Representative Harold Vernon Froehlich

Harold Vernon Froehlich (born May 12, 1932) is a retired American politician and judge who served as a Representative from Wisconsin in the United States Congress from 1973 to 1975. A member of the Republican Party, he represented Wisconsin’s 8th congressional district in the 93rd Congress (1973–1974), contributing to the legislative process during one term in office. Over the course of his public career, he also served ten years in the Wisconsin State Assembly, became the 66th speaker of that body, and later spent three decades as a Wisconsin circuit court judge in Outagamie County. His final public office was on the Wisconsin Government Accountability Board, where he served until its dissolution in 2015.

Froehlich was born on May 12, 1932, and grew up in Wisconsin. He came of age in the years following the Great Depression and during World War II, experiences that shaped the generation of political leaders to which he belonged. Details of his early family life and schooling are less prominently recorded than his later public service, but his subsequent legal and political career reflects a solid grounding in the civic and legal institutions of his home state.

Before his election to Congress, Froehlich established himself in Wisconsin state politics. He served ten years in the Wisconsin State Assembly, where he rose to become the 66th speaker of the Wisconsin State Assembly. In that role, he presided over the lower house of the state legislature, guiding legislative deliberations and helping to shape state policy during a period of social and political change in the 1960s and early 1970s. His work in the Assembly provided him with legislative experience and statewide recognition that would underpin his later bid for federal office.

In 1972, Froehlich was narrowly elected to the 93rd United States Congress, succeeding retiring Republican incumbent John W. Byrnes as the representative for Wisconsin’s 8th congressional district. He took office on January 3, 1973, and served until January 3, 1975. His service in Congress occurred during a significant period in American history, marked by the Vietnam War’s final stages and the unfolding Watergate scandal. As a member of the House of Representatives, Froehlich participated in the democratic process and represented the interests of his constituents in northeastern Wisconsin. During his term, he served on the House Judiciary Committee, where he played a notable role in the impeachment proceedings against President Richard M. Nixon. A Republican, he broke with his party to vote for the impeachment of President Nixon, a decision that underscored his willingness to place constitutional duty above partisan loyalty. During his time in Congress, he also hired future Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice David Prosser Jr. as a legislative aide, an association that would later be recognized when Prosser praised him upon his judicial retirement.

Froehlich sought reelection in 1974 but was defeated by Democrat Robert John Cornell in the wave election that followed President Nixon’s resignation. His loss reflected the broader national backlash against Republicans in the aftermath of Watergate. After leaving Congress in January 1975, Froehlich returned to Wisconsin and resumed his legal and public service career, eventually transitioning from legislative work to the judiciary.

In 1981, Governor Lee S. Dreyfus appointed Froehlich to the Wisconsin Circuit Court in Outagamie County. He was elected to a full term on the court in 1982 and was subsequently re-elected in 1988, 1994, 2000, and 2006, serving a total of thirty years on the bench from 1981 to 2011. The Wisconsin Supreme Court selected him as Chief Judge for the 8th Judicial Administrative District for the maximum three two-year terms, from 1988 to 1994, entrusting him with administrative oversight of the courts in that region. He retired from the circuit court on April 8, 2011, concluding a long judicial career that paralleled his earlier legislative service.

Beyond his formal judicial duties, Froehlich was active in professional judicial organizations. He served as president of the Wisconsin Trial Judges Association and was a delegate to the National Conference of State Trial Judges, contributing to the development of judicial standards and the exchange of best practices among state jurists. His peers recognized his work on the bench with several honors. In 1999, the Bench Bar Committee of the State Bar of Wisconsin named him “Judge of the Year.” In 2013, the State Bar honored him with a Lifetime Jurist Achievement Award, at which his former legislative aide, Justice David Prosser Jr., publicly praised his integrity and service. That same year, the American Judges Association created the “Harold Froehlich Award for Judicial Courage” to recognize “the highest level of judicial courage in the service of justice,” a testament to his reputation for independence and principled decision-making.

In his later years, Froehlich returned to statewide public service in a different capacity. In 2013, Governor Scott Walker appointed him to the Wisconsin Government Accountability Board, the state’s nonpartisan body charged with overseeing elections, campaign finance, ethics, and lobbying regulation. Froehlich served as vice chair of the board in 2014, helping to supervise the integrity of Wisconsin’s electoral and governmental processes. The Government Accountability Board was abolished by legislation signed by Governor Walker in 2015, bringing Froehlich’s formal public service to a close. Throughout his career—as legislator, congressman, judge, and oversight official—Harold Vernon Froehlich was consistently engaged in the institutions of representative government and the rule of law in Wisconsin and the United States.