John W. Reynolds Jr.
John Whitcome Reynolds Jr. (April 4, 1921 – January 6, 2002) was the 36th Governor of Wisconsin and a United States District Judge of the Eastern District of Wisconsin.
Education and career
Born April 4, 1921, in Green Bay, Wisconsin, the son of Madge (Flatley) and John W. Reynolds Sr.,[1][2] Reynolds served in the United States Army from 1942 to 1946. He received a Bachelor of Philosophy degree in 1946 from the University of Wisconsin–Madison and a Bachelor of Laws in 1949 from the University of Wisconsin Law School. He entered private practice in Green Bay from 1949 to 1959. He was the district director of the Office of Price Stabilization from 1951 to 1953. He was a United States Commissioner of the United States District Court for Eastern District of Wisconsin from 1953 to 1958. He was the Attorney General of Wisconsin from 1959 to 1963. He was the Governor of Wisconsin from 1963 to 1965.[3]
Presidential surrogate candidacy
Reynolds opposed segregationist George Wallace in the 1964 Democratic presidential primaries who would otherwise have run unopposed, as President Lyndon B. Johnson refused to say he was in the race. Like the other "favorite sons" who ran in Johnson's place (such as Matthew E. Welsh and Daniel Brewster), he won his state's primaries. As is required, Wisconsin delegates to the 1964 Democratic National Convention voted for Reynolds on the first ballot, then voted for Johnson.
Federal judicial service
Reynolds was nominated by President Lyndon B. Johnson on October 13, 1965, to a seat on the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin vacated by Judge Kenneth Philip Grubb. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on October 21, 1965, and received his commission on October 21, 1965. He served as Chief Judge from 1971 to 1986. He assumed senior status on August 31, 1986.[3] His service terminated on January 7, 2002, due to his death in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.[4]
Notable case
As a judge, Reynolds ordered the desegregation of Milwaukee's schools in 1976.[5] That decision was appealed and appealed again to the Supreme Court in Brennan v. Armstrong (1977). The case was remanded to his court for reconsideration. Reynolds supervised the resulting five-year plan to integrate Milwaukee schools.
References
- Kestenbaum, Lawrence. "The Political Graveyard: Moose, politicians, Wisconsin". politicalgraveyard.com.
- "Former Wisconsin Officer Succumbs". The Rhinelander Daily News. February 5, 1958. p. 1. Retrieved April 25, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
- John W. Reynolds at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a public domain publication of the Federal Judicial Center.
- Reynolds, John W. 1921 Archived August 7, 2011, at the Wayback Machine. Wisconsinhistory.org. Retrieved on January 22, 2016.
- "This Town Was Built Segregated". Wisconsin State Journal. February 29, 1976. p. 35. Retrieved April 24, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
External links
- John W. Reynolds at Find a Grave
- John W. Reynolds at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a public domain publication of the Federal Judicial Center.
| Party political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Gaylord Nelson |
Democratic nominee for Governor of Wisconsin 1962, 1964 |
Succeeded by Patrick Lucey |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by Gaylord Nelson |
Governor of Wisconsin 1963 – 1965 |
Succeeded by Warren P. Knowles |
| Legal offices | ||
| Preceded by Stewart G. Honeck |
Attorney General of Wisconsin 1959 – 1963 |
Succeeded by George Thompson |
| Preceded by Kenneth Philip Grubb |
United States District Judge of the Eastern District of Wisconsin 1965 – 1986 |
Succeeded by Joseph Peter Stadtmueller |
| Preceded by Robert Emmet Tehan |
Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin 1971 – 1986 |
Succeeded by Robert W. Warren |
| Territory (1836–48) |  Privy Seal of Wisconsin | |
|---|---|---|
| State (since 1848) |
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(*) elected but died before taking office | ||
Authority control  |
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