William D. "Bill" Dyke (April 25, 1930March 10, 2016) was an American lawyer, judge, and politician. He was a two-term

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 ...

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 The American Independent Party (AIP) is a far-right political party in the United States that was established in 1967. The AIP is best known for its nomination of former Democratic Governor George Wallace of Alabama, who carried five states in t ...

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 Lester Garfield Maddox Sr. (September 30, 1915 – June 25, 2003) was an American politician who served as the 75th governor of the U.S. state of Georgia from 1967 to 1971. A populist Democrat, Maddox came to prominence as a staunch segregatio ...

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 ...

. From 1996 until two months before his death, in 2016, he served 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

Iowa County, Wisconsin Iowa County is a county in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census, the population was 23,709. Its county seat and largest city is Dodgeville. When created, it was part of the Michigan Territory. Iowa County is part of the Madiso ...

, 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 ...

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 The University of Wisconsin Law School is the professional graduate law school of the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Located in Madison, Wisconsin, the school was founded in 1868. The University of Wisconsin Law School is guided by a "law in ...

, he hosted ''Circus 3'', a local children's television program on

WISC-TV WISC-TV (channel 3) is a television station in Madison, Wisconsin, United States, affiliated with CBS and MyNetworkTV. It is the flagship television property of locally based Morgan Murphy Media, which has owned the station since its inception ...

. He also moderated ''Face the State'', a local political news program modeled after the nationally televised ''

Face the Nation ''Face the Nation'' is a weekly news and morning public affairs program airing Sundays on the CBS radio and television network. Created by Frank Stanton in 1954, ''Face the Nation'' is one of the longest-running news programs in the history ...

''. 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,

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 ...

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 and subsequent clashes with student uprisings. One of those student activists,

Paul Soglin Paul R. Soglin (born April 22, 1945) is an American politician and former three-time Mayor of Madison, Wisconsin, having served a total of 22 years in that office between 1973 and 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, he was a candidate for Gov ...

, 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 Patrick Joseph Lucey (March 21, 1918 – May 10, 2014) was an American politician. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the 38th Governor of Wisconsin from 1971 to 1977. He was also independent presidential candidate John B. Anderso ...

. A

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

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 ...

, Dyke briefly left the party in

to join Lester Maddox's American Independent Party presidential ticket as the vice presidential nominee; however, he disavowed Maddox's

segregationist Racial segregation is the systematic separation of people into racial or other ethnic groups in daily life. Racial segregation can amount to the international crime of apartheid and a crime against humanity under the Statute of the Interna ...

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 Mount Horeb (Hebrew: ''Har Ḥōrēḇ''; Greek in the Septuagint: ; Latin in the Vulgate: ') is the mountain at which the Ten Commandments were given to Moses by Yahweh, according to the Book of Deuteronomy in the Hebrew Bible. It is describe ...

, Wisconsin, 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 yea ...

s. He also worked as a family mediation lawyer in Mineral Point, Wisconsin. 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 Tommy George Thompson (born November 19, 1941) is an American Republican politician who most recently served as interim president of the University of Wisconsin System from 2020 to 2022. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served a ...

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, WI 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,

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

.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 far-right politicians in the United States 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 state court judges People from Mount Horeb, Wisconsin Deaths from pancreatic cancer Deaths from cancer in Wisconsin 20th-century American judges