William D. "Bill" Dyke (April 25, 1930March 10, 2016) was an American lawyer, judge, and politician. He was the 49th

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

Madison, Wisconsin Madison is the county seat of Dane County and the capital city of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census the population was 269,840, making it the second-largest city in Wisconsin by population, after Milwaukee, and the 80th-lar ...

, from 1969 to 1973, and ran for

Vice President of the United States The vice president of the United States (VPOTUS) is the second-highest officer in the executive branch of the U.S. federal government, after the president of the United States, and ranks first in the presidential line of succession. The vice ...

on the American Independent Party

ticket Ticket or tickets may refer to: Slips of paper * Lottery ticket * Parking ticket, a ticket confirming that the parking fee was paid (and the time of the parking start) * Toll ticket, a slip of paper used to indicate where vehicles entered a tol ...

with presidential candidate Lester Maddox in the 1976 presidential election. He was also the Republican nominee for

Governor of Wisconsin The governor of Wisconsin is the head of government of Wisconsin and the commander-in-chief of the state's army and air forces. The governor has a duty to enforce state laws, and the power to either approve or veto bills passed by the Wiscons ...

in the 1974 gubernatorial election. From 1996 until two months before his death, in 2016, he served as a Wisconsin circuit court judge in Iowa County, Wisconsin; he was chief judge of the 7th Judicial Administrative District from 2007 to 2013.

Early life

Dyke received his bachelor's degree from

DePauw University DePauw University is a private liberal arts university in Greencastle, Indiana. It has an enrollment of 1,972 students. The school has a Methodist heritage and was originally known as Indiana Asbury University. DePauw is a member of both the G ...

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

. While completing his degree at the University of Wisconsin Law School, he hosted ''Circus 3'', a local children's television program on WISC-TV. He also moderated ''Face the State'', a local political news program modeled after the nationally televised '' Face the Nation''. The program included interviews with

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 ...

Hubert Humphrey Hubert Horatio Humphrey Jr. (May 27, 1911 – January 13, 1978) was an American pharmacist and politician who served as the 38th vice president of the United States from 1965 to 1969. He twice served in the United States Senate, representing Mi ...

Gerald Ford Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr. ( ; born Leslie Lynch King Jr.; July 14, 1913December 26, 2006) was an American politician who served as the 38th president of the United States from 1974 to 1977. He was the only president never to have been elected ...

John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination i ...

and other prominent politicians.

Political career

Dyke was a two-term

from 1969 to 1973. His tenure as mayor is considered a colorful and often controversial part of Madison's history. Dyke presided over Madison during the most turbulent era in the city's history, highlighted by the

Sterling Hall bombing The Sterling Hall bombing occurred on the University of Wisconsin–Madison campus on August 24, 1970, and was committed by four men as an action against the university's research connections with the U.S. military during the Vietnam War. It resu ...

and subsequent clashes with student uprisings. One of those student activists, Paul Soglin, defeated Dyke's attempt for re-election in 1973. Undeterred, Dyke ran as the Republican nominee for governor in 1974, losing to Democrat Patrick Lucey. A conservative Republican, Dyke briefly left the party in

1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phila ...

to join Lester Maddox's American Independent Party presidential ticket as the vice presidential nominee; however, he disavowed Maddox's segregationist views. Maddox and Dyke won 170,274 votes in the general election (or 0.21% of votes).

Post-political career

Following the end of his political career, Dyke opened a general contracting business in

Mount Horeb, Wisconsin Mount Horeb is a village in Dane County, Wisconsin,. The population was 7,754 at the time of the 2020 census. It is part of the Madison Metropolitan Statistical Area. History The Ho-Chunk nation The Village of Mount Horeb is part of the ancestral ...

, and bred

horse The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million y ...

s. He also worked as a family mediation lawyer in

Mineral Point, Wisconsin Mineral Point is a city in Iowa County, Wisconsin, Iowa County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 2,581 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. The city is located within the Mineral Point (town), Wisconsin, Town of Mineral Point ...

. On December 3, 1996,

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Tommy Thompson appointed Dyke to the circuit court vacancy in Iowa County, created by the impending retirement of Judge James P. Fiedler. He was elected to a full term on the court in 1998 and subsequently re-elected in 2004 and 2010. He later was selected as the chief judge of the 7th Judicial Administrative District by 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 ...

, and served the maximum of three two-year terms in that role. Dyke left the bench in January 2016, and died of pancreatic cancer in a

Dodgeville, Wisconsin Dodgeville is a city in and the county seat of Iowa County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 4,984 at the 2020 census, making it the county's most populous city. Dodgeville is part of the Madison Metropolitan Statistical Area. Hist ...

, nursing home two months later. Dyke illustrated the children's book ''The General's Hat, or Why the Bell Tower Stopped Working'', a tale written by Kay Price about two mice who get on the same ship with General

Ulysses S. Grant Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant ; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was an American military officer and politician who served as the 18th president of the United States from 1869 to 1877. As Commanding General, he led the Union Ar ...

on his travels to

Galena Galena, also called lead glance, is the natural mineral form of lead(II) sulfide (PbS). It is the most important ore of lead and an important source of silver. Galena is one of the most abundant and widely distributed sulfide minerals. It cryst ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

.OCLC World Cat
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Electoral history

Madison Mayor (1969, 1971, 1973)

, colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", Primary Election, March 6, 1973 , colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", General Election, April 3, 1973

Wisconsin Governor (1974)

, colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", General Election, November 3, 1974

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dyke, William D. 1930 births 2016 deaths 20th-century American politicians 20th-century American far-right politicians American Independent Party vice presidential nominees DePauw University alumni Mayors of Madison, Wisconsin People from Princeton, Illinois Artists from Illinois Artists from Wisconsin 1976 United States vice-presidential candidates University of Wisconsin Law School alumni Wisconsin Independents Wisconsin Republicans Wisconsin circuit court judges People from Mount Horeb, Wisconsin Deaths from pancreatic cancer in Wisconsin 20th-century American judges 21st-century American judges 20th-century mayors of places in Wisconsin