Martin Sabo

US

Congressman Martin Sabo's early work in Minnesota state government set the mold

for how state legislatures across the country have operated since, and

continues to wield influence today.

Known best as the former US

Representative of Minnesota's Fifth District, with twenty-eight years of

service including leadership roles on key committees, Martin Sabo also made

significant contributions to American political life earlier in his career,

while serving in the Minnesota state legislature.

Minnesota has long

been acknowledged as the state that works. Its government has been celebrated,

if occasionally contested, and has been emulated by other states for decades.

But today's modern, professional state legislature was not inevitable. In the

late 1960s-early 1970s Minnesota took a giant step toward a state government

that fairly represents all the state's regions and populations, one that

operates in public view. It was a government that shouldered increased

responsibility for the education and well-being of its citizens. And it served

as an operational model for legislatures around the country.

At the center of

those changes was a modest young man from tiny Alkabo, North Dakota, Martin

Olav Sabo. Sabo demonstrated an understanding of representative democracy and a

quality of leadership that made him a highly effective catalyst for positive

change. He spent his entire adult life in public service, but it was during his

years as DFL minority leader and as speaker of the Minnesota House that he did

his most transformative and enduring work--remaking legislatures for the better.

In Martin Sabo, award-winner author Lori Sturdevant transports readers

to the farm and the city, to the campaign trail and the capitol, and to the

rooms where so many things happened.

Enhancing Sabo's rich

legacy, this volume focuses attention on his early career and the systemic,

foundational contributions to governance his efforts accomplished.