Proxmire, << PROKS my uhr, >> William (1915-2005), a Wisconsin Democrat, was a United States senator from 1957 to 1989. He won a special election to fill the seat left vacant when Senator Joseph R. McCarthy died. Proxmire served as chairman of the Senate’s powerful Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee from 1975 to 1981 and from 1987 to 1989.
As a senator, Proxmire took a liberal stand on most issues. He sponsored the Consumer Credit Protection Act of 1968, often called the Truth in Lending Act. This act requires businesses to state charges for loans and installment purchases in terms of the true annual interest rate. In 1971, he led a Senate campaign to halt government funds for development of a supersonic transport airplane. Proxmire became famous for presenting his Golden Fleece Awards, which criticized what he regarded as wasteful government spending.
Proxmire was born on Nov. 11, 1915, in Lake Forest, Illinois. He graduated from Yale University in 1938 and received an M.B.A. degree from Harvard University in 1940. From 1941 to 1946, he served in the Army. Proxmire was an assemblyman in the Wisconsin legislature in 1951 and 1952, and he headed a Wisconsin newspaper chain from 1954 to 1957. Proxmire died on Dec. 15, 2005.
