Lee S. Dreyfus

Lee Sherman Dreyfus ( born June 20, 1926 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, † January 2, 2008 in Waukesha, Wisconsin ) was an American politician of the Republican Party and from 1979 to 1983 the 40th Governor of Wisconsin.

Early years and career advancement

Lee Dreyfus attended Washington High School in Milwaukee. He then joined the U.S. Navy, where he dealt with the electronics. He was also responsible for repairs to radar equipment. During the Second World War, he remained in the Navy and was used in the Pacific. After the war he continued his education at the University of Wisconsin in Madison continued. Here he studied until 1957, the communications.

After finishing his studies, Dreyfus was at Wayne State University in Detroit manager of the local radio station and helped build a separate School of Communication at the same university. In 1962 he returned to Madison and was manager of a television station. He also became a professor of rhetoric and media coverage (Professor of Speech and Broadcasting ). He later became dean of the University of Wisconsin at Stevens Point.

Political career

Originally Dreyfus was a member of the Democratic Party. Dissatisfied with their policy, he moved in 1978 to the Republicans. In the same year he applied his new party as a candidate for the office of governor of Wisconsin. His candidacy was controversial within the party and the party leaders put on another candidate. Dreyfus but managed by a clever pre-election campaign and with the help of the media, the primaries against its competitors Bob box to decide for themselves. After that he managed to beat the Democratic incumbent Martin J. Schreiber in the actual elections.

Dreyfus began his four-year term on 1 January 1979. During this time he cut taxes and reformed the administration. In 1982, Dreyfus was the first governor of a U.S. state, the homosexuals against discrimination protected by law. Soon, showed the negative impact of his tax cuts. The budget deficit grew and the inflation and the unemployment rate rose again. In 1982, the budget deficit amounted to one billion U.S. dollars and the unemployment rate was 12%. Probably for this reason refrained Dreyfus in 1982 to a bid again. His successor Tony Earl was elected.

Further CV

Between 1983 and 1984 he worked in senior position with an insurance company in Stevens Point. In 1985, he founded a consulting firm, and published between 1990 and 2007 also article in a weekly magazine. Lee Dreyfus died in January 2008. Together with his wife Joyce, he had two children.