Patrick Lucey

Patrick Lucey
Lucey circa 1971.
United States Ambassador to Mexico
In office
July 19, 1977 – October 31, 1979
PresidentJimmy Carter
Preceded byJoseph Jova
Succeeded byJulian Nava
38th Governor of Wisconsin
In office
January 4, 1971 – July 6, 1977
LieutenantMartin Schreiber
Preceded byWarren Knowles
Succeeded byMartin Schreiber
36th Lieutenant Governor of Wisconsin
In office
January 4, 1965 – January 2, 1967
GovernorWarren Knowles
Preceded byJack Olson
Succeeded byJack Olson
Chair of the Wisconsin Democratic Party
In office
1957–1963
Preceded byPhilleo Nash
Succeeded byLouis Hanson
Member of the Wisconsin State Assembly
from Crawford County
In office
1949–1951
Preceded byDonald C. McDowell
Succeeded byRodney J. Satter
Personal details
Born
Patrick Joseph Lucey

(1918-03-21)March 21, 1918
La Crosse, Wisconsin, U.S.
DiedMay 10, 2014(2014-05-10) (aged 96)
Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic (before 1979; 1980–2014)
Independent (1979–1980)
Spouse
Jean Vlasis
(m. 1951; died 2011)
Children3
EducationUniversity of St. Thomas, Minnesota
University of Wisconsin, Madison (BA)

Patrick Joseph Lucey (March 21, 1918 – May 10, 2014) was an American politician. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the 38th Governor of Wisconsin from 1971 to 1977.[1] He was also independent presidential candidate John B. Anderson's running mate in the 1980 presidential election.

Born in La Crosse, Wisconsin, Lucey served in state and local government offices after graduating from the University of Wisconsin. He served in the Quartermaster Corps of the United States Army during World War II. He held the position of Lieutenant Governor of Wisconsin from 1965 to 1967 and unsuccessfully challenged Governor Warren P. Knowles in the 1966 gubernatorial election.

Lucey won the 1970 Wisconsin gubernatorial election and served as governor until 1977, when he accepted President Jimmy Carter's appointment to the position of United States Ambassador to Mexico. As governor, Lucey presided over the merger of the Wisconsin State University system and the University of Wisconsin System. In 1980, he agreed to serve as the running mate to John B. Anderson, a former Republican congressman running an independent campaign. The ticket of Anderson and Lucey won 6.6% of the popular vote in the 1980 election, which saw Carter unseated by Republican nominee Ronald Reagan.

  1. ^ "Lucey, Patrick J. 1918". Archived from the original on June 11, 2011.