Associated Press

North Dakota's future governors should be paid a small salary when they leave office to teach and reflect on the issues they handled, former Gov. Allen Olson says.

Olson, who was governor from 1981 to 1984, makes the suggestion in the newest edition of North Dakota History magazine, which was made public today. It includes an oral history account of Olson's life and his time as North Dakota's governor and attorney general.

Olson said he thought of the idea when former Gov. William Guy left office in 1972, the same year Olson was elected North Dakota's attorney general. Guy was articulate and "an extraordinary resource of experience," Olson said.

"It occurred to me at the time that it was a failing of the state not to capture, when everything is relatively fresh as a governor leaves office, the unique experiences they've had," Olson said in the article. "When I left office, I recognized that I didn't have that choice, and I wish I had."

He suggests providing "a modest stipend" for an outgoing governor, who would then be available for college teaching and writing for State Historical Society of North Dakota publications for up to 18 months.

It would provide a chance for a departing governor "to collect your thoughts and think about … the important things that had happened during one's tenure as governor, put it on paper, teach about it, (and) leave something behind that's tangible, and that historians will have access to in the future," Olson said.

Olson said he did not enjoy his single term as governor, primarily because slumping oil prices and a weak economy forced him to propose cuts in the state budget, impose a hiring freeze and stop a scheduled pay raise for state workers.

"I was chasing my tail all the time," Olson said in the article. "It was just because, first of all, people were used to having a fairly robust economy, and so their concentration was on the economic concerns."

In October 1983, when Olson was attending a North Dakota Public Employees Association meeting in Jamestown, he was shoved into a hotel swimming pool by a state worker who was angry about the wage freeze.

Olson, who was at the time North Dakota's first Republican governor in 20 years, also took criticism for proposing to buy a new state airplane - the idea was later dropped - and for continuing to live in his Bismarck home instead of moving his family to the governor's residence.

He considered not running for a second term, but he eventually sought re-election, only to be defeated by Democrat George Sinner.

"It was the negative economy," Olson said. "I couldn't point to anything positive and say, 'Re-elect me.' All I could say was I tried to do the best I could under the circumstances."

The 34-page article was edited by Gerald Newborg, who recently retired as the Historical Society's archivist, based on Newborg's six hours of interviews last year with Olson and former first lady Barbara Olson.

Al Olson grew up on a farm near Sarles, in northeastern North Dakota, and attended undergraduate and law school at the University of North Dakota. He was an attorney in the Army's Judge Advocate General corps until April 1967.

Olson worked for the Legislative Council, the Legislature's research and support agency, and as a private attorney in Bismarck before announcing in the spring of 1972 that he would run for attorney general.

His father, Elmer, had served on the school and township boards in his home community, and his grandfather, Martin C. Olson, had served one term in the North Dakota House. Al Olson had been active in Boys State, a leadership program for high school students.

"I'd looked at (running for attorney general) as getting to sort of scratch the itch," Olson said. "If you win, fine. If not, at least you've done it, and can set that aside. I was fortunate enough to win."