Horace W. Wilkie

Horace White Wilkie (January 9, 1917 – May 23, 1976) was an American attorney, judge, and Democratic politician from the U.S. state of Wisconsin. He was the 21st Chief Justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court (1974–1976) and served a total of 14 years on the court (1962–1976). Before being appointed to the Court, he served five years in the Wisconsin State Senate, representing Madison, Wisconsin.

Early life, family, education, and career Wilkie was in Madison, Wisconsin on January 19, 1917.

Wilkie also served as chairman of the Dane County Democratic Club, and was involved in Young Democrats. Wilkie subsequently became chairman of the Dane County Democratic Party, and later became congressional district Democratic chairman district and vice-chairman of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin. For three years, he served as chairman of the Democratic Part of Wisconsin's state platform committee. In this role, he advocated stances in support of stricter anti-trust laws, national housing legislation, and implementation of a national government health insurance administrated by the Social Security Administration. He was a member of the ad hoc committee that crafted compromise legislation on state sales tax adopted in 1961. After Chief Justice E. Harold Hallows took ill in 1973, Wilkie assumed the role of chief justice on an acting basis. After Hallows retired in August 1974, he permanently became chief justice. on May 23, 1976. He was survived by his widow and by five daughters. Shirley Abrahamson, who succeeded him on the Wisconsin Supreme Court, served from 1976 until 2019.