An Oral History Interview with WILLIAM RYAN DREW Interviewer
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WISCONSIN HISTORICAL SOCIETY An Oral History Interview with WILLIAM RYAN DREW Interviewer: .Anita Hecht, Life History Services Recording Date: November 23, 2009 Place: Wauwatosa, Wisconsin. Length: 2.25 hours William Ryan Drew was raised in Waukon, Iowa, the oldest child of Kathryn and James F. Drew, who were active in the Democratic Party. In 1954, Drew graduated from St. Patrick's Catholic School and then attended Marquette University, where he earned a degree in history. Drew met Sen. William Proxmire during the Democratic Convention in La Crosse while volunteering for Gaylord Nelson's gubernatorial campaign in 1958. Over the next few years, Drew and Sen. Proxmire became friends whiel Drew worked on Proxmire's reelection campaign in 1963 and 1964. .After earning his J.D. degree from Marquette in 1966, Drew joined Sen. Proxmire's staff in Washington, DC. Drew worked closely with the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee, wrote speeches, and worked with Wisconsin governmental entities and organizations. He also worked on constituent issues, postal appointments, and Vietnam War concerns. In 1968, Drew resigned from Sen. Proxmire's office to run for .Alderman in Milwaukee's 4th District. He still continued to serve on Sen. Proxmire's campaign committee by organizing fundraisers, nurturing political relationships in Wisconsin, and touring the state with the Senator. In 1972, Drew was elected president of the Milwaukee City Council and in 1974 became commissioner of city development, an office he held until 1988. He later served as director of PROJECT NAME: PROXMIRE ORAL HISTORY PROJECT Verbatim Interview Transcript NARRATOR: WILLIAM RYAN DREW INTERVIEWER: Anita Hecht INTERVIEW DATE: November 23, 2009 INTERVIEW LOCATION: Wauwatosa, Wisconsin INTERVIEW LENGTH: Approximately 2.25 Hours KEY: WD William Drew BP Bill Proxmire GN Gaylord Nelson SUBJECT INDEX HOUR1 Hour 1/00:00 WD's Family History Early Interest in Politics Hour 1/09:40 WD's Educational Background Introduction to Young Democrats Initial Impressions of BP Hour 1/20:00 BP's Senate Campaign/Election WD's Political Work After Senate Campaign BP's Independence in Democratic Party Relationship Between BP and GN Hourl/30:05 WD's Involvement in BP's Re-election Campaign Campaigning at Plant Gates/Shaking Hands Hour 1/40:00 BP's Campaign Diligence BP's Appeal to Constituents '64 Campaign Finance Hour 1/50:00 The Proxmire Club Staffers Involved in '64 Election BP's Independence from Special Interests/Refusal of Gifts William Drew Interview Transcript Proxmire Oral History Project HOUR 2 Hour 2/00:00 Working with BP After Law School WD's Job Duties in BP's Office Hour 2/10:05 BP's Campaigning for Democratic Party WD's Serving as Liaison Between BP and GN BP's Voluminous Office Mail/Importance of Quick Response 1960s; Civil Unrest Hour 2/19:20 Model Cities Program BP's Support of Urban Development Hour 2/30:00 BP's Bringing Money Back to Wisconsin WD's Departure from BP's Office BP's Influence on WD Hour 2/40:05 WD's Work in Local Government in Milwaukee Dealing with BP as Member of Redevelopment Authority Federal Legislation's Effects on Milwaukee BP's Photographic Recall of Details Hour 2/50:00 Effects of Reagan Administration/ Changes in BP's Role on Banking Committee BP's Speculated Thoughts on Influence of Money Today HOUR 3 Hour 3/00:00 BP's Cognitive Decline BP's Empathy Toward Others BP's Legacy HOUR1 William Drew Interview Transcript Proxmire Oral History Project Hour 1/00:00 WD's Family History, Early Interest in Politics The date is November 23r in the year 2009. My name is Anita Hecht and I have the great pleasure and honor of interviewing William Ryan Drew on behalf of the William Proxmire Oral History Project for the Wisconsin Historical Society. So we find ourselves in Bill's office in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin. And first of all, thank you for agreeing to participate in this project. Always a pleasure to talk about Senator Proxmire. Great. Well, I'd like to begin just with a bit of information about you and your background. First of all, when and where were you born? rrl I was born May 3 , 1936 in Waukon, Iowa. Which is where in relation to Wisconsin? In relation to Wisconsin, it is about thirty miles from Prairie du Chien, a little bit west and north, and about sixty miles south and west of La Crosse. Got it, okay. On the other side of the Mississippi. William Drew interview Transcript A Proxmire Oral History Project And