Forward for the People: The Autobiography of America’s Longest Serving Legislator by Fred A. Risser and Doug Moe

Forward for the People: The Autobiography of America’s Longest Serving Legislator by Fred A. Risser and Doug Moe

Fred A. Risser was elected in 1956, at age 29, to the Wisconsin state assembly and served in the legislature for 64 years, retiring from the state senate in 2021. During those years he introduced 240 bills that became law and found time to maintain his private law practice.

With the aid of Madison journalist Doug Moe, Risser looks back across his long career in Forward for the People . Public service was in his family tree, and he brought diverse experiences to his job. Risser joined the Navy near the close of World War II, hitchhiked across the western states, got a law degree and became a joiner when he returned to Madison. His political aptitude was such that he was soon