Harold Vernon Froehlich (born May 12, 1932) is a retired American politician and judge. He represented

Wisconsin's 8th congressional district Wisconsin's 8th congressional district is a congressional district of the United States House of Representatives in northeastern Wisconsin. It is currently represented by Mike Gallagher, a Republican. Gallagher won the open seat vacated by Re ...

in the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

for one term in 1973–1974 as a

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

and broke with his party to vote for the impeachment of President Richard M. Nixon. After leaving Congress, he served thirty years—from 1981 to 2011—as a

Wisconsin Circuit Court The Wisconsin circuit courts are the general trial courts in the state of Wisconsin. There are currently 69 circuits in the state, divided into 10 judicial administrative districts. Circuit court judges hear and decide both civil and criminal cas ...

Judge in

Outagamie County Outagamie County is a county in the northeast region of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census, the population was 190,705. Its county seat is Appleton. Outagamie County is included in the Appleton, WI Metropolitan Statistical Are ...

. Earlier in his career, he served ten years in the

Wisconsin State Assembly The Wisconsin State Assembly is the lower house of the Wisconsin Legislature. Together with the smaller Wisconsin Senate, the two constitute the legislative branch of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Representatives are elected for two-year terms, ...

and was the 66th Speaker of the Wisconsin Assembly. His final public office was on the

Wisconsin Government Accountability Board The Wisconsin Government Accountability Board (G.A.B.) was a regulatory agency for the State of Wisconsin which administered and enforced Wisconsin law pertaining to campaign finance, elections, ethics and lobbying. The agency was re-organized, ov ...

, where he served until its dissolution in 2015.

Biography

Born in

Appleton, Wisconsin Appleton ( mez, Ahkōnemeh) is a city in Outagamie, Calumet, and Winnebago counties in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. One of the Fox Cities, it is situated on the Fox River, southwest of Green Bay and north of Milwaukee. Appleton is the c ...

, Froehlich served in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

during the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

after graduating from Appleton Senior High School in 1950. In 1959, Froehlich graduated from the

University of Wisconsin–Madison The University of Wisconsin–Madison (University of Wisconsin, Wisconsin, UW, UW–Madison, or simply Madison) is a public land-grant research university in Madison, Wisconsin. Founded when Wisconsin achieved statehood in 1848, UW–Madison ...

and then received his law degree in 1962. That same year, he was elected to his first term in the

. He would ultimately serve ten years in the Assembly, and was chosen as Speaker during the 1967–1968 and 1969–1970 sessions. Besides being involved with politics he is also a certified public accountant and real estate broker.Official congressional directory. 93rd Congress 2nd session (1974)
/ref> He is a former treasurer for the Black Creek Improvement Corp and former president of 322 Investment, Ltd. He was elected to the

93rd United States Congress The 93rd United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, DC from January 3, 1973, ...

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using mean solar tim ...

to the replacing the retiring incumbent John W. Byrnes in

. He lost his reelection bid to

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

Robert John Cornell in the wave election of 1974, following the resignation of President

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...

. Froehlich had voted for the impeachment of President Nixon as a member of the House Judiciary Committee. During his term in Congress, he hired future Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice David Prosser, Jr., as a legislative aide. Governor

Lee S. Dreyfus Lee Sherman Dreyfus (pronounced ; June 20, 1926 – January 2, 2008) was an American educator and politician. A member of the Republican Party, he served as the 40th Governor of Wisconsin from January 4, 1979 to January 3, 1983. Dreyfus is a 33 ...

appointed Froehlich to the

in Outagamie County in 1981. He was elected to a full term on the court in 1982 and was subsequently re-elected in 1988, 1994, 2000, and 2006. The

Wisconsin Supreme Court The Wisconsin Supreme Court is the highest appellate court in Wisconsin. The Supreme Court has jurisdiction over original actions, appeals from lower courts, and regulation or administration of the practice of law in Wisconsin. Location The Wi ...

selected Judge Froehlich as Chief Judge for the 8th Judicial Administrative for the maximum 3 two-year terms from 1988 to 1994. He retired from the court on April 8, 2011. In 2013, Governor Scott Walker appointed Judge Froehlich to the Wisconsin Government Accountability Board. Judge Froehlich served as vice chair of the board in 2014. The Government Accountability Board was abolished by legislation signed by Governor Walker in 2015. During his career, Judge Froehlich served as president of the Wisconsin Trial Judges Association and was a delegate to the National Conference of State Trial Judges. Judge Froehlich was named "Judge of the Year" in 1999 by the Bench Bar committee of the State Bar of Wisconsin. In 2013, the state bar honored him with a Lifetime Jurist Achievement Award, where he was praised by his former legislative aide, Justice David Prosser, Jr. The American Judges Association created the "Harold Froehlich Award for Judicial Courage" in 2013, to "recognize the highest level of judicial courage in the service of justice."

Toilet paper panic

Froehlich represented a district in which the

paper industry The pulp and paper industry comprises companies that use wood as raw material and produce pulp, paper, paperboard and other cellulose-based products. Manufacturing process The pulp is fed to a paper machine where it is formed as a paper web a ...

is a major employer. Prompted by concern from the industry, on December 11, 1973, Froehlich issued a press release declaring, "The U.S. may face a shortage of

toilet paper Toilet paper (sometimes called toilet tissue or bathroom tissue) is a tissue paper product primarily used to clean the anus and surrounding anal region of feces after defecation, and to clean the perineal area and external genitalia of ur ...

within a few months," and alluded to rationing as a possible solution. The release made it into major newspapers and to Johnny Carson. On December 19, Carson told his audience of tens of millions in his ''

Tonight Show ''The Tonight Show'' is an American late-night talk show that has aired on NBC since 1954. The show has been hosted by six comedians: Steve Allen (1954–1957), Jack Paar (1957–1962), Johnny Carson (1962–1992), Jay Leno (1992–2009 and 2010� ...

'' monologue that there was a shortage of toilet paper. Primed by recent shortages of other kinds of paper along with gasoline and meat, consumers went out the next day and hoarded toilet paper, emptying store shelves.Ralph Schoenstein, "It was just a joke, folks: How a casual remark from Johnny Carson emptied supermarket shelves all over the country," ''TV Guide'', May 18, 1974, pp. 6–7. The run on toilet paper continued for three weeks, until consumers saw that stores were being restocked and that there was therefore no shortage. The incident was the subject of a short film released in early 2020 by documentary filmmaker Brian Gersten, ''The Great Toilet Paper Scare''.

Electoral history

Wisconsin Assembly (1962, 1964, 1966, 1968, 1970)

U.S. House of Representatives (1972, 1974)

, colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", Republican Primary, September 12, 1972 , colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", General Election, November 7, 1972 , colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", General Election, November 5, 1974

Wisconsin Circuit Court (1982, 1988, 1994, 2000, 2006)

, colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", General Election, April 6, 1982 , colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", General Election, April 5, 1988

References

External links

* * , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Froehlich, Harold Vernon 1932 births Living people Republican Party members of the Wisconsin State Assembly Speakers of the Wisconsin State Assembly Wisconsin state court judges American Lutherans Politicians from Appleton, Wisconsin Military personnel from Wisconsin University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni University of Wisconsin Law School alumni Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Wisconsin Toilet paper 21st-century American lawyers 20th-century American lawyers 20th-century American politicians 21st-century American politicians 20th-century American judges 21st-century American judges American real estate brokers