Archie M. Gubbrud was born December 31, 1910, at his parents' farm home in Norway Township, Lincoln County, the eldest son of Marius T. Gubbrud and Ella Rommereim Gubbrud. He grew up on the farmstead near Alcester, South Dakota, attended the local rural school, and graduated from Augustana Academy in Canton in 1929, where his interests included athletics. After his father's death in 1934, he took on major responsibility for managing the farm during the Depression years. In 1939 he married Florence Dexter of Canton, and they had two children, John D. and Maxine Roberts. Elected to the House of Representatives from Lincoln County in 1950, he was re-elected for four successive terms and served as Speaker of the House in the 1959 session. He was a leader in soil conservation, an outstanding farmer and livestock feeder, and a director of the State Bank of Alcester beginning in 1952. After the Republican loss of the governorship in 1958, he was drafted as a candidate and won the governorship in 1960 by a small margin, then again in 1962 by a much larger majority.