Charles Edward Swanson

Charles Edward Swanson (January 3, 1879 – August 22, 1970) was an American lawyer, local official, and Republican politician who served two terms as a U.S. Representative from Iowa’s 9th congressional district. His congressional career concluded in the Democratic landslide that accompanied the election of Franklin D. Roosevelt to his first term as president in 1932.

Swanson was born on a farm near Galesburg, Knox County, Illinois, to Swedish immigrant parents. He attended the public schools in Galesburg during his early years. In 1890 he moved with his parents to Iowa, where the family settled on a farm in Ringgold County. There he continued his upbringing in a rural setting and resumed his studies in the public school at Clearfield, Iowa, laying the foundation for his later academic and professional pursuits.

After completing his early education in Iowa, Swanson returned to Galesburg to attend Knox College. He graduated from Knox in 1902. Immediately following his graduation, he embarked on a career in education, serving as principal of schools at Altona, Illinois, from 1902 to 1904. Deciding to pursue the law, he enrolled in Northwestern University’s law school, from which he graduated in 1907. That same year he was admitted to the bar and began the practice of law.

Swanson established his legal practice in Council Bluffs, Pottawattamie County, Iowa. He quickly became active in local legal affairs and public service. From 1915 to 1922 he served as prosecuting attorney of Pottawattamie County, Iowa, a role in which he gained experience in criminal law and public administration and built a reputation that would later support his entry into national politics. After leaving the prosecutor’s office, he continued in private practice in Council Bluffs.

In 1928, Swanson was elected as a Republican to the U.S. House of Representatives from Iowa’s 9th congressional district. He took his seat in the Seventy-first Congress on March 4, 1929, and was re-elected two years later, serving also in the Seventy-second Congress. His tenure in Congress, from March 4, 1929, to March 3, 1933, coincided with the onset of the Great Depression, a period of intense economic and political upheaval. Following reapportionment in 1931, his home area was placed in Iowa’s 7th congressional district. Swanson prevailed in the Republican primary for the new district but was defeated in the general election by Democrat Otha Wearin in 1932, as part of the broader shift toward the Democratic Party in that election cycle.

After leaving Congress, Swanson returned to Council Bluffs and resumed the practice of law. He remained active in public affairs and the civic life of his community. In 1934 he sought to regain a seat in the House of Representatives, again running against Otha Wearin, but he was once more defeated in the general election. Thereafter he focused primarily on his legal career and local public service rather than seeking further national office.

In his later years, Swanson continued to serve in local governmental roles. From 1949 to 1968 he was chairman of the Council Bluffs Board of Tax Review, overseeing matters related to local taxation and property assessments for nearly two decades. He died in Council Bluffs on August 22, 1970. Swanson was interred in Walnut Hill Cemetery in Council Bluffs, Iowa, closing a long life marked by service in education, law, local government, and the United States Congress.