John William Reynolds Jr., former governor (1963-1965), attorney general (1959-1963) and federal judge (1965-), was the offspring of a family that had a long political tradition in Wisconsin. His grandfather, Thomas Reynolds, was an assemblyman and a strong supporter of Robert La Follette Sr., and his father, John Sr., served three terms as Progressive attorney general (1927-1933).
John Reynolds Jr., served only one two-year term as governor, but it was among the most partisan and controversial administrations in state history. Reynolds' political philosophy, which was described as traditional liberalism, ran counter to the views of a legislature dominated by conservative Republicans. He was further hampered by a stubborn moralism that made it difficult for him to compromise. Although Reynolds was unable to accomplish his legislative agenda, he did initiate a number of important programs. In addition, he focused public attention on state government and on the governorship to a degree that was unprecedented in Wisconsin.
Reynolds was born on April 4, 1921 in Green Bay, Wisconsin. After attending local public and parochial schools he enrolled at the University of Wisconsin. He had not completed the requirements for graduation, however, when World War II broke out and so did not actually receive his undergraduate degree until 1947.
Reynolds served four years in the Army, rising from enlisted man to lieutenant in the Counter-Intelligence Service. From 1944 to 1946 he also served as a trial judge and advocate for special courts martial. After his discharge from the service, Reynolds returned to the University of Wisconsin, completed his degree, and enrolled in the law school. Following his graduation (in 1948) he returned to Green Bay and practiced law in the partnership Reynolds, Bittner, and Reynolds. In addition to his law practice, Reynolds served as district director of the Office of Price Stabilization (1951-1952) for the northern fifty counties of Wisconsin and as court commissioner for the Eastern District of Wisconsin (1955-1958).
As an undergraduate, Reynolds had begun to be interested in electoral politics. However, after the war he switched his loyalties from the near-dormant Progressives to the Democratic Party. Over the subsequent fifteen years he was to become a leader in the regeneration and liberalization of that party in Wisconsin.
In Green Bay, Reynolds served as secretary and then chairman of the Brown County Democrats. His first campaign experience was in managing the unsuccessful aldermanic effort of his partner Robert Bittner. In 1950 Reynolds volunteered to fill out the Democratic ticket in a hopeless (but surprisingly strong) campaign for John Byrnes' congressional seat. Reynolds was also active in the state party organization, serving as chairman of the Resolutions (1954), Constitution (1955), and Rules committees (1956) and as a member of the Administrative Committee (1955-1956). In 1956 he was secretary
of William Proxmire's unsuccessful gubernatorial campaign. The following year Reynolds met John F. Kennedy and by 1960 had become a leader among the senator's presidential supporters in Wisconsin.
In 1958 Reynolds ran as the Democratic candidate for attorney general on a ticket with Gaylord Nelson. He was elected by a narrow margin and re-elected in 1960. During his tenure as attorney general Reynolds did much to publicize the office, and he built a strong record of vigorous prosecution of anti-trust cases. He also initiated the important reapportionment case which was to be resolved after he became governor, and, although it had nothing to do with the responsibilities of his office, he also built a strong personal reputation as an opponent of the sales tax.
In 1962 when Nelson announced that he would seek election to the Senate, Reynolds became the Democratic candidate for governor. He was elected in November over Philip G. Kuehn but by less than a 12,000 vote margin. Although the election appeared to endorse Reynolds' views on taxation (he had campaigned vigorously against the sales tax and the so-called selective sales tax compromise reached between Nelson and the Republicans in 1961), the voters also elected a legislature which was solidly Republican.
In 1963 state government came to a virtual standstill when the legislature refused to pass the governor's budget which called for raising state revenue by means of the income tax, and Reynolds refused to sign the Republican budget bill which called for a sales tax. Ultimately both sides had to compromise, and Reynolds signed a modified sales tax bill. The action was disastrous for Reynolds politically, however, and it cost him the support of those who had voted for him in 1962.
On other issues, the politics of the Reynolds administration was almost as acrimonious. Reynolds clashed with the legislature over his appointment powers when the Republicans refused to confirm virtually every name which he submitted. He was also blocked in his attempt to improve the state's highway construction program. In 1964 Reynolds was the focus of controversy when he ran in the presidential primary in place of President Lyndon Johnson. After Governor George Wallace of Alabama also entered the race, the election became a test of federal civil rights policies. Reynolds, who had a long record on human rights issues, adamantly defended anti-discrimination legislation.
In the November election Reynolds was defeated in his reelection bid by Warren Knowles; it was one of the few Democratic defeats of that year. Reynolds then returned to his law practice until the fall of 1965 when he was appointed, with some controversy, federal judge for the Eastern District of Wisconsin. As judge, Reynolds was perhaps best known for his decision which set in motion the racial desegregation of the Milwaukee schools. In 1971 Reynolds became chief federal judge. In August of 1986 he assumed senior judge status.
