William Proxmire (Born November 11, 1915) was a member of the Democratic Party who served in the United States Senate for the state of Wisconsin from 1957 - 1989. He graduated from Yale University in 1938, Harvard Business School in 1940, and Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences in 1948. During World War II he served as a member of the Military Intelligence Service.
Proxmire served as a member of the Wisconsin State Assembly from 1951 - 1952, and was an unsuccessful candidate for Governor of Wisconsin in 1952, 1954, 1956. Senator Proxmire was elected to fill the remainder of the term vacated due to the death of Senator Joseph R. McCarthy in 1957. Senator Proxmire served as the Chairman of the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs from 1975 - 1981 and again from 1987 - 1989.
Proxmire gained a certain amount of notoriety by attacking wasteful government spending in high tech areas such as military aerospace contracts. He also attacked spending on space exploration.
| Preceded by: Joseph R. McCarthy |
U.S. Senators from Wisconsin | Succeeded by: Herbert H. Kohl |