Jay Withington Johnson (September 30, 1943October 17, 2009) was an American politician and journalist who served as the 36th director of the

United States Mint The United States Mint is a bureau of the United States Department of the Treasury, Department of the Treasury responsible for producing coinage for the United States to conduct its trade and commerce, as well as controlling the movement of bull ...

, and one-term member of the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

from

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

. He was also a

television news News broadcasting is the medium of broadcasting various news events and other information via television, radio, or the internet in the field of broadcast journalism. The content is usually either produced locally in a radio studio or tel ...

anchor An anchor is a device, normally made of metal, used to secure a vessel to the bed of a body of water to prevent the craft from drifting due to wind or current. The word derives from Latin ', which itself comes from the Greek (). Anch ...

Green Bay, Wisconsin Green Bay is a city in Brown County, Wisconsin, United States, and its county seat. It is located at the head of Green Bay (Lake Michigan), Green Bay (known locally as "the bay of Green Bay"), a sub-basin of Lake Michigan at the mouth of the F ...

for

WFRV-TV WFRV-TV (channel 5) is a television station in Green Bay, Wisconsin, United States, affiliated with CBS. Owned by Nexstar Media Group, the station maintains studios on East Mason Street in Green Bay and a transmitter north of Morrison, Wiscon ...

and

WLUK-TV WLUK-TV (channel 11) is a television station in Green Bay, Wisconsin, United States, affiliated with the Fox network. It is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group alongside Suring-licensed CW affiliate WCWF (channel 14). The two stations share s ...

Early life and education

Johnson was born in

Bessemer, Michigan Bessemer is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 1,805. It is the county seat of Gogebic County. The city is surrounded by Bessemer Township, but the two are administered autonomously. It is on ...

and graduated from Bessemer High School. He earned an

associate degree An associate degree or associate's degree is an undergraduate degree awarded after a course of post-secondary study lasting two to three years. It is a level of academic qualification above a high school diploma and below a bachelor's degree ...

in speech from

Gogebic Community College Gogebic Community College (GCC) is a public community college in Ironwood, Michigan. Founded as Ironwood Junior College in 1932, the college has a main campus in Ironwood and a site in Houghton, Michigan to serve Houghton County and the surrou ...

in 1963 and a Bachelor of Arts degree in speech from

Northern Michigan University Northern Michigan University (Northern Michigan, Northern or NMU) is a public university in Marquette, Michigan, United States. It was established in 1899 by the Michigan Legislature as Northern State Normal School. In 1963, the state designa ...

in 1965. Johnson was an information specialist with the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

from 1966 until 1968. He was on the board of directors of the Wisconsin

United Way United Way is an international network of over 1,800 local nonprofit organization, nonprofit fundraising affiliates. Prior to 2015, United Way was the largest nonprofit organization in the United States by donations from the public. Individual Un ...

. Johnson received a master's degree in radio and television arts from

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State o ...

in 1970.

Career

Journalism

Johnson was a broadcaster and journalist working in

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

, and

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

before settling

, where he worked for 16 years at

and

Politics

In 1996, Johnson was elected to represent in the

105th United States Congress The 105th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, DC from January 3, 1997, ...

after 18-year incumbent

Toby Roth Tobias Anton Roth Sr. (born October 10, 1938) is a retired American businessman, lobbyist, and Republican Party (United States), Republican politician from Appleton, Wisconsin. He served 18 years in the U.S. House of Representatives, representing ...

chose not to run for a 10th term. He was the fourth

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (Cyprus) (DCY) **Democratic Part ...

to represent the district in the 20th century. He was defeated after one term by State Assemblyman Mark Green in 1998. In August 1999, Johnson was nominated by President

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...

to become Director of the

. He was confirmed by the

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

in May 2000 and served until his successor was appointed by President

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...

in August 2001. After leaving the U.S. Mint, he was self-employed, selling wholesale coins and was the chief

numismatist A numismatist is a specialist, researcher, and/or well-informed collector of numismatics, numismatics/coins ("of coins"; from Late Latin , genitive of ). Numismatists can include collectors, specialist dealers, and scholar-researchers who use coi ...

for

The Franklin Mint The Franklin Mint is a private mint founded by Joseph Segel in 1964 in Wawa, Pennsylvania. The building is in Middletown Township. The brand name was previously owned by Sequential Brands Group headquartered in New York City. It is currently ...

. On June 29, 2009, Goldline International, Inc., announced that Johnson had become a spokesperson for their company.

Death

On October 17, 2009, Johnson died at his home in

Bristow, Virginia Bristow is an Unincorporated area, unincorporated community of Prince William County, Virginia, Prince William County about 30 miles (48 km) from Washington, D.C. It is situated between Manassas, Virginia and Gainesville, Virginia. As of 20 ...

, of an apparent

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

. He was survived by his wife, JoLee, and his two stepchildren.

Electoral history

, colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", Democratic Primary Election, September 10, 1996 , colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", General Election, November 5, 1996 , colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", General Election, November 3, 1998

References

External links

* * *
2009 Wisconsin Assembly Joint Resolution 88
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Jay 1943 births 2009 deaths People from Bessemer, Michigan People from Prince William County, Virginia American television news anchors Directors of the United States Mint Michigan State University alumni Northern Michigan University alumni Gogebic Community College alumni Military personnel from Wisconsin United States Army soldiers Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Wisconsin 20th-century members of the United States House of Representatives Clinton administration personnel George W. Bush administration personnel