When The Landscape Is Quiet Again

“The Legacy of Art Link”

Former governor Arthur A. Link has become virtually a mythic figure in the North Dakota consciousness. Art Link was governor of North Dakota during the first great energy crisis in the 1970s. On October 11, 1973, Governor Link delivered what is widely regarded as North Dakota's "Gettysburg address". His credo, written in the margins of his prepared speech moments before he was introduced, is known by its opening phrase: "When the landscape is quiet again." This is the story of that man, that speech, and the landscape that inspired it.