William Dougherty
| William "Bill" Dougherty | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| 31st Lieutenant Governor of South Dakota | |
|
In office January 1971 – January 1975 |
|
| Governor | Richard F. Kneip |
| Preceded by | James Abdnor |
| Succeeded by | Harvey L. Wollman |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
April 6, 1932 Sioux Falls, South Dakota |
| Died | July 3, 2010 (aged 78) Sioux Falls, South Dakota |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Profession | Politician |
William "Bill" Dougherty (April 6, 1932 – July 3, 2010) was an American businessman, lobbyist, and Democratic politician who was the 31st Lieutenant Governor of South Dakota from 1971 to 1975.
Before entering politics, Dougherty spent many years in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, working as a stockman, buying and selling cattle. In the late 1950s, he befriended the Kennedy family, enabling his rise in politics. In 1960, he worked on Massachusetts Senator John F. Kennedy's presidential campaign, meeting Kennedy's brother, future Senator Ted Kennedy, during that campaign. Although John F. Kennedy won the presidency that year, the Republican nominee, Richard Nixon, won South Dakota's four electoral votes. In 1968, Dougherty managed New York Senator Robert F. Kennedy's South Dakota campaign for the Democratic nomination for the presidency; with Dougherty at the helm, Kennedy won the South Dakota primary on the same day he won the California primary. However, Kennedy was assassinated in Los Angeles, California that night; Dougherty had spoken to him on the telephone twice shortly before the assassination. One of those calls, in which Kennedy congratulated his South Dakotan supporters over a speaker phone, was taped by Dougherty and eventually preserved on a compact disc. Also in 1968, Dougherty managed freshman Democratic Senator George McGovern's successful re-election campaign.
Four years later, Dougherty held a major post in McGovern's unsuccessful campaign for the presidency. After receiving the Democratic nomination, McGovern replaced his running mate, Missouri Senator Thomas Eagleton, with former Ambassador to France Sargent Shriver of Maryland, after being urged to do so by Dougherty, among others.
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