Alexander Wiley was born 26 May 1884 in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin to Alex and Sophia
(Elkern) Wiley. He attended Augsburg College in Minnesota and the University of
Michigan for his undergraduate education. Wiley received his law degree from the
University of Wisconsin–Madison in 1907 and was admitted to the bar in the same
year. He maintained a private practice before serving as the Chippewa County
District Attorney from 1909 to 1915.
In 1936, Wiley ran unsuccessfully as the Republican candidate for Governor of
Wisconsin. In 1938, Wiley was elected to the U.S. Senate defeating incumbent F. Ryan
Duffy. Wiley was re-elected three more times in 1944, 1950 and 1956. He lost his bid
for a fifth term to Wisconsin Governor Gaylord Nelson in 1962. As a U.S. Senator,
Wiley was chairman of the Judiciary Committee of the 80th Congress (1947–1948) and
the Foreign Relations Committee of the 83rd Congress (1953–1954).
Alexander Wiley married May Jenkins on 25 November 1909. They had four children:
Elizabeth May Joslin, Marshall Alexander Wiley, Rose Mary Bradley, and Winifred Jean
Wilde. Wiley died 26 May 1967 in Germantown, Pennsylvania. He was buried at Forest
Hill Cemetery in his hometown of Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin.