your family; can you tell me a bit about their history and how you all ended up in Waukon, Iowa? Well, all of my great grandparents came from Ireland. And they were farmers, and through one circumstance or another - mostly through, I think, family relations; they had a tendency to travel in clans in those days - ended up in the Waukon area. There was an original settlement of a significant number of families, like thirty-six or forty, that came up - landed in New Orleans and sent a delegation up the river and found a place in Wexford, which was a small area near Waukon. And they settled and then many of the other Irish folks came and settled in that part of the world as well. And what did your grandparents, great-grandparents do to survive? My great grandparents and my grandparents all were farmers. And then my father was a pharmacist and an attorney. Both. Both. And ran a drug store, had a law practice. At one time was Postmaster in Waukon. And so he was one of the first of that generation to go to college. So that's kind of the -1 grew up spending a lot of time on farms. Which was probably helpful during the Depression. There was food? William Drew Interview Transcript 5 Proxmire Oral History Project There was food, and that was something that the Depression made a profound impact on all of those folks that I remember. My mother, until she died, used to worry about, you know, the economy really getting bad again and there wouldn't be food and, you know, all that. And as a result of some of the policies of the Carter administration, we had a significant number of farm bankruptcies back in, you know, in that area and all through Iowa. And I remember her telling me that she never thought that she would see farmers needing food stamps and, you know, that type of welfare assistance again. And that made a profound impact on her. But yeah, the whole growing up during the Depression made an impact on everybody that went through it. Tell me about your parents' political feelings, affiliations, activism. Well, they were Democrats, as were most of the - the county was kind of split into, you know, the two parties: Republican and Democrat. Democrats were, for the most part, all Irish and the minority population in that county. And the Norwegians and the Germans, which were the other large ethnic populations, were mostly Republican. So I grew up in a family that was quite active in political - my dad was District Attorney for Allamakee County at one time. I believe it was the 1934 election, and was the Chairman of the Democratic Party there for, you know, for many years. My mother was very active in Democratic politics as well. So it was not unusual to have, you know, meetings in our house or that type of thing. I just kind of grew up with that. William Drew interview Transcript 6 Proxmire Oral History Project Was there something about the Democratic Party platform that appealed, or was it really more of a — I don't know — sort of a default affiliation because of one's religious background in those days? Well, most of the -1 think most of the Irish were Democrats naturally, I guess, you know, because of immigration policies and things like that. But all of the people that I grew up with were - kind of worshipped Franklin Roosevelt. I mean, his picture was everywhere. He was a hero. He inspired, you know, just incredible devotion on the part of my grandparents. So it was - you know, that, I'm sure, had an influence on it as well. And I also suspect that that relationship with the Irish, at least to the Democratic Party, was helped by Al Smith. And the fact that, you know, the Democratic Party was a way up and out for the Irish immigrants. And so that carried over into the farm country as well. That's my thought on it, anyway. Right. That's interesting. Were you politically motivated at an early age? When do you remember first starting to follow your local or — Well, I guess one of my first experiences in politics, if you will, but very, very local - this is in school politics. When I was a freshman, I decided that I wanted to be - a freshman in high school -1 wanted to be President of the senior class. So I carefully maneuvered for three years and we kind of got everybody, by the end of the - we were in a very small class. I had seventeen people. So everybody had held an office by the time we got up there. So the last of us were the ones that had the turn, if you will. But I remember thinking when I was a freshman, "That's what I want." William Drew interview Transcript 7 Proxmire Oral History Project Did you achieve your goal, then? Oh yes, oh yeah.