John Mathias Engler (born October 12, 1948)[1] is an American politician, lawyer, businessman, and lobbyist who served as the 46th governor of Michigan from 1991 to 2003. Considered one of the country's top lobbyists,[2] he is a member of the Republican Party.
Engler was serving in the Michigan Senate when he enrolled at Thomas M. Cooley Law School and graduated with a Juris Doctor degree, having served as a Michigan State senator since 1979. He was elected Senate majority leader in 1984 and served there until being elected governor in 1990. He was reelected in 1994 and 1998, and is the last Michigan governor to serve more than two terms. After his governorship, he worked for Business Roundtable.
Engler served on the board of advisors of the Russell Kirk Center for Cultural Renewal, an educational organization that continues the intellectual legacy of noted conservative and Michigan native Russell Kirk. Engler also served on the board of trustees of the Marguerite Eyer Wilbur Foundation, which funds many Kirk Center programs. Engler was a member of the Annie E. Casey Foundation board of trustees until 2014. As of 2018, he serves on the board of directors of Universal Forest Products. Previous board service included serving as a director of Dow Jones and Delta Air Lines and as a trustee of Munder Funds.[3][4]
He was elected to the Michigan House of Representatives as a state representative in 1970 at the age of 22. He served in the House from 1971 to 1978. His campaign manager in that first election was a college friend, Dick Posthumus. Engler later became the first Republican youth vice-chair for the Michigan Republican Party, defeating future U.S. Senator Spencer Abraham. Posthumus later went on to be elected a state senator, Senate Majority Leader and Lieutenant Governor. He was Engler's running mate in the 1998 election and served from 1999 to 2003.[6]
Engler's administration was characterized by privatization of state services, income tax reduction, a sales tax increase, educational reform, welfare reform, and major reorganization of executive branch departments.
In 2002, near the end of his final term, Engler and the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality attempted to negotiate a consent order with Dow Chemical that would have resulted in a ninefold increase in the allowable levels of dioxins. The consent order would have resulted in Dow not having to pay to clean up high levels of toxins in Midland, Michigan, near its plant there, as well as in the Tittabawassee flood plain, which had been contaminated by dioxins dumped into the river from the facility and from overflow from waste ponds.[9][10] The consent order fell through in late 2002.[9]
Engler endorsed Texas Governor George W. Bush in the 2000 Republican primary. After Bush secured the GOP nomination, Engler's name was again floated as a possible running mate.[12] In his book Decision Points, Bush says that Engler was someone he was "close" with and could "work well with." Ultimately, Engler was passed over for the running mate position in favor of Dick Cheney. After the election, Engler's close political ally Spencer Abraham, who narrowly lost his re-election bid for the Senate to Debbie Stabenow, was chosen as Bush's Secretary of Energy.
2002 elections
Engler's lieutenant governor, Dick Posthumus, sought to succeed Engler in the 2002 gubernatorial race. Posthumus lost the race to the state's attorney general, Democrat Jennifer Granholm.
Election results
In 1990, Engler, then the state senate majority leader, challenged Governor James Blanchard in his bid for a third term. Political observers viewed his bid as a long shot, and he trailed Blanchard by double digits in the polls the weekend before the election. However, on election day, Engler pulled off the upset, defeating Blanchard by approximately 17,000 votes—a margin of less than one percentage point.[13][14] In 1994, Engler ran for his second term. The Democrats nominated former Representative Howard Wolpe, who had close ties to the labor movement—a potent force in Democratic politics in Michigan. Engler bested Wolpe 61 to 39 percent, and the state Republican Party made significant gains. Spencer Abraham picked up the Senate seat of retiring Democrat Donald Riegle. Republicans gained a seat to break a tie in the state House of Representatives, taking a 56–54 majority, while also picking up a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. Republican Candice Miller won an upset victory to win the post of Secretary of State.[citation needed]
Michigan voters re-elected Engler to his third and final term in 1998. He won a landslide victory over lawyer Geoffrey Fieger. Engler took 1,883,005 votes—62 percent of the total—to Fieger's 38 percent and 1,143,574 votes. Engler's landslide helped the state Republican Party gain six seats in the state House of Representatives, taking control of the chamber they had lost two years previously with a 58–52 margin, as well as picking up an additional seat in the State Senate, for a 23–15 majority. Republicans also gained a seat on the technically non-partisan state Supreme Court, holding a 4–3 majority over the Democrats.
After leaving the governor's mansion in January 2003, Engler served as president of the state and local government sector of Electronic Data Systems. Engler left that position in June 2004 to be elected president and CEO of the National Association of Manufacturers.[16] Engler's tenure at the NAM ended in January 2011. In January 2011, Engler was named president of the Business Roundtable.[17]
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice with (left to right): Tom Pickering, John Engler and John Breaux at the presentation of final report of the Secretary's Advisory Committee on Transformational Diplomacy in 2008
On January 30, 2018, Engler was named the interim president of Michigan State University to replace Lou Anna Simon, who was embroiled with the school in the USA Gymnastics sex abuse scandal involving Larry Nassar.[19][20] The appointment of Engler sparked controversy due to his previous handling of sexual misconduct as governor of Michigan. Engler's tenure as interim president was plagued by controversies, brought on by Engler's apparent callous statements and actions toward survivors during Board of Trustees meetings and statements that were reported by the press. One of Nassar's victims, Rachael Denhollander, said Engler "chose to stand against every child and every sexual assault victim in the entire state, to protect an institution."
Engler resigned on January 16, 2019 after the Board of Trustees indicated its intent to ask him to resign following a series of embarrassing incidents regarding Nassar's victims and his responses to issues in the aftermath.[21] Engler initially indicated he planned to resign on January 23, 2019[22] but the Board required him to resign the morning after he submitted his resignation letter.[23]
Personal life
In 1975, Engler married Colleen House, who served in the Michigan House of Representatives before running for lieutenant governor of Michigan in 1986. The day after she lost the race for lieutenant governor, she filed for divorce.[24] The couple had no children together; she remarried in 2002, and died in 2022.[25]
Engler married Michelle DeMunbrun, a Texas attorney, on December 8, 1990. The couple has triplet daughters, born November 13, 1994. As First Lady, Michelle Engler served as the founding chair of the Michigan Community Service Commission. Michelle Engler was named to the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac) board in 2001 by President George W. Bush, and re-appointed in 2002.[26]
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