Milton Young (December 6, 1897-May 31, 1983) was a United States politician, he served in the U.S. Senate from 1945 until 1981 as senator for North Dakota. He served as President pro tempore of the Senate during the Ninety-sixth Congress. born at Berlin, North Dakota in 1897 and graduated from LaMoure High School. He later attended North Dakota State University and Graceland College. Mr. Young thereupon went to his father's farm which he operated until 1945. He married Malinda Benson in 1919 with whom he reared three sons. She died in 1969. He later married Patricia Byrne of Bowman, North Dakota. Senator Young died at his retirement home in Sun City, Arizona on May 31, 1983 and was buried at Berlin, North Dakota. He was active in community affairs, serving on the school, township, and county AAA boards.
The depression and drought of the late 1920s and 1930s saw an increased interest in politics by Milt Young which led to his election to the North Dakota House of Representatives in 1932 and to the Senate in 1934. Mr. Young was also one of the key persons in developing the Republican Organizing Committee in North Dakota during the 1940s. With the death of John Moses in 1945, Governor Fred G. Aandahl appointed Milton Young to fill the vacant U.S. Senate seat. There he represented the people of North Dakota the remainder of his career, becoming one of the longest serving members of the Senate in its history. His major committee assignments were the Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry committees and the Appropriations Committee of which he was the ranking Republican member.
In his last election for the U.S. Senate in which his age was being used against him, Young had himself filmed breaking a piece of board with his bare hands and easily won renomination.
During the 1980 election Republicans had won control of the Senate and Young as the longest serving Republican Senator would have become President pro tempore but Young was retiring having not run for reelection. In deference to his long service in the body he was elected President pro tempore by the lame-duck Democratic controlled Senate on December 5, 1980 and served for one day.
