John Mathias Engler (born October 12, 1948) is an American politician, lawyer, businessman, and lobbyist who was the 46th governor of Michigan from 1991 to 2003. He is known as one of the country's top lobbyists and is a member of the Republican Party.

Engler was a member of the Michigan Senate when he attended Thomas M. Cooley Law School and earned a law degree. He had been a state senator since 1979. In 1984, he became the Senate majority leader and held that position until he was elected governor in 1990. He was reelected in 1994 and 1998, making him the last Michigan governor to serve more than two terms. After his time as governor, he worked for the Business Roundtable.

Engler was a member of the board of advisors for the Russell Kirk Center for Cultural Renewal, an organization that continues the ideas of Russell Kirk, a well-known conservative thinker from Michigan. He also served on the board of trustees for the Marguerite Eyer Wilbur Foundation, which supports programs at the Kirk Center. 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 for Universal Forest Products. Earlier, he was a director for Dow Jones and Delta Air Lines and a trustee for Munder Funds.

Early life and education

Engler, a Roman Catholic, was born in Mount Pleasant, Michigan, on October 12, 1948, to Mathias John Engler and his wife, Agnes Marie (née Neyer). He grew up on a cattle farm near Beal City.

He went to Michigan State University, where he earned a degree in agricultural economics in 1971. Later, he attended Thomas M. Cooley Law School and received a Doctor of Jurisprudence degree in 1981.

In 1970, at the age of 22, he was chosen to serve in the Michigan House of Representatives. He worked in the House from 1971 to 1978. His campaign manager during that first election was a college friend named Dick Posthumus. Engler later became the first Republican youth vice-chair for the Michigan Republican Party, defeating a future U.S. Senator named Spencer Abraham. Posthumus later became 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.

Career

Engler's administration was marked by transferring state services to private companies, lowering income taxes, raising sales taxes, reforming education and welfare programs, and reorganizing executive branch departments.

In 1996, he was elected chairman of the Republican Governors Association. In 2001, he was elected to lead the National Governors Association.

In 2002, near the end of his final term, Engler and the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality tried to negotiate an agreement with Dow Chemical that would allow much higher levels of dioxins. This agreement would have let Dow avoid paying to clean up high levels of toxins in Midland, Michigan, near its plant, and in the Tittabawassee flood plain, which had been polluted by dioxins from the facility and waste ponds. The agreement was not completed by late 2002.

During the 1996 presidential election, Engler was considered a possible vice presidential candidate for Republican nominee Bob Dole. However, Dole chose Jack Kemp instead.

Engler supported Texas Governor George W. Bush in the 2000 Republican primary. After Bush won the GOP nomination, Engler’s name was again considered as a running mate. In his book Decision Points, Bush mentioned that he was close to Engler and believed they could work well together. Ultimately, Bush selected Dick Cheney as his running mate instead. After the election, Engler’s political ally Spencer Abraham, who lost his Senate re-election bid to Debbie Stabenow, was chosen as Bush’s Secretary of Energy.

Engler’s lieutenant governor, Dick Posthumus, tried to succeed him in the 2002 gubernatorial race. Posthumus lost to the state’s attorney general, Democrat Jennifer Granholm.

In 1990, Engler, then the state senate majority leader, ran against Governor James Blanchard for a third term. Polls showed Blanchard leading by double digits before the election. However, Engler won unexpectedly, defeating Blanchard by about 17,000 votes—a margin of less than one percentage point. In 1994, Engler ran for his second term. The Democrats nominated Howard Wolpe, a former representative with strong ties to the labor movement. Engler won 61% of the vote, and the state Republican Party made major gains. Spencer Abraham won the Senate seat of retiring Democrat Donald Riegle. Republicans gained a seat in the state House of Representatives, achieving a 56–54 majority, and also won a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. Republican Candice Miller won an upset victory to become Secretary of State.

Michigan voters re-elected Engler to his third and final term in 1998. He won 62% of the vote, defeating lawyer Geoffrey Fieger, who received 38%. Engler’s victory helped the state Republican Party gain six seats in the state House of Representatives, taking control of the chamber with a 58–52 majority, and also gained a seat in the State Senate, achieving a 23–15 majority. Republicans also gained a seat on the non-partisan state Supreme Court, holding a 4–3 majority over Democrats.

After leaving the governor’s office in January 2003, Engler became president of the state and local government sector of Electronic Data Systems. He left that position in June 2004 to become president and CEO of the National Association of Manufacturers. His tenure at the NAM ended in January 2011. In January 2011, Engler was named president of the Business Roundtable.

In 2017, Engler was appointed to a four-year term on the governing board of the National Assessment of Educational Progress project.

On January 30, 2018, Engler was named interim president of Michigan State University to replace Lou Anna Simon, who was involved in the USA Gymnastics sex abuse scandal with Larry Nassar. His appointment caused controversy due to his past handling of sexual misconduct as governor. Engler’s time as interim president was marked by controversies, including his responses to survivors during Board of Trustees meetings and statements 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 it would ask him to resign following a series of incidents involving Nassar’s victims and his responses to issues. Engler initially planned to resign on January 23, 2019, but the Board required him to resign the morning after he submitted his resignation letter.

Personal life

In 1975, Engler married Colleen House, who worked in the Michigan House of Representatives before running for lieutenant governor of Michigan in 1986. After she lost the race for lieutenant governor, she filed for divorce the next day. The couple did not have any children together; she remarried in 2002 and passed away in 2022.

Engler married Michelle DeMunbrun, a lawyer from Texas, on December 8, 1990. The couple has three daughters who were born on November 13, 1994. As First Lady, Michelle Engler was the first chair of the Michigan Community Service Commission. Michelle Engler was appointed to the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac) board in 2001 by President George W. Bush and was appointed again in 2002.