Review: With Peggy Flanagan in headlines, Minnesota’s first elected woman lieutenant governor tells her story

Since this is an election cycle of firsts — first Black woman to head a major party ticket, first time a Minnesota governor is on the ballot as a veep candidate (Humphrey and Mondale were U.S. Senators) — I looked forward to reading about another: Minnesota’s first woman lieutenant governor.

Marlene M. Johnson, 78, served as DFL Gov. Rudy Perpich’s second-in-command for two terms, from 1983-91. Her book, “Rise to the Challenge: A Memoir of Politics, Leadership, and Love,” starts with her political career, then pivots to her role as a caregiver after her husband suffered a traumatic brain injury.

First the politics, starting with a Minnesota history refresher: the late Perpich, an Iron Range DFLer opposed to abortion rights, was elected lieutenant governor in 1970, re-elected four years later on a ticket with Wendell Anderson. When Walter Mondale became V.P., Anderson was appointed to the Senate and Perpich became governor. He served one term, lost the next, then challenged the party’s endorsed candidate to win again. That detail is significant since it may have hindered Johnson’s ability to run for other offices later — some DFLers didn’t forget that her ticket bucked the party.

When Perpich picked Johnson as his running mate, she said there was evidence that “the political establishment was not ready for a female lieutenant governor candidate.” Yet the ticket prevailed, and Perpich tasked her with leading the governor’s appointments, aiming to bring in more women and people of color, and expanding tourism.

Political junkies will be interested in that section of the book, including the prominent people she mentions. Johnson met Mondale as a high school student, helped longtime legislator Linda Berglin win her first race and met a young Joe Biden while campaigning for a congressional candidate in 1976.

Johnson was single when she was first elected, a workaholic who surrounded herself with friends and family for support. In her first year in office, she met a Swedish businessman, Peter Frankel, during a meeting about creating a “sister state relationship” between Minnesota and Sweden’s Kronoberg County. The two began a long-distance relationship that turned into a transatlantic marriage, even after she left public office and moved to D.C. to run a nonprofit for international educators.

The logistics of making that work, with two homes in two countries, is fascinating. Then in 2010, Peter fell down the stairs, and the last third of the book focuses on his convalescence in Sweden. Also interesting — but maybe less so for readers who pick up the book expecting a political memoir.

The book is organized thematically, not chronologically, so the narrative jumps around and there’s repetition in some chapters. And Johnson’s writing is a bit dry — she said she journaled her whole life and parts of it read that way, listing who came to visit and places they traveled.

Johnson does offer insight into the challenges of both being a politico first and taking care of her husband as he slowly declined. One lesson? “Learning to let go of those things I can’t control.”

Rise to the Challenge: A Memoir of Politics, Leadership, and Love

By: Marlene M. Johnson.

Publisher: University of Minnesota Press, 235 pages, $24.95.

Event: 7 p.m. Sept. 30, Humphrey School of Public Affairs, 301 19th Av. S., Mpls. Free but registration required.