Gov. Scott Walker has launched his historic bid for the presidency – a campaign waged by no other sitting Wisconsin governor in the state’s 167 years. He’s a polarizing, controversial figure in his own state, but he has become a hero among conservatives in Wisconsin and around the nation for stripping power from public employee unions. Now we’ll find out whether he can win over Republican primary voters in a crowded field. The son of a preacher and a college dropout, Walker’s lifeblood is politics. He failed in his first campaign for state office but has won every election since, including a 2012 recall in which he became the first governor to emerge from such an election challenge victorious. To learn more about Scott Walker’s rise in Wisconsin politics, his national reputation and his pursuit of the presidency, here are the essential reads from the Wisconsin State Journal.