Editing Lauri Kristian Relander (section)

==Politician==
After independence, his political career went well. He was a prominent member of his party and served on a number of parliamentary committees. Relander was elected as Speaker of the [[Eduskunta]] for its 1919 session and part of its 1920 session. Later that year, he was appointed Governor of the [[Province of Viipuri]]. However, in the 1920s he did not have enough support in his own party to become a minister.

In 1925, Relander was nominated as his party's candidate for that year's presidential election, which was confirmed only days before election day. Relander was only 41 at the time, and his nomination came as a surprise. It was further guaranteed by the fact that some of the party's key figures, such as [[Santeri Alkio]] and [[Kyösti Kallio]], declined to stand.

Relander was elected in the third ballot of the [[electoral college]], defeating the [[National Progressive Party (Finland)|National Progressive Party]] candidate [[Risto Ryti]] by 172 votes to 109. He was elected largely due to the fact that he attracted less opposition than Risto Ryti{{Citation needed|date=September 2008}}. According to some contemporaries, at least the Swedish People's Party electors more eagerly voted for Relander because his wife happened to be a Finland Swede. That story may be partly apocryphal because also Ryti had a Finland-Swedish wife.  On the other hand, Ryti had campaigned as a "Finnish peasant's son." Strong right-wing opposition to the outgoing Progressive (liberal) President [[K. J. Ståhlberg]], Ryti's membership in the same party, and at least some career politicians' desire for a more approachable and less independent President may partly explain Relander's victory.

Two other important factors should be mentioned. Relander was an active member of the "Suojeluskunta" (Civil Guard) voluntary military organization, and he accepted the right-wing worldview typical of White veterans of the Civil War clearly more wholeheartedly than Ryti. Also as people, Relander and Ryti were notably different:  despite having a doctorate, Relander was much more talkative and social than the intellectual and thoughtful Ryti.<ref name="turtola_1994">{{Cite book |last1= Turtola |first1= Martti |title= Risto Ryti: Elämä isänmaan puolesta |year= 1994 |publisher= Otava |location= Helsinki |language= Finnish }}</ref><ref name="virkkunen_1994a">{{Cite book |last1= Virkkunen |first1= Sakari |title= Suomen presidentit I: Ståhlberg – Relander – Svinhufvud  |year= 1994  |publisher= Otava |location= Helsinki |language= Finnish }}</ref><ref name="virkkunen_1994b">{{Cite book |last1= Virkkunen |first1= Sakari |title= Suomen presidentit II: Kallio – Ryti – Mannerheim  |year= 1994  |publisher= Otava |location= Helsinki |language= Finnish }}</ref><ref name="presidentit_1919-1931">"The Republic's Presidents 1919–1931" / Tasavallan presidentit 1919–1931, published in Finland in 1993–94</ref><ref name="presidentit_1940-1956">"The Republic's Presidents 1940–1956" / Tasavallan presidentit 1940–1956, published in Finland in 1993–94</ref>