William J. Bulow

William John Bulow (January 13, 1869February 26, 1960) was an American politician and lawyer. He was the first Democratic Governor of South Dakota, serving from 1927 to 1931. He received the highest number of votes of any Democratic candidate for governor in the state up to that time. Bulow then went on to serve as a member of the United States Senate from South Dakota from 1931 to 1943. Biography Bulow was born of German ancestry to Joseph and Elizabeth (Ebendorf) Bulow near Moscow in Clermont County, Ohio, where he was raised and educated. In 1893, he graduated with a law degree from the University of Michigan. He was twice married: to Katherine J. Reedy and to Sarah (Johnson) Farrand. Career During 1893, Bulow moved to South Dakota. He resided in Sioux Falls, where he worked for the Joe Kirby office. Then, he came by horse and carriage to Beresford, where he set up his own law office and helped to develop the town. He was elected to the state senate of the South Dakota Legislature in 1898. While residing in Beresford, Bulow spent twenty-five years as city attorney from 1902 to 1927, except while serving as mayor from 1912 to 1913. He also served as County Judge for Beresford in 1918. In 1924, following the death of the Democratic Party's gubernatorial nominee, Bulow was selected as the Party's replacement nominee. Bulow lost the general election in a landslide to Republican Lieutenant Governor Carl Gunderson as a Farmer–Labor Party candidate siphoned off a significant share of the left-leaning vote. In 1926, Bulow defeated Gunderson for re-election, and he was re-elected in 1928. As governor, he pardoned the famous frontier gambler Poker Alice after her conviction of bootlegging and other charges related to running a house of prostitution.