Carl Frederick Zeidler (January 4, 1908 – December 11, 1942) was an American politician and the

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well as ...

of the city of

Milwaukee, Wisconsin Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee i ...

, from 1940 to 1942, winning election by unseating six-term Socialist mayor

Dan Hoan Daniel Webster Hoan (March 12, 1881 – June 11, 1961) was an American politician who served as the 32nd Mayor of Milwaukee, Wisconsin from 1916 to 1940. A lawyer who had served as Milwaukee City Attorney from 1910 to 1916, Hoan was a promi ...

. After just two years in office Zeidler resigned his position as mayor to enlist in the

United States Navy Reserve The United States Navy Reserve (USNR), known as the United States Naval Reserve from 1915 to 2005, is the Reserve Component (RC) of the United States Navy. Members of the Navy Reserve, called Reservists, are categorized as being in either the Se ...

to fight in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. His merchant marine ship and all hands were lost off the coast of

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring count ...

in December 1942.

Biography

Early years

Zeidler was born January 4, 1908, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin to parents of German ancestry. He graduated from

Marquette University Marquette University () is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit research university in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Established by the Society of Jesus as Marquette College on August 28, 1881, it was founded by John Henni, John Martin ...

in 1929 and received a J.D. in 1931.

Political career

Serving as an assistant city attorney for Milwaukee (1936–1940), Zeidler stunned the city when he upset six-term

Socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the ...

mayor

Daniel Hoan Daniel Webster Hoan (March 12, 1881 – June 11, 1961) was an American politician who served as the 32nd Mayor of Milwaukee, Wisconsin from 1916 to 1940. A lawyer who had served as Milwaukee City Attorney from 1910 to 1916, Hoan was a promi ...

to become mayor of Milwaukee in 1940. Hoan had served as mayor for the past 24 years. His rise to power was orchestrated by young writers

Robert Bloch Robert Albert Bloch (; April 5, 1917September 23, 1994) was an American fiction writer, primarily of crime, psychological horror and fantasy, much of which has been dramatized for radio, cinema and television. He also wrote a relatively small ...

(later the author of ''

Psycho Psycho may refer to: Mind * Psychopath * Sociopath * Someone with a personality disorder * Someone with a psychological disorder People with the nickname * Karl Amoussou or Psycho, mixed martial artist * Peter Ebdon or Psycho, English snook ...

'') and Harold Gauer, who created elaborate campaign shows. In Bloch's autobiography, '' Once Around the Bloch'', he gives an inside account of the campaign, and the innovations he and Gauer came up with ... for instance, the original "releasing-balloons-from-the-ceiling" ''schtick''. He comments bitterly on how, after Zeidler's election, they were ignored and not even paid their promised salaries, while credit was taken by local establishment figures like Milton Rice Polland instead. Bloch ends the account with a philosophical point:

Death and legacy

Zeidler's election was attracting attention on the national political scene as

broke out. After a year in office, Zeidler came to believe he could best help the war effort by enlisting; he resigned his position as mayor and accepted a Naval Reserve commission on April 8, 1942. He asked for the most dangerous job on ship and became officer in charge of a gun battery on board the

merchant ship A merchant ship, merchant vessel, trading vessel, or merchantman is a watercraft that transports cargo or carries passengers for hire. This is in contrast to pleasure craft, which are used for personal recreation, and naval ships, which ar ...

SS ''La Salle''. The ship and all hands were reported missing off the coast of

on December 11, 1942, sunk by a German U-boat U-159 torpedo attack. Zeidler was officially presumed dead November 7, 1944. A gravestone cenotaph marks his plot at

Forest Home Cemetery Forest Home Cemetery is a historic rural cemetery located in the Lincoln Village neighborhood of Milwaukee, Wisconsin and is the final resting place of many of the city's famed beer barons, politicians and social elite. Both the cemetery and ...

in Milwaukee. Carl's brother, socialist

Frank P. Zeidler 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. Zeidler, a member of the Socialist Party of America, i ...

later became mayor of Milwaukee and served in that position from 1948 to 1960. Carl's personal and mayoral papers are archived at

Milwaukee Public Library Milwaukee Public Library (MPL) is the public library system in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States, consisting of a central library and 13 branches, all part of the Milwaukee County Federated Library System. MPL is the largest public library sys ...

alongside those of his brother Frank.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zeidler, Carl 1908 births 1940s missing person cases 1942 deaths 20th-century American politicians American people of German descent Marquette University alumni Marquette University Law School alumni Mayors of Milwaukee Military personnel from Milwaukee Missing in action of World War II Missing person cases in Africa People who died at sea United States Navy officers United States Navy personnel killed in World War II United States Navy reservists

Biography

Early years

Political career

Death and legacy

See also

References