Paul R. Soglin
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Paul R. Soglin (born April 22, 1945) is an American politician and former three-time
Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, 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 responsibilitie ...
of
Madison, Wisconsin Madison is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. It is the List of municipalities in Wisconsin by population, second-most populous city in the state, with a population of 269,840 at the 2020 Uni ...
, having served a total of 22 years in that office 1973-79, 1989-1997, and 2011-19. A member of the Democratic Party, he was a candidate for
Governor of Wisconsin The governor of Wisconsin is the head of government of Wisconsin and the commander-in-chief of the state's Wisconsin Army National Guard, army and Wisconsin Air National Guard, air forces. The governor has a duty to enforce state laws, and the ...
in the 2018 Democratic primary.


Early life and education

Soglin was raised in the Hyde Park neighborhood of
Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
,
Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...
. He attended Hyde Park High School (now
Hyde Park Career Academy Hyde Park Academy High School (formerly known as Hyde Park High School and Hyde Park Career Academy) is a public four-year high school located in the Woodlawn neighborhood on the south side of Chicago, Illinois, United States. Opened in 1863, H ...
), and graduated from Highland Park High School in 1962. He enrolled at the
University of Wisconsin-Madison A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Uni ...
(UW) in the fall of 1962 as a pre-medical student, obtaining a Bachelor of Arts with honors in history in 1966. After spending three years in the UW History graduate program, he went on to earn a Doctor of Jurisprudence (JD) degree from the
University of Wisconsin Law School The University of Wisconsin Law School is the Law school in the United States, law school of the University of Wisconsin–Madison, a Public university, public research university in Madison, Wisconsin. Founded in 1868, the school is guided by a ...
in 1972. Both of Soglin's parents were Jewish and he and his siblings were raised as secular Jews. He attended the South Side School of Jewish Studies.


Activism

In 1962 he was elected treasurer of the UW-Madison chapter of the
Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, and later, the Student National Coordinating Committee (SNCC, pronounced ) was the principal channel of student commitment in the United States to the civil rights movement during the 1960s. Emer ...
(SNCC). In October 1963, Soglin joined 200 classmates at a rally on the steps of the Memorial Union protesting the presence of U.S. military advisers who were suspected of active participation in the
Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...
. In 1964 a group of suburban women partnered with
William Moyer Bill Moyer (September 17, 1933 – October 21, 2002) was a United States social change activist who was a principal organizer in the 1966 Chicago Freedom Movement, Chicago Open Housing Movement. He was an author, and a founding member of the ...
, Grace Mary and Hub Stern and other Chicago area activists focusing their Housing Opportunities Program through the Chicago Regional Office of the
American Friends Service Committee The American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) is a Religious Society of Friends ('' Quaker)-founded'' organization working for peace and social justice in the United States and around the world. AFSC was founded in 1917 as a combined effort by ...
(AFSC). The effort which was to create
open housing Open or OPEN may refer to: Music * Open (band), Australian pop/rock band * The Open (band), English indie rock band * ''Open'' (Blues Image album), 1969 * ''Open'' (Gerd Dudek, Buschi Niebergall, and Edward Vesala album), 1979 * ''Open'' (Got ...
in the Chicago suburbs was known as the North Shore Summer Project (NSSP). In the late spring of 1965 Soglin and a dozen other college students set out in suburbs such as Winnetka, Wilmette, and Kenilworth going door-to door with petitions calling for real estate agents to show and sell homes to "Negroes". Before the summer was out volunteers had contacted over 600 home sellers and over 1,500 other residents. Soglin participated in demonstrations against the
Dow Chemical Company The Dow Chemical Company is an American multinational corporation headquartered in Midland, Michigan, United States. The company was among the three largest chemical producers in the world in 2021. It is the operating subsidiary of Dow Inc., ...
on the University of Wisconsin–Madison campus in 1967. Dow had come to the University of Wisconsin–Madison campus to recruit engineering students as potential new employees, but students protested the company's presence because of Dow's role in the manufacture of
napalm Napalm is an incendiary mixture of a gelling agent and a volatile petrochemical (usually gasoline or diesel fuel). The name is a portmanteau of two of the constituents of the original thickening and gelling agents: coprecipitated aluminium ...
and
Agent Orange Agent Orange is a chemical herbicide and defoliant, one of the tactical uses of Rainbow Herbicides. It was used by the U.S. military as part of its herbicidal warfare program, Operation Ranch Hand, during the Vietnam War from 1962 to 1971. T ...
used in Vietnam. Beaten by police during the demonstrations, Soglin was elected to lead the subsequent student strike. Much of this demonstration was captured on film, and an interview of Soglin by journalist and author
David Maraniss David Maraniss ( ; born August 6, 1949) is an American award-winning journalist and author, currently serving as an associate editor for ''The Washington Post''. Maraniss is the author of numerous books, ranging from politics to sports. He has w ...
served as the basis for several chapters of the book ''
They Marched Into Sunlight ''They Marched into Sunlight: War and Peace, Vietnam and America, October 1967'' is a 2004 book written by David Maraniss. The book centers around the Battle of Ong Thanh and a protest at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. It was a finalist ...
'', and for the
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documentary A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...
''
Two Days in October ''Two Days in October'' is a 2005 documentary film about the Battle of Ong Thanh and the protest at the University of Wisconsin–Madison during the Vietnam War. Both events occurred in October 1967. The film aired on the PBS series ''American E ...
''. Interview footage with Soglin also figures prominently in the documentary, ''The War at Home'' (1979), which chronicled the history of Madison in the
Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...
era.


