Edward William Proxmire was an American politician.
40 Facts About William Proxmire
2.
William Proxmire holds the record for being the longest-serving Senator from Wisconsin.
3.
The son of Dr Theodore Stanley Proxmire, a Chicago-area surgeon, and Adele Proxmire, Edward William Proxmire was born in Lake Forest, Illinois, on November 11,1915.
4.
William Proxmire later used "William" rather than "Edward" out of admiration for actor William S Hart.
5.
William Proxmire later received a commission in the Military Intelligence branch.
6.
William Proxmire served from 1941 to 1946, and was discharged as a first lieutenant.
7.
When he ran successfully for the state legislature in 1950, William Proxmire was working as the business manager of the Union Labor News, a publication of the Madison Federation of Labor.
8.
William Proxmire served as a member of the Wisconsin State Assembly from 1951 to 1953.
9.
William Proxmire was an unsuccessful candidate for Governor of Wisconsin in 1952,1954 and 1956.
10.
William Proxmire was reelected in 1958,1964,1970,1976 and 1982 by wide margins, including 71 percent of the vote in 1970,73 percent in 1976 and 65 percent in 1982.
11.
In both of his last two campaigns, William Proxmire refused contributions and spent less than $200 out of his own pocket, which covered the expenses related to filing re-election paperwork, and he mailed back unsolicited contributions.
12.
William Proxmire was an early advocate of campaign finance reform.
13.
William Proxmire holds the US Senate record for consecutive roll call votes cast: 10,252 between April 20,1966, and October 18,1988.
14.
William Proxmire served as the Chair of the Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs from 1975 to 1981 and again from 1987 to 1989.
15.
In October 1961, William Proxmire issued a statement opposing a planned $22 million renovation of the US Capitol by arguing that a "large part of the space created by the extension" would be used "to house private hideaway offices" for 23 senators.
16.
William Proxmire continued to oppose the renovation, and the debate continued until the project was completed in the early 1970s.
17.
From 1967 to 1986, William Proxmire gave daily speeches noting the necessity of ratifying the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.
18.
William Proxmire gave that speech every day that the Senate was in session for 20 years, for a total of 3,211 times.
19.
In March 1969, William Proxmire introduced legislation that would have regulated the credit life and disability insurance industries.
20.
William Proxmire declared that Americans were being overcharged $220 million a year.
21.
William Proxmire was an early and outspoken critic of the Vietnam War and frequently criticized Presidents Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon.
22.
William Proxmire was head of the campaign to cancel the American supersonic transport and particularly opposed to space exploration and ultimately to eliminate spending on such research from NASA's budget.
23.
In 1972, Proxmire urged the Air Force to recall to General John D Lavelle to active duty for the purpose of court-martial.
24.
In November 1973, after Attorney General Elliot Richardson resigned, and Robert Bork took over as Acting Attorney General, William Proxmire wrote in a letter that Bork was serving illegally as Acting Attorney General since 30 days had passed with him being in office and not having a confirmation by the Senate.
25.
William Proxmire said that any actions taken by Bork in the period after the 39 had passed could be met by challenge, and he called on President Nixon to rectify the situation.
26.
In January 1977, William Proxmire was one of five Democrats to vote against Griffin Bell, President Jimmy Carter's nominee for United States Attorney General.
27.
William Proxmire stated it was not aware of when the labor contracts would reach a settlement, and the potentially-years-long process could prevent the Senate Banking Committee from taking any action.
28.
William Proxmire admitted that the committee was split in the opinions of its members.
29.
Days afterward, William Proxmire told reporters that the labor bill's continued filibuster made the chances of the Senate acting on the legislation by the end of the month unlikely since unanimous consent was required to end the filibuster.
30.
William Proxmire added that he believed that the measure would pass through the Senate in a similar manner to the panel vote.
31.
In February 1978, William Proxmire said that the Navy and the Air Force had spent "at least $42,000 in the last year transporting 3,500 local community leaders to 31 military bases to lobby for military programs" and labeled the trips an example of local citizens being lobbied for military programs.
32.
In February 1979, Proxmire sent a letter to Secretary of the Treasury W Michael Blumenthal to call on the Treasury Department to withhold federal loan guarantees from New York City until incumbent Mayor Ed Koch agreed to larger cuts in the budget for the following year.
33.
William Proxmire charged the budgetary assumptions of the city as being too reliant on federal aid increases.
34.
William Proxmire was noted for issuing his Golden Fleece Award, which was presented monthly between 1975 and 1988 to focus media attention on projects that he viewed as self-serving and wasteful of taxpayer dollars.
35.
William Proxmire's critics said that some of his Golden Fleece awards went to basic science projects that led to important breakthroughs.
36.
William Proxmire claimed that his statements about Hutchinson's research were protected by the Speech or Debate Clause of the US Constitution.
37.
In 1956, William Proxmire married Ellen Imogene Hodges Sawall, who brought two children of her own to the marriage.
38.
William Proxmire was the first United States Senator to get hair transplants for his pattern hair loss.
39.
William Proxmire died on December 15,2005, in a nursing home in Sykesville, Maryland, where he had lived for more than four years.
40.
William Proxmire was buried at Lake Forest Cemetery in Lake Forest, Illinois.