Bob Kasten

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Robert Kasten, Jr.
United States Senator from Wisconsin
In office January 5, 1981 – January 3, 1993
Preceded by	Gaylord Nelson
Succeeded by	Russ Feingold
Born	June 19, 1942 (1942-06-19) (age 65) Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Nationality	American
Political party	Republican
Spouse	Sarah Kasten
Religion	Episcopalian

Robert Walter "Bob" Kasten, Jr. (born June 19, 1942), is a legislator from the state of Wisconsin, who served as a U.S. representative from 1975 to 1979 and as a U.S. senator from 1981 to 1993.

Kasten was born in Milwaukee. He attended Choate Rosemary Hall in Wallingford, Connecticut, where he received a high school diploma in 1960. He graduated from the University of Arizona in Tucson in 1964, and received a graduate degree from the Columbia Business School in New York City in 1966. He served in the Wisconsin Air National Guard from 1966 to 1972.

Kasten was elected to the Wisconsin State Senate in 1972 on the day that Richard M. Nixon was reelected as U.S. president. In 1974, he was elected to the House of Representatives as a Republican. He was reelected in 1976. He ran for Governor of Wisconsin in 1978, but lost the Republican nomination to Lee S. Dreyfus. Kasten ran for the United States Senate in 1980 and defeated liberal Democrat and environmentalist incumbent Senator Gaylord Nelson. Kasten's victory was propelled in part by the popularity of Ronald Reagan at the top of the Republican ticket. In the Senate, Kasten was an outspoken conservative. He was the first Republican to represent Wisconsin in the Senate since Alexander Wiley left office in 1963.

In 1986, Kasten narrowly defeated Democrat Ed Garvey to win re-election, earning the ironic nickname "Landslide Bob" for the narrowness of each of his two Senate elections. Kasten was defeated by Democrat Russ Feingold in 1992. Since 1993, he has been President of Kasten & Company, a consulting firm.

In July 2007, it was announced that Kasten was joining the presidential campaign of Republican Rudy Giuliani as a foreign policy adviser.^[1]; in August, it was announced that Kasten would also be chairing Giuliani's Wisconsin campaign, along with former U.S. Representative Scott Klug and former State Senator Cathy Stepp (R-Yorkville).^[2]

[edit] Electoral history

[edit] Cultural References

Writer Mike Baron named a recurring character in his Wisconsin-based comic book Badger after Kasten, then Wisconsin's junior senator. The character, a peg-legged, vampire-hunting pig named "Senator Bob Kasten", made several appearances in the book.^[3]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Voting record maintained by The Washington Post

v • d • e United States Senators from Wisconsin Class 1: Dodge • Doolittle • Carpenter • Cameron • Sawyer • Mitchell • Quarles • La Follette, Sr. • La Follette, Jr. • McCarthy • Proxmire • Kohl Class 3: Walker • Durkee • Howe • Carpenter • Cameron • Spooner • Vilas • Spooner • Stephenson • Husting • Lenroot • Blaine • Duffy • Wiley • Nelson • Kasten • Feingold