibition after leaving Congress.

Volstead was born in Kenyon, Minnesota. He trained to be a Lutheran minister, but became a lawyer instead in 1884 and entered Republican politics in Granite Falls, Minnesota.