William Proxmire
| William Proxmire | |
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United States Senator from Wisconsin |
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In office August 28, 1957 – January 3, 1989 |
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| Preceded by | Joseph McCarthy |
| Succeeded by | Herb Kohl |
| Member of the Wisconsin State Assembly | |
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In office 1951–1952 |
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| Personal details | |
| Born |
Edward William Proxmire November 11, 1915 Lake Forest, Illinois, U.S. |
| Died | December 15, 2005 (aged 90) Sykesville, Maryland, U.S. |
| Nationality | American |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse(s) | Elsie Stillman Rockefeller (1946–1955; divorced) Ellen Imogene (Hodges) Sawall (1956–2005; his death) |
| Religion | United Church of Christ |
Edward William "Bill" Proxmire (November 11, 1915 – December 15, 2005) was an American politician. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as a United States Senator from Wisconsin from 1957 to 1989, the longest term served by a Wisconsin senator.
Proxmire graduated from The Hill School (in Pottstown, Pennsylvania) in 1933,Yale University in 1938, Harvard Business School in 1940, and Harvard Graduate School of Public Administration in 1948.
During World War II he served as a member of the Military Intelligence Service. After getting his second master's degree, Proxmire moved to Wisconsin to be a reporter for The Capital Times in Madison and to stake out a political career in a favorable state. "They fired me after I'd been there seven months, for labor activities and impertinence," he once said.
Proxmire served as a member of the Wisconsin State Assembly from 1951 to 1952, and was an unsuccessful candidate for Governor of Wisconsin in 1952, 1954 and 1956. Proxmire was elected, in a special election on August 28, 1957, to fill the remainder of the term vacated due to the death of Senator Joseph McCarthy, on May 2, 1957. He paid no homage to his predecessor in the Senate, stating that McCarthy was a "disgrace to Wisconsin, to the Senate, and to America". Proxmire was reelected in 1958, 1964, 1970, 1976 and 1982. His re-elections were always achieved by wide margins, including 71% of the vote in 1970, 73% in 1976 and 65% in 1982, when he ran for a fifth six-year term. In his last two Senate campaigns of 1976 and 1982, Proxmire refused to take any campaign contributions, and on each spent less than $200 out of his own pocket — to cover the expenses related to filing for re-election and return postage for unsolicited contributions. He was an early advocate of campaign finance reform.
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