John Whitcome Reynolds Sr., (October 1, 1876 – February 4, 1958) was an American lawyer and politician. He was the 26th Attorney General of Wisconsin from 1927 to 1933. He was elected as a Republican.

Biography

Reynolds was born in Jacksonport, in Door County,

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

, the son of Jennie (Foley) and

Thomas Reynolds Thomas, Tom or Tommy Reynolds may refer to: Politics * Thomas Reynolds (Assemblyman) (1840–1919), member of the Wisconsin State Assembly *Thomas Reynolds (Australian politician) (1818–1875), Premier of South Australia, 1860–1861 *Thomas Reyno ...

. He graduated from the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

and the University of Wisconsin Law School. Reynolds was admitted to the bar in 1902. After becoming a lawyer, he worked in

Ashland, Wisconsin Ashland is a city in Ashland and Bayfield counties in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. It is the county seat of Ashland County. The city is a port on Lake Superior, near the head of Chequamegon Bay. The population was 7,908 at the 2020 census, al ...

, for a short time before setting up a practice in

Green Bay, Wisconsin Green Bay is a city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The county seat of Brown County, it is at the head of Green Bay (known locally as "the bay of Green Bay"), a sub-basin of Lake Michigan, at the mouth of the Fox River. It is above sea lev ...

, which remained his home for the rest of his life. Reynolds served as

district attorney In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or state attorney is the chief prosecutor and/or chief law enforcement officer representing a U.S. state in a l ...

for Brown County from 1906 to 1910. He was a delegate to the

1924 Republican National Convention Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number), the natural number following 18 and preceding 20 * one of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (film), a 1987 science fiction film Music ...

, supporting Senator Robert M. La Follette. When La Follette ran for President of the United States as a

Progressive Progressive may refer to: Politics * Progressivism, a political philosophy in support of social reform ** Progressivism in the United States, the political philosophy in the American context * Progressive realism, an American foreign policy par ...

in the

general election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

that year, Reynolds was one of thirteen electors who voted for him. Reynolds was elected attorney general in November 1926, and won re-election in 1928 and 1930. His son John W. Reynolds Jr. also served as Attorney General and was elected

Governor of Wisconsin The governor of Wisconsin is the head of government of Wisconsin and the commander-in-chief of the state's army and air forces. The governor has a duty to enforce state laws, and the power to either approve or veto bills passed by the Wiscons ...

.Wolfgang Saxon,
John W. Reynolds, 80, Judge In Milwaukee School Integration
''New York Times'', January 12, 2008 at C18.

Electoral history

Wisconsin attorney general (1926, 1928, 1930)

, colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", Primary Election, September 7, 1926 , colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", General Election, November 2, 1926 , colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", Primary Election, September 4, 1928 , colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", General Election, November 6, 1928 , colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", General Election, April 1930 , colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", General Election, November 4, 1930

Wisconsin Supreme Court (1930, 1931)

, colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", General Election, April 1, 1930 , colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", General Election, April 7, 1931

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Reynolds, John W. Sr. 1876 births 1958 deaths Wisconsin Attorneys General District attorneys in Wisconsin People from Door County, Wisconsin Politicians from Green Bay, Wisconsin 1924 United States presidential electors University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni University of Wisconsin Law School alumni Wisconsin Republicans University of Michigan alumni