Life and Career of William Proxmire

Senator Proxmire spoke about his life and career in public service. Senator Proxmire served as a member of the Wisconsin State Assembly from 1951 to 1952 and was elected, in a special election on August 28, 1957, to fill the remainder of the term vacated due to the death of Senator Joseph McCarthy, on May 2, 1957. He held the U.S. Senate record for consecutive roll call votes cast: 10,252 between April 20, 1966 and October 18, 1988. The previous record of 2,941 was held by Sen. Margaret Chase Smith of Maine. He also served as the Chair of the Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs from 1975 to 1981 and again from 1987 to 1989. He was an early, outspoken critic of the Vietnam War and frequently criticized Presidents Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon for their conduct of the war and foreign policy decisions. He used his seat on the Senate Armed Services Committee to spotlight wasteful military spending and was instrumental in stopping frequent military pork barrel projects. His Golden Fleece Award was created to focus media attention on projects he felt were self-serving and wasted taxpayer dollars.

Channel: C-SPAN Video Length: 58m 0s Date Found: Wed, Jan 12 2011 3:27 AM Category: Government Date Produced: Mon, Nov 09 1987 3:00 AM View Count: 0