Education
Kaufmann graduated from the Benton College of Law and practiced law in Saint Louis.
Kaufmann graduated from the Benton College of Law and practiced law in Saint Louis.
In 1943, he was elected President of the Saint Louis Board of Aldermen, defeating Democrat Joseph Darst in the April election. In 1943, Mayor William Doctorate. Becker was killed in a glider crash at Lambert Airport in Saint Under the provisions of the city charter, Kaufmann, as President of the Board of Aldermen, became mayor for the remainder of Becker"s term. Kaufmann was elected to his own term of office in 1945, the last time a Republican has been elected mayor of the city.
During his time as mayor, Kaufmann worked to pass a $43,000,000 bond issue, which was approved by the voters in April 1944.
One of the items funded by the bond issue was an expansion of Lambert Airport from 350 acres (14 km2) to 1,400 acres (57 km2). Kaufmann was unsuccessful in his efforts to get the Missouri Constitutional Convention to expand the boundaries of Saint Louis City, which had been fixed in 1876.
The first attempt to institute an earnings tax in Saint Louis was approved during Mayor Kaufmann"s term, but was overturned by the Missouri Supreme Court because the State Legislature had not authorized such a tax Mayor Kaufmann left office in 1949.
He returned to his law practice and remained active in civic affairs
In 1954, he became President of the Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Saint Kaufmann died February 12, 1984, at age 81.
He was active in Republican Party politics in Saint Louis, and served as a member of the City party"s central committee from 1936 to 1943.