Political career

While a graduate student in the University of Wisconsin–Madison History Department, Soglin was elected to Madison's Common Council in 1968. He was re-elected in 1970 and 1972. In November 1972, Soglin announced that he was a candidate for mayor of Madison. He advanced in the March 1973 primary election, and upset incumbent Mayor
William Dyke William D. "Bill" Dyke (April 25, 1930March 10, 2016) was an American lawyer, judge, and politician. He was the 49th mayor of Madison, Wisconsin, from 1969 to 1973, and ran for Vice President of the United States on the American Independent Party ...
in the April 3, 1973, spring general election. In May 1969, Soglin, while representing the Eighth Ward, was arrested twice at the first Mifflin Street Block Party. He was tried and found guilty of failing to obey the lawful order of a police officer. The charge of unlawful assembly was dismissed in Dane County Courts. The arrest was later described as a "badge of honor," as Soglin was intentionally defying the city's attempt to ban the left-wing gathering. Soglin served as mayor of Madison for three terms, from 1973 to 1979. In 1975, Mayor Soglin gave the key to the city to Cuban Prime Minister
Fidel Castro Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (13 August 1926 – 25 November 2016) was a Cuban politician and revolutionary who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and President of Cuba, president ...
. From 1979 to 1980 he was a fellow at
Harvard Kennedy School The John F. Kennedy School of Government, commonly referred to as Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), is the school of public policy of Harvard University, a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Harvard Kennedy School offers master's de ...
at
Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...
. After working for nearly a decade as a lawyer in Madison, Soglin returned to office in 1989, serving three additional terms as mayor until 1997. In October 1996 he announced he would resign as mayor effective April 1997, regardless of the outcome of his congressional campaign. At the time Soglin was campaigning for the
United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...
, seeking to represent
Wisconsin's 2nd congressional district Wisconsin's 2nd congressional district is a congressional district of the United States House of Representatives in southern Wisconsin, covering Dane County, Iowa County, Lafayette County, Sauk County and Green County, as well as portions of ...
in the election scheduled for November 5, 1996. His bid was unsuccessful. In 2003, he sought election again as mayor of Madison and was defeated by a narrow margin by Dave Cieslewicz. Soglin returned to city politics in 2011 as a candidate in the 2011 mayoral election, where he defeated the incumbent Cieslewicz in a close race. He took the oath of office for his third stint as mayor on April 19, 2011. After returning to office in 2011, food policy in the city became a priority for Mayor Soglin. In 2013, he was named Chairman of the Food Policy Task Force of the
United States Conference of Mayors The United States Conference of Mayors (USCM) is the official non-partisan organization of cities with populations of 30,000 or more. The cities are each represented by their mayors or other chief elected officials. The organization was founded ...
. He initially served as co-chair with
Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
Mayor
Thomas Menino Thomas Michael Menino (December 27, 1942 – October 30, 2014) was an American politician who served as the mayor of Boston, from 1993 to 2014. He was the city's longest-serving mayor. He was elected mayor in 1993 after first serving three mont ...
, and later was co-chair with
Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...
, Mayor
