Frank Zeidler Remembered

Frank Paul Zeidler, who died Friday evening at the age of 93, served as the last Socialist Mayor of Milwaukee from 1948 to 1960. A thin, frail, man whose main interest was reading at the local library, Zeidler was not the epitome of a successful big city politician. But he had a genuine affection for people and concern about their welfare, and perhaps this trait shone through enough to attract numerous supporters.

In 1948 the incumbent Mayor declined to seek re-election, and 15 candidates filed for the position including former Mayor Daniel Hoan ( in office 1916-1940), insurance agent Henry W Maier, Attorney Henry S Reuss of the wealthy banking family, and School Director Frank Zeidler, younger brother of former Mayor Carl Zeidler (in office 1940-1942), who had been killed in World War II.

While Carl had been a Republican, Frank had become a socialist during the Great Depression. (Imagine the arguments at their supper table!) When Carl challenged Socialist Mayor Hoan in the 1940 election, Frank supported Hoan over his own brother. ( The Zeidlers were no Kennedys, as Lloyd Bentsen might have put it.)

By 1948, the younger Zeidler, who had been elected twice to the Milwaukee School Board (1), but defeated for Mayor (in 1944) and other offices, was the unquestioned leader of Milwaukee Socialists, still a major political force in the City at that time. The primary narrowed the field to Zeidler and Reuss. Despite heavy backing from both city newspapers (2), Reuss lost to Zeidler: 92,277 to 124,024.

Mayor Zeidler, who resembled TV star Wally Cox ("Mr. Peepers" ) , embarked upon an ambitious program to expand the city through annexations and consolidations. During his three terms of office, the city nearly doubled in geographic area and reached a peak population of 741,324. He fought to keep the city debt-free (except for school bonds) and to retain city ownership of the Water Works. He was responsible for huge growth in public housing, which was very controversial; the Mayor's political enemies blamed him for the big increase in the black population during his time in office.

I first met Mayor Zeidler in the Fall of 1959, when he spoke to the Washington High School Political Science Club about socialism. Despite the drastic decline of Socialist influence in America and Milwaukee from his youth during the Depression to his terms as Mayor, he stuck with the Party, and provided an articulate defense of its policies.

Later that year Mayor Zeidler, who had been seriously ill several times since taking office, then 47 years old, was warned by his doctor that he would probably not survive another term. He announced he would not run in 1960, and Democratic State Senator Henry Maier defeated US Representative Henry Reuss for the job.

After leaving office, Zeidler continued to lead a political club called the Public Enterprise Committee, composed of Socialists, liberal Democrats, and independents. Before long Zeidler and his followers became increasing hostile to Mayor Maier, espcially after the new Mayor opposed efforts to pass a city open-housing law. I sense that Zeidler blamed himself for Maier becoming Mayor, since he had been the only caniddate who could have beaten the young State Senator in the 1960 election.

Zeidler steadfastly refused urgings of his admirers that he run against Maier in 1968. Instead , he backed UWM Professor Manuel Gottlieb in the primary (3) and liberal Attorney David L Walther in the general election. Maier swamped Walther with about 87% of the vote, and went on to win a record four more terms. The former Mayor spoke at a fund-raiser for a campaign I was launching for alderman in November, 1971. ( I switched to running for the County Board instead, and lost.)

Frank Zeidler served as Director of the Wisconsin Department of Resource Development under Democratic Governor John W Reynolds, Director of Development of Alverno College, and as a labor mediator after leaving office. As he aged, his handful of local followers dwindled away and his political influenced waned. However, he won the 1976 Presidential nomination of the US Socialist Party, but garnered less than 6,000 votes in the five states he was on the ballot, a miserable showing even for a minor party candidate.

However, during Frank Zeidler's last years he develoiped a reputation as a historical figure. In 1995 the City, then under the leadership of Mayor John Norquist, named the municipal building (built in 1959) in his honor (which Maier would never have done). Earlier this year his autobiography "A Liberal in City Government" (4) was published, and a signing-reception at an east-side bookstore drew dozens of people. He was totally bald and breathed from an oxygen tank, but answered all questions with wit and clarity. I felt that this would be the last time that I would see him, and it was.

Although few Milwaukeeans today embrace socialism, and only the middle-aged and elderly would even remember his terms as Mayor, Framk P Zeidler set an example of honest and sincere public service which should inspire those of us who seek public office in this very different time.
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(1) All School Directors were elected city-wide at that time, so he had a city-wide constituency. He had aso served as County Surveyor, and was the Progressive Party nominee for State Treasurer in 1938.

(2) The Milwaukee Sentinel, then owned by the Hearst Corporation, was extremely right-wing at that time. The more liberal Milwaukee Journal merged with the Sentinel in 1994 to form today's Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

(3) Despite my best efforts as Chairman of Gottlieb for Mayor, the Professor lost the primary big-time. The following year Michael Zeidler, the former Mayor's son, managed my campaign for School Director, in which I took 47% of the vote in the general election, but incumbent Russell Darrow retained his seat. Darrow's son ran for the US Senate in 2004, but lost the Republican Primary. Politics is a rough game.

(4) The book, written in 1960, is packed with details about local politics and the annexation battles of the 1950's. Even for hard-core Milwaukee history buffs,
it is not a fun read.