governor Industrialist politician
Walter Jodok Kohler was born on April 4, 1904 in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, United States. He was the son of Walter J. Kohler, Sr. , and Charlotte Henrietta Shroeder. His father was president of the Kohler Company, a manufacturer of bathroom fixtures and, from 1929 to 1931, was the Republican governor of Wisconsin.
After completing grade school in Sheboygan, Kohler graduated from Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachussets, in 1921 and graduated from Yale with a Bachelor of Philosophy in 1924.
Kohler joined the Kohler Company, where he was active in engineering and ceramic research. In 1929 he moved into marketing and sales. He became a director in 1936 and corporate secretary a year later.
Kohler became a lieutenant in the Naval Reserve in 1942 and went on active duty in 1943 as an air combat intelligence officer in the Pacific. He participated in the Solomon Islands campaign that year and served on the aircraft carrier Hancock in 1944 and 1945.
Kohler returned to the Kohler Company when the war ended and in 1947 became president of the Vollrath Company, founded by a maternal great-grandfather.
In 1948, Kohler entered politics as a delegate at large in the Republican National Convention in Philadelphia. Two years later, when Governor Oscar Rennebohm of Wisconsin announced he would not seek a third term, Kohler obtained the Republican nomination and defeated Democrat Carl Thompson for the governorship. In 1952 he defeated William Proxmire to win a second term, receiving 400, 000 more votes than his Democratic opponent. These same candidates were in opposition again in 1954, with Kohler winning a bare 51 percent of the vote. During these six years the Republicans held a decisive majority in both houses of the Wisconsin legislature (never fewer than 25 seats in the 33-seat state senate, nor fewer than 88 of the 100-seat state assembly), all executive offices, both United States Senate seats, and at least eight of ten seats in the House of Representatives. During his three terms, Kohler took advantage of a supportive legislature to cut income taxes and raise salaries of government employees. There was continuation from the Rennebohm governorship of an extensive building program for the University of Wisconsin, the state college system, and needed state buildings. In agriculture there was an extensive program of disease control among farm animals, particularly cattle. Kohler declined to run for a fourth term in 1956. However, when the controversial Senator Joseph McCarthy died in 1957, he ran for the remainder of his Senate term. Kohler won the Republican primary against six other candidates and opposed Democrat William Proxmire, who had failed to unseat Kohler when they sought election in 1952 and 1954. This time Proxmire defeated Kohler by more than 120, 000 votes. Kohler returned to Sheboygan to become chairman of the board of the Vollrath Company. Kohler's position on Senator McCarthy in the election of 1952 has a peculiar relevance to his own political stance.
In 1951, McCarthy had been critical of the loyalty of General George C. Marshall in connection with his search for traitors in the federal government. When Dwight Eisenhower was campaigning for the presidency in 1952, he was openly critical of McCarthy's attack on General Marshall in a speech in Denver, and it was anticipated that Eisenhower would defend Marshall's loyalty in a forthcoming speech in Milwaukee. However, Kohler and others boarded Eisenhower's train on the way to Milwaukee and persuaded Eisenhower not to discuss the Marshall matter further in Wisconsin, in order not to jeopardize McCarthy's chances for reelection.
During his later years Kohler was active in various civic causes, particularly the American Cancer Society. He also was a member of the American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars, and several other military and fraternal organizations.
Kohler married Celeste McVoy Holden on November 14, 1932. They had two children, and were divorced in 1946. On November 8, 1948, Kohler married Charlotte McAleer; they had no children.
