Early Life and Career
Anderson was born in Centerville, South Dakota, on October 23, 1895. He was educated in the public school system of South Dakota, attended Dakota Wesleyan University 1913-1915, and the University of Michigan 1915-1916, though he never received a degree from either institution.
After his father broke his back in 1916, Anderson left the University of Michigan to go home to help support his family. He worked for several months for a newspaper in Mitchell, South Dakota, until he became seriously ill with tuberculosis. He was not aware of his illness until he attempted to join the military in 1917 upon America's entrance into World War I.
Doctors gave him six months to live. One gave him the advice to check himself into the Methodist Sanitarium in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He promptly did so, and while recovering there, occasionally wrote for the Herald of the Wells County.
In 1919, as soon as he was well enough to leave the sanitarium, he gained employment with the Albuquerque Journal, then called the Albuquerque Morning Journal, and was sent to Santa Fe, New Mexico to cover the State's legislature. Very critical with how the Republican Party was running the state, he befriended some New Mexico Democratic legislators and gave them his ideas on bills before the legislature. Some of those ideas eventually became state law and Anderson began a lifelong association with the Democratic Party.
His long career of public service began as Executive Secretary of the New Mexico Public Health Association in 1919. There he raised money to fight tuberculosis, established county health programs and was instrumental in founding the state public health department.
In the early 1920s Anderson pursued private business affairs. Newspaper work seemed to offer a poor future, so in 1922 he started in the insurance business of the New Mexico Loan and Mortgage Company. He was soon able to buy the business and change the name to the Clinton P. Anderson Agency, a successful and enduring enterprise. Actively involved in the Rotary Club of Albuquerque since 1919, he was elected to the International Board in 1930 and became president of Rotary International in 1932, a position that introduced him to many business and political contacts.
Anderson returned to public life, becoming Chairman of the New Mexico Democratic Party in 1928, and being appointed State Treasurer of New Mexico in 1933. That was followed by appointments as director of the Bureau of Revenue, Relief Administrator for the State of New Mexico, Western States Field Coordinator for the Federal Emergency Relief Administration, State Director of the National Youth Administration, Chairman of the New Mexico Unemployment Security Division, and Managing Director of the Coronado Cuarto Centennial Commission, among others. It was Anderson's style to take on a newly created position or an emergency situation, organize it, and then leave when he felt that all was running smoothly.
In 1940, a conflict among members of the state Democratic Party resulted in Congressman John J. Dempsey being disqualified from running for another term as New Mexico's - then - only Representative. Party members convinced Anderson to run for the seat - which he won. Utilizing his many business and political contacts throughout the state Anderson won the election. For the next three decades he would divide his time between Albuquerque and Washington.
Anderson became known for his thorough investigative work and during his three terms in the House of Representatives, was assigned to several special committees, including the chairmanship of the Special Committee to Investigate Food Shortages in 1945. The committee argued for a streamlined food distribution system and emphasized long-range planning for increasing food production. It was his success in that assignment, along with their personal friendship, that led to his appointment by Harry Truman as Secretary of Agriculture.
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