sd_gov_JANKLOW
GOVERNOR BILL JANKLOW
Age: 59 Born: September 13, 1939; Chicago, Illinois Education: University of South Dakota, J.D. (1966), B.S. (1964) Military: U.S. Marine Corps (1956-59) Family: Married - Mary Dean; Three children Hometown: Pierre, South Dakota Religion: Lutheran Career: Governor (1995-present and 1979-86); Practicing attorney (1986-94); SD Attorney General (1975-78); SD Legal Services (1966-72) |
• Janklow was born in Chicago, the second of six children. His father was an attorney and career Army man who moved his family to Occupied Germany while he served as a prosecutor at the Nuremberg War Crimes Trials. After his fatherÂ's death in 1950, Janklow's mother moved the family to her hometown of Flandreau, South Dakota.
• Janklow began high school, but at age 16 he quit to join the Marines. In 1960, he returned home and married his high school sweetheart. He entered the University of South Dakota, but school officials tried to expel him when they found he did not have a high school degree. He persuaded them to give him a semester to prove himself, earned satisfactory grades, and received his degree in 1964. He graduated from the university's law school in 1966.
• After law school, Janklow worked as a legal aid lawyer on the Rosebud Indian Reservation. He served in that post for six years until he was hired as chief prosecutor for the state's Attorney General. He made his name by prosecuting members of the American Indian Movement involved in a 1973 riot at the Custer County courthouse.
• In 1974, he launched a campaign for state Attorney General and immediately had to fend off rape charges from a woman affiliated with the American Indian Movement. Janklow denied the allegation and won the election. The following year, federal investigators concluded that the rape charge were unfounded.
• In 1978, Janklow was elected governor. He enjoyed an effective first term as governor, but his independent style earned him the nickname "Wild Bill." Although the nickname was coined by his critics, his supporters later adopted it as a term of affection. In 1982, he won reelection with 70.9% of the vote. In 1986, his final year as governor due to term limits, he decided to run for U.S. Senate against Republican incumbent James Abdnor. He ran on an anti-Congress platform but lost to Abdnor in the primary.
• After an 8-year hiatus from office, Janklow defeated the incumbent Governor Walter Miller in the 1994 GOP primary and was elected in the general election with 55% of the vote. Janklow is currently serving an unprecedented third term.