View source for Bob Kasten

{{short description|American politician (born 1942)}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name                = Bob Kasten
| image name          = BobKasten.jpg
| state               = [[Wisconsin]]
| jr/sr               = United States Senator
| term_start          = January 3, 1981
| term_end            = January 3, 1993
| predecessor         = [[Gaylord Nelson]]
| successor           = [[Russ Feingold]]
| state1              = [[Wisconsin]]
| district1           = {{ushr|wi|9|9th}}
| term_start1         = January 3, 1975
| term_end1           = January 3, 1979
| predecessor1        = [[Glenn R. Davis]]
| successor1          = [[Jim Sensenbrenner]]
| state_senate2       = Wisconsin
| district2           = [[Wisconsin Senate, District 4|4th]]
| term_start2         = January 1, 1973
| term_end2           = January 3, 1975
| predecessor2        = [[Nile Soik]]
| successor2          = [[Jim Sensenbrenner]]
| party               = [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]]
| birth_name          = Robert Walter Kasten Jr.
| birth_date          = {{Birth date and age|1942|6|19}}
| birth_place         = [[Milwaukee]], [[Wisconsin]], U.S.
| spouse              = Eva Jean Nimmons, Sarah Kasten
| education           = [[University of Arizona]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]])<br>[[Columbia University]] ([[Master of Business Administration|MBA]])
|allegiance={{flag|United States}}
|branch={{air force|United States}}
|serviceyears=1966-1972
|unit=[[Wisconsin Air National Guard]]
}}
'''Robert Walter Kasten Jr.''' (born June 19, 1942) is an American [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] politician from the [[U.S. state|state]] of [[Wisconsin]] who served as a [[United States House of Representatives|U.S. Representative]] from 1975 to 1979 and as a [[United States Senate|United States Senator]] from 1981 to 1993.
==Background==
Kasten was born in [[Milwaukee, Wisconsin|Milwaukee]], [[Wisconsin]]. He attended the Milwaukee Country Day School before graduating in 1960 from [[Choate Rosemary Hall|The Choate School]] (now Choate Rosemary Hall) in [[Wallingford, Connecticut]], in 1964 from the [[University of Arizona]] in [[Tucson, Arizona|Tucson]], and received his M.B.A. from the [[Columbia Business School]] in 1966. He served in the Wisconsin [[Air National Guard]] from 1966 to 1972.<ref>'Wisconsin Blue Book 1991-1992,' Biographical Sketch of Robert W. Kasten, pg. 11</ref>
==Elected office==
{{BLP sources section|date=May 2017}}
Kasten was elected to the [[Wisconsin State Senate]] in 1972. In 1974, he was elected to the [[United States House of Representatives|House of Representatives]] after defeating incumbent [[Glenn R. Davis]] in a [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] primary election. <!-- Ironic since Rep. Davis was in his second stint in the House after challenging an incumbent Senator in a primary earlier. --> He was reelected in 1976. He ran for [[List of Governors of Wisconsin|Governor]] of [[Wisconsin]] in [[1978 Wisconsin gubernatorial election|1978]], but lost the Republican nomination to [[Lee S. Dreyfus]], who went on to win the general election.
Kasten ran for the [[United States Senate]] in [[United States Senate election in Wisconsin, 1980|1980]] and narrowly defeated [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrat]] and [[incumbent]] Senator [[Gaylord Nelson]]. The 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 [[conservatism|conservative]]. He was the first Republican to represent Wisconsin in the U.S. Senate since [[Alexander Wiley]] left office in 1963.
In 1985, Kasten was arrested and charged with [[driving under the influence]] after a [[District of Columbia]] police officer observed him running a red light and driving on the wrong side of the road.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1985-12-14-mn-409-story.html|title=Sen. Kasten Accused of Driving While Drunk|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=December 14, 1985|access-date=November 19, 2016}}</ref> The DUI charges were later dropped.<ref>{{cite news | title=Indictments--A Grand Congressional Tradition Since 1798 |newspaper=Los Angeles Times | date=5 June 1994 | url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-06-05-op-1411-story.html | access-date=4 August 2024}}</ref>
In [[United States Senate election in Wisconsin, 1986|1986]], Kasten narrowly defeated Democrat [[Ed Garvey]] to win a second term after a very bitter campaign, one that was characterized by personal attacks and is remembered as one of the nastiest elections in Wisconsin history.<ref>{{cite news|author=Raymond Coffey|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1986/10/31/wisconsin-race-hits-low-road/|title=Wisconsin Race Hits Low Road|newspaper=Chicago Tribune|date=October 31, 1986|access-date=November 19, 2016}}</ref> Kasten was defeated by Democratic state Senator [[Russ Feingold]] in 1992.
Kasten voted in favor of the [[Passage of Martin Luther King Jr. Day|bill]] establishing [[Martin Luther King Jr. Day]] as a [[Federal holidays in the United States|federal holiday]] and the [[Civil Rights Restoration Act of 1987]] (as well as to override [[Ronald Reagan|President Reagan]]'s veto).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/98-1983/s293|title=To Pass H.R. 3706. (Motion Passed) See Note(s) 19.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/100-1988/s432|title=To Pass S 557, Civil Rights Restoration Act, a Bill to Restore the Broad Coverage and Clarify Four Civil Rights Laws by Providing that If One Part of An Institution Is Federally Funded, Then the Entire Institution Must Not Discriminate.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/100-1988/s487|title=To Adopt, Over the President's Veto of S 557, Civil Rights Restoration Act, a Bill to Restore Broad Coverage of Four Civil Rights Laws by Declaring that If One Part of An Institution Receives Federal Funds, Then the Entire Institution Must Not Discriminate. Two-Thirds of The Senate, Having Voted in The Affirmative, Overrode the Presidential Veto.}}</ref> Kasten voted in favor of the nominations of [[Robert Bork Supreme Court nomination|Robert Bork]] and [[Clarence Thomas Supreme Court nomination|Clarence Thomas]] to the [[Supreme Court of the United States|U.S. Supreme Court]].
