Monrad Charles Wallgren was born in Des Moines, Iowa, the son of Oscar Swan Wallgren, a Swedish-born jeweler and watch repairman, and of Carrie Helgeson. In 1894 the family moved to Galveston, Tex. , and finally settled in Everett, Wash. , in September 1900.
He attended public schools and business college in Everett, graduating from the Washington State School of Optometry in Spokane, Washington in 1914.
He worked in a hotel in Grays Harbor County before returning to Everett to enter his father's business. Thereafter he combined practice as an optometrist with work in the family enterprise. During World War I, Wallgren enlisted as a private in the Coast Artillery. Rising to the rank of second lieutenant, he saw duty at Puget Sound artillery posts. Following his discharge in March 1919, he rejoined the family firm and spent the next thirteen years participating in civic affairs. He also won the National Amateur Balk-Line Billiards Championship in 1929 and later captured the Pacific Northwest 18. 2 Balk-Line Championship. The celebrity gained in these events later aided him in his political career. In 1932, Wallgren ran as a Democrat for the Second Congressional District seat in the House of Representatives. He defeated Linn Hadley, the Republican incumbent, by 18, 000 votes. His triumph, unprecedented for the Democrats in that district, was attributed to the popularity of Franklin D. Roosevelt at the head of the Democratic ticket, as well as to Wallgren's appeal and the unpopularity of the Republicans during the Great Depression. During eight years in the House, Wallgren was a soft-spoken New Dealer and a staunch advocate of public power. His greatest legislative achievement came in 1938, when his bill to create the Olympic National Park in Washington became law after he had thwarted attempts of the lumber interests to defeat the bill. He had interested President Roosevelt in the proposed park, and the latter assisted in the legislative victory. In September 1940, Wallgren won nomination for the U. S. Senate and in November defeated the Republican candidate, Stephen Chadwick. His tenure began prematurely when, on December 18, he was appointed to fill out the remaining weeks of the term of Lewis B. Schwellenbach, who had resigned to become a federal judge. Wallgren's most impressive work in the Senate began in March 1941, when he joined Senator Harry Truman's special committee investigating national defense contracts. He accompanied Truman on investigative trips and personally uncovered defects in aircraft engines and in Liberty ships. He and Truman became fast friends. Wallgren resigned his Senate seat in 1944 to run for the governorship of Washington. Although he defeated Arthur B. Langlie, the Republican incumbent, by only 22, 000 votes, he proceeded to reverse the conservative policies of his predecessor. Progressive legislation and policies were enacted and adopted during his administration: modernization of the public school system, initiation of a highway safety program that drastically reduced the accident rate, passage of a forest act to check exploitative practices, creation of a model flood disaster plan, and institution of a soil conservation program. Wallgren also signed the nation's most liberal unemployment compensation law, which provided $25 a week for twenty-six weeks to those out of work. In the spring of 1947 he headed a group of western governors who forestalled efforts in Congress to drastically reduce funds for western reclamation and power projects. In 1948, Langlie defeated Wallgren in his bid for reelection as governor. His political career seemed at an end, but President Truman nominated him to be chairman of the National Security Resources Board. When the Senate Armed Forces Committee refused to recommend confirmation because of Wallgren's lack of experience, Truman reluctantly yielded, only to recommend his friend as chairman of the Federal Power Commission, a post that Wallgren held during 1950 and 1951. Subsequently, Wallgren and his wife spent their winters in Palm Desert, Calif. , where they owned a citrus ranch. Summers were spent in Everett and Olympia, Wash. Wallgren was severely injured in an automobile accident on July 8, 1961, and was confined to a hospital in Olympia, where he died two months later.
He married Mabel C. Liberty on September 8, 1910; they had no children.
