Bill Janklow

Bill Janklow
Portrait, c. 2003
27th and 30th Governor of South Dakota
27th and 30th Governor of South Dakota Ambassador to
In office January 7, 1995 – January 3, 2003
Lieutenant	Carole Hillard
Preceded by	Walter Dale Miller
Succeeded by	Mike Rounds
Ambassador to
In office January 1, 1979 – January 6, 1987
Lieutenant	Lowell Hansen
Preceded by	Harvey Wollman
Succeeded by	George S. Mickelson
Ambassador to
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from South Dakota's at-large district
In office January 3, 2003 – January 20, 2004
Preceded by	John Thune
Succeeded by	Stephanie Herseth Sandlin
25th Attorney General of South Dakota
Ambassador to
In office January 3, 1975 – January 1, 1979
Governor	Richard Kneip Harvey Wollman
Preceded by	Kermit Sande
Succeeded by	Mark Meierhenry
Personal details
Born	William John Janklow (1939-09-13)September 13, 1939 Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Died	January 12, 2012(2012-01-12) (aged 72) Sioux Falls, South Dakota, U.S.
Resting place	Black Hills National Cemetery
Political party	Republican
Spouse	Mary Dean Thom
Education	University of South Dakota (BS, JD)
Military service
Allegiance	United States
Branch/service	United States Marine Corps
Years of service	1956–1959
Rank	Private First Class
Unit	3rd Marine Division
Battles/wars	Second Taiwan Strait Crisis
Awards	823 Badge of Honor (Taiwan)

William John Janklow (September 13, 1939 – January 12, 2012) was an American lawyer and politician and member of the Republican Party who holds the record for the longest tenure as Governor of South Dakota: sixteen years in office. Janklow had the third-longest gubernatorial tenure in post-Constitutional U.S. history at 5,851 days.^[1]

Janklow served as the 25th Attorney General of South Dakota from 1975 to 1979 before serving as the state's 27th Governor from 1979 to 1987 and then the 30th Governor from 1995 to 2003. Janklow was then elected to the United States House of Representatives, where he served for a little more than a year. He resigned in 2004 after being convicted of manslaughter for his culpability in a fatal automobile crash.