Scott McCallum

Scott McCallum
43rd Governor of Wisconsin
In office February 1, 2001 – January 6, 2003
Lieutenant	Margaret Farrow
Preceded by	Tommy Thompson
Succeeded by	Jim Doyle
41st Lieutenant Governor of Wisconsin
In office January 5, 1987 – February 1, 2001
Governor	Tommy Thompson
Preceded by	James Flynn
Succeeded by	Margaret Farrow
Member of the Wisconsin State Senate from the 18th District
In office January 6, 1977 – January 5, 1987
Preceded by	Walter G. Hollander
Succeeded by	Carol Roessler
Personal details
Born	James Scott McCallum (1950-05-02) May 2, 1950 Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, U.S.
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Laurie McCallum; 3 children
Profession	Businessman
Religion	Christian Scientist

James Scott McCallum (born May 2, 1950) is an American businessman and former politician. A member of the Republican Party, he was the 43rd Governor of Wisconsin, serving from 2001 to 2003. Prior to assuming the role of governor upon the appointment of Tommy Thompson as Secretary of Health and Human Services, McCallum served as a member of the Wisconsin State Senate and as the 41st Lieutenant Governor of Wisconsin.^[1][2]

Early life

James Scott McCallum was born in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin,^[3] the eldest of four children. In 1967, he attended a youth leadership program, Badger Boys State, as a representative chosen from his high school.

He graduated from Macalester College in 1972 with a degree in economics and political science. He earned his master's degree in international economics from Johns Hopkins University in 1974. He is of the Christian Science religion.^[4] McCallum is married to Laurie McCallum; they have three children and reside in Lodi, Wisconsin.^[5]

Political career

Early career

In 1976 at the age of 26, McCallum won a seat in the Wisconsin State Senate, defeating a 20-year incumbent. McCallum won the Republican nomination for the United States Senate in 1982, but lost in the general election to incumbent William Proxmire. During his 10 years (1976–1986) as state senator, McCallum was allied with the New Republican Conference, a now-defunct movement of fiscally conservative, but socially liberal, GOP activists.^[6]

Lieutenant Governor and Governor of Wisconsin

In 1986, McCallum ran for lieutenant governor on the Republican ticket with Tommy Thompson running for governor. McCallum chaired the National Council of Lieutenant Governors and was appointed to the Environmental Protection Agency's advisory council by President George H.W. Bush.^[7] The Thompson-McCallum ticket served the state of Wisconsin for 14 years, having been reelected in 1990, 1994 and 1998. In 2001, President George W. Bush appointed Thompson to be Secretary of Health and Human Services. McCallum thus served out the final two years of Thompson's fourth term, and appointed State Senator Margaret Farrow of Pewaukee, Wisconsin, to be the state's first female lieutenant governor.^[8]

As the Wisconsin governor, McCallum was cited by the Wall Street Journal during the economic slowdown in 2001 as being one of the ‘political tough guys’ for balancing the budget without raising taxes.^[9] As a governor he was commander-in-chief of the Wisconsin National Guard, directing emergency operations following the September 11 attacks, which resulted in him receiving the 2002 U.S. National Guard Award for his work.

In 2001, McCallum launched "Invest Wisconsin," a new program to focus on the needs of state businesses and communities for investment capital. The public and private partnership was designed to increase awareness of business financing options by engaging statewide networks and professional associations.^[10]

As governor he created the Department of Electronic Government and the state's first CIO through consolidation of various departments. This action saved $50 million in first year while expanding service. Today, the department is known as the "Division of Enterprise Technology" of the Wisconsin Department of Administration. Governor McCallum aggressively used the veto pen to cut expenditures throughout his time in office. It was estimated that Wisconsin taxpayers saved $62.9 million through this action.^[11] McCallum ran for a full term in 2002, but was defeated in the election by Democratic Attorney General Jim Doyle. The other major party candidate running in 2002 was Libertarian Ed Thompson (brother of Tommy Thompson).

Post political career

After his public sector service, McCallum was president and CEO of Aidmatrix for nine years.^[12] The company is a non-profit based in Texas that matches charitable corporate donations of surplus food and supplies with organizations that need them.^[13] Currently, Governor McCallum owns and operates The McCallum Group, a consulting firm in the State of Wisconsin.^[14]

McCallum was named a senior fellow at the Discovery Institute. He is also an adjunct professor and honorary fellow in the School of Public Health and Medicine at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.^[15] McCallum has also taught executive MBA marketing courses at Sun Yat-sen University and Harbin University.^[16]

In March 2013, McCallum was named by Government Technology Magazine as one of the “Top 25 Doers, Dreamers, and Drivers” in US Technology. McCallum has also received the 21st Century Achievement Award from Computerworld, the Distinguished Citizen Award from Macalester College, and the Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award.^[17]

Electoral history

See also

• Northeast Wisconsin Economic Development Partnership

References

Governors of Wisconsin
Territory (1836–48)	Dodge Doty Tallmadge Dodge Catlin (acting)
State (since 1848)	Dewey Farwell Barstow MacArthur Bashford Randall Harvey Salomon Lewis Fairchild Washburn Taylor Ludington Smith Rusk Hoard Peck Upham Scofield R. La Follette Davidson McGovern Philipp Blaine Zimmerman Kohler Sr. P. La Follette Schmedeman P. La Follette Heil (Loomis) * Goodland Rennebohm Kohler Jr. Thomson Nelson Reynolds Knowles Lucey Schreiber Dreyfus Earl Thompson McCallum Doyle Walker
(*) elected but died before taking office

Lieutenant Governors of Wisconsin
Holmes Beall Burns Lewis MacArthur Campbell Noble Salomon Spooner Pound Pettit Parker Bingham Fifield Ryland Jonas Baensch Stone Davidson Connor Strange Morris Dithmar Comings Huber O'Malley Gunderson Ekern Goodland Rennebohm Smith Knowles Nash Knowles J. Olson Lucey J. Olson Schreiber R. Olson Flynn McCallum Farrow Lawton Kleefisch