Mark Andrews II (May 19, 1926 – October 3, 2020) was an American politician from the state of North Dakota. He was a member of the Republican Party who served in both chambers of the United States Congress, the United States House of Representatives from 1963 to 1981 and the United States Senate from 1981 to 1987.

Life and career

Andrews was born on May 19, 1926 in Cass County, North Dakota to Mark Andrews I and the former Lillian Hoyler, where he attended public school. In 1944 at the age of 18, Andrews was admitted to the United States Military Academy. He quit in 1946 after receiving a disability discharge. He then attended North Dakota State University at Fargo, North Dakota, where he became a member of the Gamma Tau Chapter of the Sigma Chi fraternity, and graduated in 1949. Andrews then became a farmer. He was a third-generation farmer on a Red River Valley plot that was started by his grandfather.

Early political career

During the 1950s he began to enter politics, serving on farmers' organizations and Republican committees. In 1962, Andrews ran for Governor of North Dakota, losing to incumbent William L. Guy by 2,000 votes out of over 228,500 cast.

U.S. House

The next year, he became the Republican candidate for a seat in the United States House of Representatives from North Dakota when a special election was required after the death of Congressman Hjalmar Nygaard. Andrews won the election. He was reelected to a full term in 1964 and served in the House until 1981, being reelected every two years. Andrews supported Nelson Rockefeller in the 1964 Republican presidential primaries. During his time in the House, Andrews voted in favor of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Civil Rights Act of 1968, and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Regarding his support for civil rights legislation, Andrews said: "It was the right thing to do. People needed to be treated with dignity." Andrews was one of thirty-one Republicans in the House to vote in favor of the Comprehensive Child Development Act of 1971.

Senate

In 1980, Andrews did not run for reelection to the House, but instead ran for the United States Senate seat being vacated by long-serving Republican Senator Milton Young, who was retiring. Andrews won the election with 70% of the vote and served in the Senate for one term, from 1981 to 1987. He was chairman of the select committee on Indian affairs from 1983 to 1987. As Senator and Representative, Andrews was socially moderate to liberal, opposing abortion bans and school prayer, and conservative on economic policies, but was also supportive of subsidies for farmers. Andrews was good friends with fellow North Dakota senator Quentin Burdick, U.S. Senate member Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts, and U.S. House of Representatives member Robert Bergland of Minnesota.

Career after Congress

In 1986, Andrews lost reelection to North Dakota Democratic–Nonpartisan League Party Tax Commissioner Kent Conrad by 2,120 votes in what was considered an upset, and subsequently retired from electoral politics. He started a consultancy firm in Washington, D.C., but lived in Mapleton, North Dakota. Grand Forks International Airport in Grand Forks, North Dakota, has sometimes been called Mark Andrews International Airport, but usage of the name has declined. Despite North Dakota's Republican bent at the presidential level, Andrews was the last Republican to represent the state in Congress until 2010, when Rick Berg was elected to the House and John Hoeven to the Senate. Later in life, Andrews lamented the lack of bipartisanship in Congress, saying: "People from both parties talked to each other in those days, and we got things done. It's damn foolishness now. Nobody compromises anymore. Nobody gets things done now because they don't work together."

Personal life and death

Andrews married the former Mary Ann Willming on June 29, 1949. Together, they had three children, Mark Andrews III, Sarah, and Karen. On July 16, 2020, Mary Ann Willming Andrews died at age 93. Andrews died on October 3, 2020, in Fargo, North Dakota, at age 94, 13 days less than three months after his wife's death.