Surrounded By Reality

Lee S. Dreyfus, 1926-2008

1926: Born in Milwaukee on June 20. Father, Woods, was program director and general manager at WISN radio. Mother, Claire, served on the Milwaukee School Board and was named Wisconsin Mother of the Year in 1951.
1933: Began broadcasting career as a child actor at WISN in Milwaukee, performing with his brothers as the "ABC of Harmony."
1944: Graduates from Washington High School, the "Ivy League" of the Milwaukee Public Schools in the 1940s.
1944-1946: Serves in the U.S. Navy.
1947: Marries Joyce Unke. They have two children, Susan Lynn and Lee S. Jr.
1949: Graduates from the UW-Madison. Remains as a teaching assistant while working on his master's degree.
1952: Receives master's degree.
1952-1957: General manager at radio station WDET, Wayne State University.
1952-1962: Faculty member at Wayne State University, mass communications.
1957: Receives Ph.D. degree from the UW-Madison.
1962-1965: General manager at WHA-TV in Madison.
1962-1967: Professor of speech and radio-TV education and film at the University of Wisconsin.
1967-1972: President of Wisconsin State University at Stevens Point.
1967: The red vest becomes a permanent part of his attire. "I determined then to become visible to the militancy on campus."
1972-1979: Chancellor at UW-Stevens Point.
1978: Enters the race for Wisconsin governor; campaigns throughout the state riding a bus identified as the "Red Vest Whistle Stop Special" or "Lacka Manna Railroad," accompanied by his "Rag Tag Band" of volunteers. During the campaign, Dreyfus quips that Madison is 30 square miles surrounded by reality. Defeats Robert Kasten in the September primary by 53,918 votes in spite of losing the party endorsement to Kasten at the Republican state convention the previous June; defeats Democratic candidate Martin Schreiber in the November election, 816,056 to 673,813.
1979: Dreyfus takes the oath of office of governor in a brief ceremony at the UW-Stevens Point in front of the historic Old Main building. "What we do here today, I think, will not be noted all that well," Dreyfus said in a brief speech. People in Wisconsin represent only one-tenth of 1 percent of humanity, he said. The oath is repeated at the formal public ceremonies in the Capitol Rotunda two days later, becoming the state's 39th governor, the first Republican in eight years. His inaugural speech, delivered from hand-written notes on scrap paper, was emotional, exhorting the people of the state to raise a "generation of eagles." He said "that is not a task for the state, that is not a task for the government, but a task for the home and parents." His four-year term is highlighted by the reduction of the state income tax, deregulation of the trucking industry, returning a $942 million surplus to taxpayers, the creation of the Department of Development and the increased state sales and gasoline taxes.
1982: On Dreyfus' signing of the bill, Wisconsin becomes the first state in the nation to have a law outlawing discrimination in housing and employment based on a person's sexual orientation.
1983: After leaving the governor's office, Dreyfus becomes president of Sentry Insurance Co. in Stevens Point.
1984: Resigns as president of the Sentry Insurance Co. to pursue a career as a speechmaker.
1984: Considers seeking the governorship in 1986, "if things get bad enough, like they were in 1978 when I decided to run."
1985: Dismisses plans to run for governor in 1986 but states that he would actively seek the nomination for vice president in 1988. "I would love to be vice president with George Bush. I've been committed to Bush for a long time, and, if Bush needed me, I'll be there."
1986: Moves from Stevens Point to Waukesha to be nearer a major airport because of his extensive traveling as a public speaker.
1989: Gov. Tommy Thompson appoints Dreyfus to the UW Board of Regents.
1993: Appointed in April as interim head of the Department of Public Instruction, serving until elected superintendent John Benson takes office in July. "Any citizen ought to do what he can when he is requested by the governor to help the state. If the sitting governor asks me to come back into harness to do something, barring physical limitation, I think I ought to do it."
1993: As acting superintendent, Dreyfus asks school boards not to sign pay contracts with teacher unions until the new state budget is enacted. Three teachers unions file suit against him, charging he unlawfully interfered with their contract negotiations.
1996: Is named as one of the co-chairs of Wisconsin's Sesquicentennial in 1998.
1996: Dreyfus completes his seven-year term on the UW Board of Regents. Dreyfus said he set out to accomplish two things as a regent when he began. First was bringing campus buildings up to code. ``We are now 40 percent up the ladder'' in remedying deferred maintenance, he said. In addition, he wanted every dorm room, classroom and library connected through a fiber optic network. ``We are prepared for the 21st century probably better than any system in the United States,'' he said.
2005: Undergoes quintuple heart bypass surgery, less than a week after having knee surgery.
2007: Dies at his Waukesha home.