William R. Schulz facts for kids

William R. Schulz (born April 4, 1931) is an American businessman and politician. He is known for running for important political jobs in Arizona, like Governor of Arizona and a U.S. Senator.

Growing Up and School

William R. Schulz, often called Bill, was born in Des Moines, Iowa, on April 4, 1931. His parents were Herman Schulz and Ellen Margaret Hazelrigg.

Bill went to Greenwood Elementary School. He later graduated from the Kentucky Military Institute in 1949. After that, he attended the United States Military Academy at West Point, finishing in 1954.

After West Point, Bill became an officer in the United States Army. He served in Germany from 1954 to 1957. He reached the rank of 2nd Lieutenant. He then decided to leave the army to start a career in business. He studied at Harvard University's business school and graduated in 1959.

Business Adventures

After finishing business school, Schulz started his own company called Homesmith. This business helped people with home repairs in the Palo Alto, California, area.

Later, Schulz started another company, W. R. Schulz and Associates. This company owned and managed many apartment buildings in the Phoenix area. As of 2022, his company still manages two large apartment complexes there.

Schulz also helped pass a law in Arizona called the "Apartment Renter's Tax Relief Bill." This law helped people who rent apartments. Helping with this law was a big step that led him into politics.

Bill is known for his funny and practical way of solving problems in business. He also really loves trees! He wrote a book about his family's history called "Looking Back, With Some Forward Thoughts."

Political Journey

Bill Schulz first tried to become a politician in 1978. He ran for Governor of Arizona as a Democrat. He traveled all over the state and gathered ideas for his "Goals for Arizona" plan.

The governor at the time, Wesley Bolin, sadly passed away in March 1978. After this, Schulz decided to stop his campaign. He chose to support Bruce Babbitt, who was the Attorney General and became the new governor.

Running for U.S. Senate

After his first try for governor, Schulz decided to run for the United States Senate in 1980. He wanted to challenge the well-known Senator Barry Goldwater. Schulz's campaign idea was "Energy for the Eighties."

He won the Democratic nomination, meaning his party chose him to run. In the main election, Schulz lost to Goldwater by a very small number of votes. Goldwater got 49.5% of the votes, and Schulz got 48.4%. Bill Schulz accepted the results and did not argue about the votes.

Another Try for Governor

In 1984, Schulz announced he would run for governor again in the 1986 election. However, he first stopped his campaign in 1985 because his daughter was not well.

Later, Schulz decided to run again. But because of the timing, he had to run as an independent candidate, not as a Democrat. In September 1986, he gathered enough signatures to be on the ballot.

During this election, some people criticized Schulz because his ideas on issues seemed to change often. Even though early polls showed Schulz doing well, the Republican candidate, Evan Mecham, won the election. This happened because the votes were split between three main candidates: Mecham, Schulz, and the Democratic candidate, Carolyn Warner.

Evan Mecham became governor but was removed from office just two years later. The 1986 election was the end of Bill Schulz's political career, and he went back to working in business.