James Scott McCallum (born May 2, 1950) is an American businessman and former politician. A member of the Republican Party, he was the 43rd

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 ...

, ascending from the Lieutenant Governorship when

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 ...

resigned in 2001 to accept appointment as

U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services The United States secretary of health and human services is the head of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, and serves as the principal advisor to the president of the United States on all health matters. The secretary is ...

. Prior to becoming Governor, McCallum served 14 years as Thompson's Lieutenant Governor and 10 years in the

Wisconsin State Senate The Wisconsin Senate is the upper house of the Wisconsin State Legislature. Together with the larger Wisconsin State Assembly they constitute the legislative branch of the state of Wisconsin. The powers of the Wisconsin Senate are modeled after t ...

Early life and education

James Scott McCallum was born in

Fond du Lac, Wisconsin Fond du Lac () is a city in Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin, Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 44,678 at the 2020 census. The city forms the core of the United States Census Bureau's Fond du Lac United States metrop ...

, the eldest of four children. His father worked as a construction worker and his mother was a homemaker and bank teller. In 1967, he attended a youth leadership program,

Badger Boys State The American Legion Boys State and American Legion Auxiliary Girls State are summer leadership and citizenship programs for high school juniors, which focus on exploring the mechanics of American government and politics. The programs are sponsor ...

, as a representative chosen from Lowell P. Goodrich High School. He graduated from

Macalester College Macalester College () is a private liberal arts college in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Founded in 1874, Macalester is exclusively an undergraduate four-year institution and enrolled 2,174 students in the fall of 2018 from 50 U.S. states, four U.S te ...

in 1972 with a degree in economics and

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

. He earned his master's degree in international economics from

Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hem ...

in 1974. He earned a PhD from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. He is of the

Christian Science Christian Science is a set of beliefs and practices associated with members of the Church of Christ, Scientist. Adherents are commonly known as Christian Scientists or students of Christian Science, and the church is sometimes informally know ...

religion. McCallum is married to Laurie McCallum; they have three children and reside in

Lodi, Wisconsin Lodi ( ) is a city in Columbia County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 3,189 at the 2020 census. Lodi is part of the Madison Metropolitan Statistical Area. History Isaac Palmer founded the village of Lodi in 1846 in what was then t ...

Political career

Early career

In 1976 at the age of 26, McCallum won a seat in the

, defeating a 20-year incumbent. McCallum won the Republican nomination for the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

in 1982, but lost in the general election to incumbent

William Proxmire Edward William Proxmire (November 11, 1915 – December 15, 2005) was an American politician. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as a United States Senator from Wisconsin from 1957 to 1989. He holds the record for being the longest-servi ...

. During his 10 years (1976–1986) as state senator, McCallum was allied with the New Republican Conference, a now-defunct movement of fiscally conservative, but socially liberal, GOP activists. McCallum's legislative accomplishments included increasing penalties for drunk driving offenses and assaults on prison guards; creating a health insurance risk pool for people considered uninsurable; sunsetting outdated legislation; and indexing individual income taxes to account for inflation.

Lieutenant Governor and Governor of Wisconsin

In 1986, McCallum ran for

lieutenant governor A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...

on the Republican ticket with

, who was running for

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 ...

; both candidates won. McCallum chaired the National Council of Lieutenant Governors and was appointed to the

Environmental Protection Agency A biophysical environment is a biotic and abiotic surrounding of an organism or population, and consequently includes the factors that have an influence in their survival, development, and evolution. A biophysical environment can vary in scale f ...

's advisory council by President

George H. W. Bush George Herbert Walker BushSince around 2000, he has been usually called George H. W. Bush, Bush Senior, Bush 41 or Bush the Elder to distinguish him from his eldest son, George W. Bush, who served as the 43rd president from 2001 to 2009; pr ...

. The Thompson-McCallum ticket served the state of

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

for 14 years, having been reelected in 1990, 1994 and 1998. In 2001, President

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

appointed Thompson to be

Secretary of Health and Human Services The United States secretary of health and human services is the head of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, and serves as the principal advisor to the president of the United States on all health matters. The secretary is ...

. McCallum thus served out the final two years of Thompson's fourth term, and appointed State Senator

Margaret Farrow Margaret Ann Farrow (; November 28, 1934 – March 8, 2022) was an American Republican politician who was the 42nd lieutenant governor of Wisconsin (the first woman to hold the office) and also served in both houses of the state legislature. E ...

Pewaukee, Wisconsin Pewaukee is a city in Waukesha County, Wisconsin. The population was 13,195 at the 2010 census. The Village of Pewaukee, which was incorporated out of the town before it incorporated as a city, is surrounded by the city. The name of the city ...

, to be the state's first female lieutenant governor. As the Wisconsin governor, McCallum was cited by the Wall Street Journal during the economic slowdown in 2001 as being one of the 'political tough guys' for balancing the budget without raising taxes. As a governor he was commander-in-chief of the

Wisconsin National Guard The Wisconsin National Guard consists of the Wisconsin Army National Guard and the Wisconsin Air National Guard. It is a part of the Government of Wisconsin under the control of the Wisconsin Department of Military Affairs. The Wisconsin Natio ...

