William PROXMIRE, Congress, WI (1915-2005)

PROXMIRE William , a Senator from Wisconsin; born in Lake Forest, Lake County, Ill., November 11, 1915; attended the public schools of Lake Forest and the Hill School, Pottstown, Pa.; graduated, Yale University 1938, Harvard Business School 1940, and Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences 1948; during the Second World War served in the Military Intelligence Service 1941-1946, member, Wisconsin State assembly 1951-1952; businessman; unsuccessful Democratic candidate for Governor of Wisconsin in 1952, 1954 and 1956; elected in a special election on August 27, 1957, as a Democrat to the United States Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Joseph R. McCarthy, for the term ending January 3, 1959; reelected in 1958, 1964, 1970, 1976 and 1982, and served from August 28, 1957, to January 3, 1989; chairman, Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs (Ninety-fourth, Ninety-fifth, Ninety-sixth, and One Hundredth Congresses); not a candidate for reelection in 1988; was a resident of Washington, D.C., until his death on December 15, 2005; interment in Lake Forest Cemetery, Lake Forest, Illinois.

Bibliography

Proxmire, William. The Fleecing of America. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1980; Proxmire, William. Uncle Sam--The Last of the Bigtime Spenders. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1972.

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present