The red-vested and gregarious former Wisconsin Gov. Lee Sherman Dreyfus was so well liked, even the FBI couldn’t dig up any dirt.

Despite conducting more than 50 interviews with political opponents, former college classmates and even folks who happen to live next door to the governor’s mansion, federal agents conducting a background check in 1982 couldn’t find anything bad to say about him.

Dreyfus, a moderate Republican and one of Wisconsin’s most beloved politicians, died Jan. 2 at age 81. He served as governor from 1979 to 1983. The FBI records were released to The Associated Press under the federal Freedom of Information Act.

The background check was done when Dreyfus was being considered for an appointment by then-President Ronald Reagan to the federal Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation, which hands out large awards to college students entering graduate school.

It’s unusual for someone serving in such a high political office to be so well liked. Dreyfus had plenty of chances to attract enemies as chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point from 1967 to 1979 during the turbulent Vietnam War era.

And yet, nothing.

“All persons interviewed highly recommended him for a position of trust and responsibility,” concluded a summary of the investigation sent to Fred Fielding, then legal counsel to Reagan. Fielding now serves as President Bush’s legal counsel.

The most negative comments in the report come from an unnamed political opponent who criticized Dreyfus as not being a “tough businessman.” Even so, the person said Dreyfus was likable and had no objections to the appointment.

A number of other prominent state and federal politicians, business leaders, federal judges and state Supreme Court justices were interviewed but have their names blocked out, presumably because they are still alive. But none of them had anything negative to say.

Despite his popularity, Dreyfus decided not to seek re-election as governor after serving one term. One of his most lasting achievements was signing a gay rights measure that made it illegal to discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation in housing, employment and public accommodations.

The FBI report, compiled just two months after Dreyfus signed that historic legislation, doesn’t specifically mention it. But it does say “Dreyfus urged Republicans to open their doors to people who had too long been excluded from party affairs _ women, minorities, urban workers and students.”

So, after all that checking and all the effusive praise, did Dreyfus get the position?

The answer appears lost to history.

His son, Lee Dreyfus Jr., a judge in Waukesha County Circuit Court, doesn’t remember. It’s not listed on his official biography, and the foundation doesn’t have records that old showing who served on its board.

“It certainly would have been something he might have had an interest in,” said his son, who added that he was unaware about the FBI check. “It just wasn’t anything we ever discussed.”