[3] During his first school year, Anderson suffered from scarlet fever, which prevented his return to college the following fall.

In 1928, Anderson enrolled at the University of South Dakota, and graduated in 1931 with cum laude honors[4] and a B.A.

Before he was elected governor he served two terms as South Dakota Attorney General, 1947–1951.

Anderson's re-election in 1952 marked the first time a candidate for South Dakota governor received more than 200,000 votes in a general election.

[8] In 1964, Anderson once again announced his candidacy for governor, but lost the GOP gubernatorial primary to Nils Boe, who won the general election.

The Sigurd Anderson airport in Webster, South Dakota is named in his honor.