William John Bulow

Democrat Senator of South Dakota

Congresses Served

Senate Terms

January 1, 1869 (91 years old)

Birthday

January 1, 1960

Death

First Democratic Governor of South Dakota, serving from 1927 to 1931.
Achieved the highest number of votes for a Democratic gubernatorial candidate in South Dakota up to that time.
Served as a U.S. Senator from South Dakota from 1931 to 1943.
Born to German immigrant parents and raised in Ohio; later moved to South Dakota in 1893.
Graduated with a law degree from the University of Michigan in 1893.
Worked as a city attorney in Beresford for 25 years and served as mayor for one year.
Elected to the South Dakota State Senate in 1898.
Pardon of notable figures, including the frontier gambler Poker Alice, during his governorship.
Faced strong opposition in the 1942 Democratic primary due to disagreements with President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s foreign policy.
Retired to Washington, D.C., after losing the primary and spent his final years in declining health, becoming blind in his last four years.
Honored posthumously with a park named after him in Beresford and his house designated as a historic landmark.