Senate Republican leader Walter John Chilsen was born in Merrill, Wisconsin, November 18, 1923, the son of Walter Burt and Margaret Sullivan Chilsen. After graduating from Merrill High School, he attended Lawrence College from 1941 until 1943 when his education was interrupted for service in the Army Air Force. Chilsen enlisted as a private and returned as a first lieutenant with the purple heart award. He returned to Lawrence and graduated with a degree in political science and government in 1949.
Chilsen located in Wausau, Wisconsin, where he was associated with WSAU-TV as a newscaster and later as an account executive. Chilsen and his wife (he married Roseann Edl in 1953) are the parents of eight children, yet he found time for participation in a host of civic activities such as American Legion, VFW, Friends of Wisconsin Libraries, Marathon County Child Development Committee, Marathon County Workshop for the Handicapped, Friends of the Menominees, Wisconsin Natural Beauty Council, Knights of Columbus, and various parish organizations.
In 1966 Chilsen was elected to the Senate from the 29th District and was reelected without interruption until he left office in 1989. He was, however, unsuccessful in an attempt for election to the U.S. Congress in 1969. By the mid 1980s Chilsen was one of the senior members of the Senate. He was also one of the most highly respected and best liked members of that body. This admiration took partisan expression in his selection by the Republicans as majority caucus secretary, 1967, and majority caucus chairman, 1969 and 1971. Beset by the lingering problems caused by Watergate in 1975 the Republicans turned to Clifford Krueger as minority leader and Chilsen as assistant minority leader. Chilsen was again selected for this post in 1979, and after Krueger's resignation Chilsen was elected to replace him in 1981.
Chilsen's reputation no doubt rests in large part on his prodigious accomplishments in committee work. This portion of his career as a senator has been so important that Chilsen's resignation as caucus chairman in 1971 was based upon his desire to concentrate on this work. Assignments have included service on the Joint Committee on Finance, Joint Survey Committee on Debt Management, Joint Committee on Legislative Organization, Joint Committee on Audit, and the Legislative Council and many of its special study committees. Because of work on various standing committees of the Senate, Chilsen has developed a special reputation for his accomplishments in behalf of senior citizens, agriculture and rural development, and environmental issues. All of Chilsen's committee assignments as well as the precise dates of service are included in biennial editions of the Wisconsin Blue Book.