==After the Senate==
Since 1993, he has been President of Kasten & Company, a consulting firm. In July 2007, Kasten joined the presidential campaign of Republican [[Rudy Giuliani]] as a foreign policy adviser.<ref>{{cite news|author1=Craig Gilbert|author2=Katherine M. Skiba|author3=Audrey Hoffe|title=Former Wisconsin senator joins Giuliani's team|newspaper=Milwaukee Journal Sentinel|date=July 21, 2007|access-date=November 19, 2016|url=http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=635899|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929131826/http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=635899|archive-date=September 29, 2007}}</ref> He chaired Giuliani's Wisconsin campaign, along with former U.S. Representative [[Scott Klug]] and former State Senator [[Cathy Stepp]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=654765|title=Regional News Briefs|newspaper=Milwaukee Journal Sentinel|date=August 30, 2007|access-date=November 19, 2016|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160625180027/http://www.jsonline.com/news/29390274.html|archive-date=June 25, 2016}}</ref>
After Giuliani dropped out, Kasten endorsed his close friend and former Senate colleague [[John McCain]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://blog.4president.org/2008/2008/02/former-wisconsi.html|title = Former Wisconsin Senator Bob Kasten Endorses John McCain}}</ref> In April 2016, Kasten endorsed Republican frontrunner [[Donald Trump]] for [[President of the United States|president]] in [[2016 United States presidential election|2016]], becoming part of Trump's [[foreign policy]] advisory team.<ref>{{cite news|last=Gilbert|first=Craig|url=http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/news/374368271.html|title=Former GOP Sen. Bob Kasten joins Trump foreign policy team|website=blog.4president.org|date=February 13, 2008|access-date=November 19, 2016}}</ref>
==Electoral history==
{{Election box begin | title=Wisconsin U.S. Senate election, 1992}}
{{Election box candidate with party link|
|party      = Democratic Party (US)
|candidate  = [[Russ Feingold]]
|votes      = 1,290,662
|percentage = 52.6
|change     =
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link|
|party      = Republican Party (US)
|candidate  = Bob Kasten (incumbent)
|votes      = 1,129,599
|percentage = 46.0
|change     =
}}
{{Election box end}}
{{Election box begin | title=Wisconsin U.S. Senate election, 1986}}
{{Election box candidate with party link|
|party      = Republican Party (US)
|candidate  = Bob Kasten (incumbent)
|votes      = 754,573
|percentage = 50.9
|change     =
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link|
|party      = Democratic Party (US)
|candidate  = [[Ed Garvey]]
|votes      = 702,963
|percentage = 47.4
|change     =
}}
{{Election box end}}
{{Election box begin | title=Wisconsin U.S. Senate election, 1980}}
{{Election box candidate with party link|
|party      = Republican Party (US)
|candidate  = Bob Kasten
|votes      = 1,106,311
|percentage = 50.2
|change     =
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link|
|party      = Democratic Party (US)
|candidate  = [[Gaylord Nelson]] (incumbent)
|votes      = 1,065,487
|percentage = 48.3
|change     =
}}
{{Election box end}}
==Cultural references==
Writer [[Mike Baron]] named a recurring character in his Wisconsin-based [[comic book]] ''[[Badger (comics)|Badger]]'' after Kasten, then Wisconsin's [[junior senator]]. The character, a [[pegleg|peg-legged]], [[vampire]]-hunting [[pig]] named "Senator Bob Kasten", made several appearances in the series.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.internationalhero.co.uk/k/kasten.htm|title=Senator Bob Kasten |website=Internationalhero.co.uk|access-date=November 19, 2016}}</ref>{{better source needed|date=May 2017}} A student political party on the University of Wisconsin Madison campus satirically named themselves the "Bob Kasten School of Driving" (a reference to his DUI arrest); it won the campus-wide elections in 1986 and 1987.<ref>"[https://web.archive.org/web/20121103161234/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-127635166.html Ex-UW Student Prez up for 'Annie']". ''The Capital Times'', January 24, 2005.</ref>
==References==
{{Reflist}}
==External links==
{{CongLinks | congbio=K000019}}
* {{C-SPAN|2362}}
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| years=1975–1979
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{{U.S. Senator box
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| class=3
| before = [[Gaylord Nelson]]
| years = 1981–1993
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[[Category:1942 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:American Episcopalians]]
[[Category:Republican Party United States senators from Wisconsin]]
[[Category:Republican Party Wisconsin state senators]]
[[Category:Choate Rosemary Hall alumni]]
[[Category:Columbia Business School alumni]]
[[Category:University of Arizona alumni]]
[[Category:Politicians from Milwaukee]]
[[Category:Military personnel from Milwaukee]]
[[Category:People from Wallingford, Connecticut]]
[[Category:Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Wisconsin]]
[[Category:Members of Congress who became lobbyists]]