Frank Zeidler
| Frank Zeidler | |
|---|---|
| 35th Mayor of Milwaukee | |
|
In office 1948–1960 |
|
| Preceded by | John Bohn (Ind.) |
| Succeeded by | Henry W. Maier (D) |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
September 20, 1912 Milwaukee, Wisconsin |
| Died | July 7, 2006 (aged 93) Milwaukee, Wisconsin |
| Political party |
Socialist Party of America Socialist Party USA |
| Alma mater |
University of Chicago Marquette University University of Wisconsin |
| Religion | Lutheranism |
Frank Paul Zeidler (September 20, 1912 – July 7, 2006) was an American Socialist politician and Mayor of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, serving three terms from April 20, 1948 to April 18, 1960. He was the most recent Socialist mayor of any major American city.
Zeidler was born in Milwaukee on September 20, 1912. He studied at both the University of Chicago and Marquette University, but was never able to graduate due to ill health. He became a socialist, because of socialism's emphasis on peace and improving the conditions for workers. In an interview, Zeidler said he chose the ideology of socialism in 1933 "because of several things in its philosophy. One was the brotherhood of people all over the world. Another was its struggle for peace. Another was the equal distribution of economic goods. Another was the idea of cooperation. A fifth was the idea of democratic planning in order to achieve your goals. Those were pretty good ideas". He distanced himself from the beliefs of communism, especially communism linked in any way to the Soviet Union. Later however, he credited his adoption of socialism to reading left-wing literature, with the majority being written by Eugene V. Debs and Norman Thomas during the Great Depression.
Zeidler became an active member of the Young People's Socialist League (YPSL), the youth branch of the Socialist Party of America, he later became the leader of the Milwaukee branch of the Red Falcons during the 1930s.
Zeidler was elected Milwaukee County Surveyor in 1938 on the Progressive Party ballot line (the Socialist Party and Progressives were in coalition in Milwaukee at that time). He was elected to a six-year term on the Milwaukee Board of School Directors (a non-partisan office) in 1941, just after his brother Carl Zeidler was elected Mayor of Milwaukee in 1940. In 1942, Frank Zeidler was the Socialist nominee for Governor of Wisconsin, receiving 1.41% of the vote in a six-way race. He was re-elected to the Milwaukee School Board in 1947.
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