Nils Boe

Boe was born in Baltic in Minnehaha County, South Dakota. He was the youngest son of Lutheran minister Nils N. Boe (1861–1938) and Sissel Catherine Finseth (1874–1960), both immigrants from Norway.[3] He received an Artium Baccalaureus degree in 1935 from the University of Wisconsin–Madison, where he was a member of the track team, and received a Bachelor of Laws in 1937 from the University of Wisconsin Law School. Boe served as a Lieutenant in the United States Navy during World War II.[4][5]

Boe was later elected to the state legislature representing Sioux Falls from 1953 to 1958. He was the 28th Lieutenant Governor from 1963 to 1965 and Governor from 1965 to 1969. Boe, who was unmarried, was South Dakota's only bachelor governor. His sister, Borghild Marie Boe (1906-1994), served as the state's official hostess during his term in office.[6]

The Boe administration improved the state's reservoir system, enacted a worker training program to attract new industry to South Dakota, increased state aid to schools, and created a retirement program for state employees. The administration also was noteworthy for advocating property tax cuts and starting the state's educational television system. The legislature also passed laws prohibiting employment discrimination against women and guaranteeing women equal wages for equal work.

After leaving office, Boe was appointed by President Richard Nixon as the first director of the Office of Intergovernmental Affairs in the Executive Office of the President of the United States from 1969 to 1971.[4]

Boe was nominated by President Richard Nixon on July 28, 1971, to a seat on the United States Customs Court vacated by Judge Samuel Murray Rosenstein. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on August 6, 1971, and received his commission on August 10, 1971. He served as Chief Judge from 1971 to 1977. He was reassigned by operation of law on November 1, 1980, to the United States Court of International Trade, to a new seat authorized by 94 Stat. 1727. He assumed senior status on April 30, 1984. His service terminated on July 30, 1992, due to his death. He was succeeded by Judge Nicholas Tsoucalas.[4]

Boe died of cancer on July 30, 1992, at Sioux Valley Hospital in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.[7]

In 1971, members of the Boe family had established an endowment at Augustana College (now Augustana University) for the Center for Western Studies to support a non-partisan lecture series. Nils Boe is memorialized by The Boe Forum on Public Affairs conducted annually at Augustana University.[4][8][9]

• Nils Andreas Boe at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a public domain publication of the Federal Judicial Center.

• Nils A. Boe Papers, White House Central Files, 1969-1971
• National Governors Association