As a banker and Fargo booster, Stern naturally wanted the city to continue growing. By the mid 1920s, he was convinced that would happen only if Fargo got an airport. Stern, Dr. Frank Darrow and W.P. Chesnut decided some farmland northwest of the city would make an excellent site for an airport. The three persuaded the land's owner, Martin Hector, to let them establish an airport there. The airport began operations in 1927; Hector donated the land to the city four years later.
Stern was a big behind-the-scenes player in politics, both nationally and locally, for virtually his entire adult life. Retired Fargo businessman Edward Stern knew William Stern, to whom he wasn't related, for many years. "Bill Stern was sort of a king maker. He played a big role in selecting the political leadership of Fargo," Ed Stern said.
John D. Paulson, former Forum Editor, wrote this in a 1962 column. "One of the rather fantastic stories of Cass County politics is the place of prominence that William Stern has held for nigh onto 30 years. ... He was never one to argue about party principles, or platforms in the county meetings. His dedication has been to practical politics. All he has insisted on is having a hand in the selection of candidates for the Legislature; the selection of precinct committeemen and the selection of delegates to the state convention."
Stern was a player on the national political stage, too. He was a longtime Republican national committeeman and a friend of many prominent Republicans, including Calvin Coolidge and Herbert Hoover. He also was a close and longtime friend of Sen. Warren Magnuson, D-Wash., who grew up in Moorhead. His friendship with Magnuson made Stern a witness - or near witness, depending on whom you believe - to one of the more celebrated events in American history.
In 1951 Stern and Magnuson visited Japan, Korea and other points in Asia. On the afternoon of April 11, they met in Toyko with Gen. Douglas MacArthur, the gifted, prima donna-ish supreme commander of allied forces in the Far East. Minutes after Stern and Magnuson left MacArthur's residence, according to Stern, MacArthur received word that he had been relieved of his command by President Truman. Reporters believed Stern and Magnuson had been with MacArthur when he received the news, and pressed the two for details of MacArthur's reaction. "That afternoon was like a nightmare," Stern said later. "Wire service reporters hounded Magnuson and me wherever we went." Magnuson visited Stern in Fargo in 1963 and told a slightly different story to a Forum reporter. As Magnusson recalled it, he and Stern were eating lunch with MacArthur when the general got the bad news. Official accounts say that MacArthur learned of his dismissal while lunching with visitors. It's unclear if his guests included Stern and Magnuson.
Stern once made a tongue-in-cheek attempt to write Fargo into the history books. Chicago and Philadelphia were fighting tooth and nail to host the 1940 Republican national convention. Ninety-eight national committeemen were to pick the winner. Stern, the North Dakota national committeeman, lightheartedly proposed Fargo as an alternative site. "We have 5,000 square miles in and around the city - and they're all square," he said. "We have two hotels, and I have to say they're all protected by police." The Republican committeemen weren't persuaded - they picked Philadelphia - but they were amused. They gave Stern an ivory gavel with which he could call the convention to order, should it ever come to Fargo.