Joseph Wheeler Bloodgood (May 15, 1926 – July 7, 1960) was an American lawyer and Democratic politician from Madison, Wisconsin.
[1] As the country was at that time in the midst of World War II, immediately after graduating high school, Bloodgood enrolled in the Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps program at Northwestern University.
At Bikini, he was assigned to extinguish flames and test radio activity after bomb detonations, likely resulting in significant radiation exposure.
[5] In 1950, Bloodgood made his first bid for elected office, running for coroner of Dane County, Wisconsin, on the Democratic Party ticket.
[10] An opinion by the district attorney, Richard W. Bardwell, concluded that Bloodgood would not be compelled to resign due to his military service.
[18] Bloodgood went on to win the general election by a wide margin, receiving 70% of the vote against businessman Donald Scheak .
[28] Bloodgood, however, received the support of fourth-place finisher Wayne W. Martin and the endorsement of the influential Madison newspaper, the Wisconsin State Journal.
[29][30] The election coincided with Wisconsin's presidential preference primary, a hotly contested race between John F. Kennedy and Hubert Humphrey, which resulted in increased turnout.
[31][32] Bloodgood took office as judge on May 1, 1960, and served for just over two weeks in the job before suffering a breakdown while overseeing a juvenile delinquency hearing.
After a month in hospital, Bloodgood was released on June 23, to accompany his wife and seven children on a vacation to Sault Ste.
Both parents worked for the Christian Foundation for the Holy Land in the Mandate for Palestine for about a year after World War II.
In addition to his political pursuits, Bloodgood was a musician, performing as a vocal tenor at various local functions throughout his life.