Bill Janklow

Bill Janklow

William John "Bill" Janklow (born September 13, 1939) is an American politician with the Republican Party. He was a four-term Governor of South Dakota, and briefly a member of the United States House of Representatives.

Biography

Janklow was born in Chicago, Illinois. He served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1956 to 1959. He graduated from the University of South Dakota in 1964 and received a law degree in 1966. Though controversial, Janklow is among the most successful politicians in South Dakota's history. He was elected to statewide office six times, each time by a wide margin.

Janklow served as South Dakota's attorney general from 1975-1979. During this time there was an allegation of improper sexual conduct with a Native American, although after investigation the matter was dismissed. South Dakota had just gone through the Wounded Knee Incident and racial tensions were still high.

Janklow was first elected governor in 1978, and he was easily reelected in 1982 with 70.9% of the vote, the highest percentage ever won by a gubernatorial candidate in the state's history. One of his first acts as Governor was signing into law a bill reinstating capital punishment (in 1979). Another major action in his administration was seeing South Dakota's cap on interest rates dropped. This allowed Citibank to open a credit card center in Sioux Falls from which it could charge high rates. Janklow made serious attempts to increase accessibility for the disabled, although race relations in the state remained abysmal throughout his two terms.

Barred by state law from running again in 1986, Janklow unsuccessfully challenged incumbent U.S. Senator James Abdnor in the Republican primary. Janklow returned to politics in 1994, when he defeated incumbent Walter Dale Miller in the Republican gubernatorial primary. He was handily elected that year and was reelected in 1998. Janklow is the longest-serving governor in South Dakota history; he is the only person in the state's history to serve eight full years as governor, which he did twice.

In 2002, Janklow ran for the Republican nomination for South Dakota's only House seat. He defeated Democrat Stephanie Herseth, an attorney and granddaughter of former governor Ralph Herseth, in a very close race; some speculated that had anyone other than Janklow been the Republican nominee, Herseth would have won.

When Janklow resigned his House seat, a special election was held and Herseth won the position against Republican candidate Larry Diedrich.

Manslaughter conviction

On August 16, 2003, Janklow was involved in a fatal traffic collision when the white Cadillac he was driving hit motorcyclist Randolph E. Scott at a rural intersection near Trent, South Dakota. Scott, a 55-year-old from Minnesota, was thrown from his motorcycle and killed instantly. Janklow suffered a broken hand and bleeding on the brain. In the ensuing investigation of the accident, it was determined Janklow was likely driving at least 70 miles per hour in a 55 mph zone and that he ran a stop sign at the intersection where the crash occurred.

Janklow was arraigned on August 29. In response, Janklow said he "couldn't be sorrier" for the accident. His trial began on December 1. In his defense, his lawyer argued that Janklow suffered a bout of hypoglycemia, or low blood sugar, and was thus "confused" and "mixed up." Janklow testified that he had taken an insulin shot the morning of the accident and had subsequently not eaten anything throughout day, resulting in low blood sugar. Jurors were not informed of Janklow's record of three previous accidents and twelve speeding violations, though his driving history had been widely reported in the local media. He once got a ticket for speeding his motorcycle four blocks from his home to the Capitol, and another for not having the proper license endorsement to drive it. (Janklow has long been an unapologetic speeder; in a 1999 speech to the state legislature, he said, "Bill Janklow speeds when he drives — shouldn't, but he does. When he gets the ticket he pays it.")

On December 8, 2003, Janklow was convicted by a Moody County jury of second-degree manslaughter. He resigned his seat in Congress effective January 20, 2004, and two days later was sentenced to spend 100 days in jail. After 30 days, he was able to leave the jail for several hours each day in order to perform community service. He was released on May 17, 2004.

Scott's family sued Janklow for damages, but the court ruled that because Janklow was on official business at the time, he was protected from any monetary claims by the Federal Tort Claims Act, which would require a plaintiff to sue the government. In July 2006, Scott's filed a $25 million wrongful death suit against the U.S. government.[1].

On January 5, 2006, the South Dakota Supreme Court granted Janklow's petition for early reinstatement of his license to practice law, effective February, 2006, though Scott's family opposed that.

Janklow currently represents the Mayo Clinic and other clients as a lawyer and lobbyist.