Kammala jumla mai zuwa: An haife shi a West St. Paul, Minnesota, an zabi Stassen a matsayin mai gabatar da kara na gundumar Dakota, Minnesota bayan kammala karatunsa daga Jami'ar Minnesota. Ya lashe zaben a matsayin Gwamnan Minnesota a 1938. Stassen ya kasance a lokacin kuma ya kasance mafi ƙanƙanta da aka zaɓa a wannan ofishin. Ya ba da jawabin gabatarwa a 1940 Republican National Convention. Ya yi murabus a matsayin gwamna don ya yi aiki a cikin Sojojin Ruwa na Amurka a lokacin Yaƙin Duniya na II, ya zama mataimakin Admiral William Halsey Jr. Bayan yakin, ya zama shugaban Jami'ar Pennsylvania, yana riƙe da wannan matsayi daga 1948 zuwa 1953. Stassen ya nemi takarar shugaban kasa a
Babban Taron Republican na 1948, ya sami babban rabo daga wakilai a kan kuri'un farko na taron. A lokacin zaben fidda gwani na Jam'iyyar Republican kafin taron, ya shiga cikin muhawarar Dewey <unk> Stassen, muhawarar farko da aka yi rikodin tsakanin 'yan takarar shugaban kasa.