SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) – -His nickname was Wild Bill because of how he handled controversial and political issues.
Now there’s a new book out about former South Dakota governor and Congressman Bill Janklow.
KELOLAND News sat down with the author to find out why he wrote a book about one of South Dakota’s most popular politicians.
“I wanted to write another novel; one with a larger scope a bigger canvas, and what better canvas than Bill Janklow,” author Greg Redlin said.
The book Bill Janklow: Politics and Power on the Prairie was written by author Greg Redlin of Vermillion.
Redlin, who once worked for Janklow in the budget office as an analyst, says it’s not a factual autobiography, but rather a 300-page novel.
But it goes into great detail about the life of Bill Janklow from his childhood to when he dropped out of high school and joined the Marines to his political career.
Janklow holds the record for the longest tenure as Governor of South Dakota: 16 years in office.
He was first elected governor in 1978. He was re-elected in 1982 with nearly 71 percent of the vote, the highest percentage won by a gubernatorial candidate in the state’s history.
“He’s a larger-than-life figure; he had perhaps the most significant accomplishments as governor in this state and he was Wild Bill,” Redlin said.
The nickname Wild Bill was coined when Janklow began doing things others may never thought possible.
For instance when he convinced Citi Bank to move its headquarters to South Dakota.
“We’re all familiar with what Citi Bank has meant to the state and to Sioux Falls; millions and millions of dollars, good jobs, IT jobs,” Redlin said.
Redlin says Janklow is also credited with saving the railroads in South Dakota.
“He persuaded the legislature to buy 700 miles of track to create a core system which the state then contracted with Burlington Northern to run rolling stock on the core system in South Dakota,” Redlin said.
But Redlin says Janklow was controversial in many ways; like when he proposed turning the University of South Dakota Springfield campus into a minimum security prison.
Redlin says people living in that area, who turned out for a large town hall meeting, were not happy with him.
“I don’t have to come here frankly sir to tell anybody anything, I came down here tonight to listen to what people had to say, I said when I started you may not agree with me, and I may not agree with you,” Janklow said.
“He made a joke after that if he ever had car trouble or a flat tire in Bon Homme County he’d have to drive on the rims for a ways to Yankton before he could get his tires fixed,” Redlin said.
The townspeople lost their argument and the state legislature approved of Janklow’s plan. The former campus is still a state prison today.
For all that he accomplished, Janklow’s political career was destroyed in an instant while he was serving in Congress.
On August 16, 2003, Janklow ran a stop sign near Trent, South Dakota and killed motorcyclist Randy Scott of Hardwick, Minnesota.
“It was a horrific accident and it brought the titan of South Dakota politics down; nothing else seemed to do that, but the accident did,” Redlin said.
Janklow was convicted of manslaughter and was sentenced to 100 days in jail. A month later, he resigned his seat in Congress.
None of the media could get any information about Janklow when he was locked up, but Redlin’s book details some of what Janklow went through while behind bars.
“Well I’m not going to reveal all of my sources, because I promised not to and that way I secured some candor and honesty from some of the people who were close to him, otherwise I wouldn’t have been able to do that, but just let me say this it was an incredible source,” Redlin said.
Redlin says people either loved Janklow or hated him, but he says there’s no doubt he’s the most consequential political figure South Dakota has ever had.
He says he was great during disasters like the Spencer Tornado or the Blizzards of ’97.
“He was especially good in a crisis, he managed and led the state through those crises as no other governor has in the past and probably in the future I think it’s fair to say Bill Janklow was more concerned with solving the problems rather than advancing his own political career,” Redlin said.
You can find the book Bill Janklow: Politics and Power on the Prairie at Zanbroz Variety Store in Sioux Falls and also on Amazon.
