Alexander Wiley

Alexander Wiley (May 26, 1884 – October 26, 1967) was an American lawyer and Republican politician from Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin. He served four terms as United States senator from Wisconsin, from 1939 to 1963, and was the most senior Republican member of the Senate during his final term. With his longevity in the U.S. Senate, Wiley held many notable positions, including chairing the Senate Judiciary Committee (1947–1949) and Senate Foreign Relations Committee (1953–1955), and serving as the leading Republican on the Foreign Relations Committee from 1951 through 1963.

Before his election to the U.S. Senate, he was the Republican nominee for governor of Wisconsin in 1936, losing to progressive candidate Philip La Follette. He also served six years as district attorney of Chippewa County (1909–1915).

Biography

Wiley was born in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin. He received his undergraduate education at Augsburg College in Minnesota and the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan. He received his law degree from the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 1907 and was also admitted to the bar the same year. He served as the Chippewa County district attorney from 1909 to 1915.

Wiley was the Republican candidate for governor of Wisconsin in 1936, but his bid failed. Philip La Follette and the new Wisconsin Progressive Party, which split from the Republicans in 1934, won the election. In 1938, Wiley was elected to the U.S. Senate, first defeating Tax Court judge Stephen J. McMahon to win the Republican nomination, and then defeating Democratic incumbent F. Ryan Duffy to win the seat. In 1944, Wiley was challenged by United States Marine Corps Captain Joseph R. McCarthy in the Republican primary. He defeated McCarthy and won the general election. Wiley, then an isolationist in foreign policy, and Governor Walter S. Goodland supported Republican presidential nominee Thomas E. Dewey in the 1944 race over incumbent Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Dewey won Wisconsin's electoral votes but fell short nationally.

Wiley was re-elected two more times, in 1950 and 1956. He was challenged by U.S. Representative Glenn Robert Davis in the 1956 Republican primary, but again prevailed. Wiley voted in favor of the Civil Rights Acts of 1957 and 1960, as well as the 24th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. In 1962, Wiley lost his bid for a fifth term to Governor Gaylord Nelson, a liberal Democrat. Wiley was the last Republican to serve as a U.S. Senator from Wisconsin until former 9th district congressman Bob Kasten took office in 1981.

Wiley had a distinguished Senate career that included the chairmanship of both the Foreign Relations and Judiciary committees.

Wiley died in Germantown, Pennsylvania at age 83. He was interred at Forest Hill Cemetery in Chippewa Falls. During his lifetime he was a member of the Freemasons, the Knights Templar, the Elks Club, the Kiwanis, the Knights of Pythias, the Moose International, the Sons of Norway, and Sigma Phi Epsilon.