, directing emergency operations following the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercia ...

, which resulted in his receiving the 2002 U.S. National Guard Award for his work. In 2001, McCallum launched "Invest Wisconsin," a new program to focus on the needs of state businesses and communities for investment capital. The public and private partnership was designed to increase awareness of business financing options by engaging statewide networks and professional associations. As governor he created the Department of Electronic Government and the state's first CIO through consolidation of various departments. This action saved $50 million in first year while expanding service. Today, the department is known as the "Division of Enterprise Technology" of the

Wisconsin Department of Administration The Wisconsin Department of Administration (DOA) is an agency of the Wisconsin state government which provides a range of services and programs, from operations, technology, and logistical support for the state, to assistance programs for low-inco ...

. Governor McCallum aggressively used the veto pen to cut expenditures throughout his time in office. It was estimated that Wisconsin taxpayers saved $62.9 million through this action. McCallum ran for a full term in 2002, but was defeated in the election by Democratic

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

Jim Doyle James Edward Doyle, Jr., (born November 23, 1945) is an American attorney and politician who served as the 44th governor of Wisconsin, serving from January 6, 2003 to January 3, 2011. In his first election to the governorship, he defeated incu ...

. The other major party candidate running in 2002 was

Libertarian Libertarianism (from french: libertaire, "libertarian"; from la, libertas, "freedom") is a political philosophy that upholds liberty as a core value. Libertarians seek to maximize autonomy and political freedom, and minimize the state's e ...

Ed Thompson Edward Thompson or variants may refer to: Politicians * Edward Thompson (of Sheriff Hutton) (c. 1639–1701), English landowner and politician * Edward Thompson (1697–1742), British MP and Lord of the Admiralty * Edward Thompson (FDNY Commissi ...

(brother of Tommy Thompson).

Post-political career

After his public sector service, McCallum was president and CEO of Aidmatrix for nine years. The company is a non-profit based in Texas that matches charitable corporate donations of surplus food and supplies with organizations that need them. Currently, Governor McCallum owns and operates The McCallum Group, a consulting firm in the

State of Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Mich ...

. McCallum was named a senior fellow at the

Discovery Institute The Discovery Institute (DI) is a politically conservative non-profit think tank based in Seattle, Washington, that advocates the pseudoscientific concept Article available froUniversiteit Gent/ref> of intelligent design (ID). It was founded ...

. He is also an adjunct professor and honorary fellow in the School of Public Health and Medicine at the

University of Wisconsin–Madison A university () is an educational institution, institution of higher education, higher (or Tertiary education, tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. Universities ty ...

. McCallum has also taught executive MBA marketing courses at

Sun Yat-sen University Sun Yat-sen University (, abbreviated SYSU and colloquially known in Chinese as Zhongda), also known as Zhongshan University, is a national key public research university located in Guangzhou, Guangdong, China. It was founded in 1924 by and nam ...

and

Harbin University Harbin University (HrbU; ) is a comprehensive college located in Harbin, Heilongjiang Province, People's Republic of China. In 1999, the original four municipal schools and two colleges (Harbin Teachers College, Harbin University, Harbin Institute ...

. In March 2013, McCallum was named by ''

Government Technology ''Government Technology'' magazine is the flagship periodical of Folsom, California-based publishing company e.Republic Incorporated. The magazine contains editorial content about information technology in the public-sector The public sect ...

'' magazine as one of the "Top 25 Doers, Dreamers, and Drivers" in US technology. McCallum has also received the 21st Century Achievement Award from ''

Computerworld ''Computerworld'' (abbreviated as CW) is an ongoing decades old professional publication which in 2014 "went digital." Its audience is information technology (IT) and business technology professionals, and is available via a publication website ...

'', the Distinguished Citizen Award from

, and the Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award. McCallum is now an adjunct professor of Public Affairs at the University of Wisconsin-Madison's La Follette School of Public Affairs and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

Electoral history

Wisconsin Senate (1976, 1980)

, colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", Primary Election, September 14, 1976 , colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", General Election, November 2, 1976 , colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", Primary Election, September 9, 1980 , colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", General Election, November 2, 1976

United States Senate (1982)

, colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", Primary Election, September 14, 1982 , colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", General Election, November 2, 1982

Wisconsin Senate (1984)

, colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", Primary Election, September 11, 1984 , colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", General Election, November 6, 1984

Wisconsin Lieutenant Governor (1986)

, colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", Lieutenant Governor Primary Election, September 9, 1986 , colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", General Election, November 4, 1986

Wisconsin Governor (2002)

, colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", General Election, November 5, 2002

References

External links

* , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:McCallum, Scott 1950 births American Christian Scientists Republican Party governors of Wisconsin Lieutenant Governors of Wisconsin Living people Republican Party Wisconsin state senators Politicians from Fond du Lac, Wisconsin People from Lodi, Wisconsin Macalester College alumni Johns Hopkins University alumni