For those of you outside Wisconsin, the Badger State lost one of its best this week. Former Gov. Lee Sherman Dreyfus (R), passed away of respitory failure. He was 81.
Dreyfus was in office from 1979-1983, a one term governor who walked away from an almost certain re-election. He was a latecomer to the Republican party and politics in general, joining the party only after a mid-'70's trip to China convinced him a one-party system was abhorrent.
Wisconsin, at the time, was a Democratic stronghold bordering on absolute dominance. So Dreyfus joined the GOP.
"My mother always taught me it was polite to join a party before you take it over," he said.
He ran without special interest money or much advertising, but ran into luck when Pope John Paul II took office. Dreyfus, the former Chancellor of what would become UW - Stevens Point, had once met the new Pope when he toured the state as a Cardinal.
In Wisconsin, the news footage of the new Pope featured Dreyfus alongside the Pontiff in many shots, burning the association into the minds of good Catholics across the state - and nevermind that Dreyfus was Episcopalian.
Dreyfus, with his trademark red vests, was also quick with the one-liner. Madison, he said, "is 30 square miles surrounded by reality"
He found the concept of a budget surplus an 'immorality' because he believed it meant citizens were either being over-taxed, slighted on services, or both. He would leave a defecit behind for his successor.
A national economic downturn curtailed any grand plans for the administration, but he remained a popular figure that would go on to lead Sentry insurance.
Dreyfus is the first Governor I remember, primarily from his photo on the back of maps as a kid, and he's the first one I ever saw in person. It was nothing more than a passing glimpse. I think I was with my paternal Grandparent's and as we were leaving a restaurant he was walking in, or vice versa. He could tell I recognized him, smiled, and nodded. Maybe he even said hello. Maybe not.
Nothing more than that, but it was enough for me to remember him fondly.
He'll be missed.
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