Muriel Bowser Muriel Elizabeth Bowser (born August 2, 1972) is an American politician who has served as the current mayor of the District of Columbia since 2015. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, she previously represented th ...
. The task force was established to develop strategies to increase access to healthy, affordable food in low-income communities, increase food procurement from local sources, promote food-related economic development, and reduce obesity. In 2018, Soglin and Bowser, at the 86th winter meeting of the U.S. Conference of Mayors in Washington, D.C., announced they would join 160 other cities in signing the Milan Urban Food Policy Pact. On April 7, 2015, Soglin was again re-elected defeating Alderman Scott Resnick with a record 72% of the vote 37,790 to 14,235. Mayor Soglin jokingly said, using the rhetoric of his critics, "I'm the guy, if you can't tell the difference between us, who is identified as old, tired, gray and bland. Well, I'm going to show you old, tired, gray and bland." Soglin joined the 2018 campaign for governor of Wisconsin, running in the Democratic primary against nine other candidates. Soglin eventually finished a distant seventh in the Democratic primary, losing to state superintendent
Tony Evers Anthony Steven Evers ( ; born November 5, 1951) is an American politician and educator serving since 2019 as the 46th governor of Wisconsin. A member of the Democratic Party, he served from 2009 to 2019 as Wisconsin's 26th superintendent of p ...
, who would ultimately go on to defeat incumbent Governor Scott Walker in the general election. Despite initially stating during his gubernatorial campaign that he would not run for reelection as mayor of Madison, Soglin announced that he would be seeking another term in October 2018. Soglin ultimately advanced through the February primary election, but was defeated in the April general election by former alderman
Satya Rhodes-Conway Satya Rhodes-Conway (born November 3, 1971) is an American politician and the mayor of Madison, Wisconsin. She was first elected in 2019 Madison mayoral election, 2019 and was re-elected in 2023. She previously served on the Madison Common Cou ...
. Rhodes-Conway became Madison's first openly-gay mayor, and only the second female mayor in the city's history. Soglin was defeated soundly in the election by a wide 62% to 38% margin. Rhodes-Conway won in over 80% of the city's wards, but ran up large majorities in the University of Wisconsin precincts that had first brought Soglin to office 46 years earlier.


Accomplishments as mayor

Among the changes and accomplishments on Soglin's watch: * Soglin led the project to construct the State Street Mall and the Concourse around the Capitol Square. * Under his guidance, the city started its first day care program, providing certification for independent day care centers. * During his first administration, the city coordinated renovation of several buildings on State Street to build the Madison Civic Center. (That center was later renovated and is now the
Overture Center Overture Center for the Arts is a performing arts center and art gallery in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. The center opened on September 19, 2004, replacing the former Civic Center. In addition to several theaters, the center also houses the ...
.) * Soglin led reforms in the city's hiring of women and minorities. * Soglin led the city of Madison's effort in the 1990s of
Monona Terrace Monona Terrace (officially the Monona Terrace Community and Convention Center) is a convention center on the shores of Lake Monona in Madison, Wisconsin. Controversy The building was originally designed and proposed by Wisconsin native Frank L ...
, to construct a building conceived by architect
Frank Lloyd Wright Frank Lloyd Wright Sr. (June 8, 1867 – April 9, 1959) was an American architect, designer, writer, and educator. He designed List of Frank Lloyd Wright works, more than 1,000 structures over a creative period of 70 years. Wright played a key ...
in the 1930s. * In 1975, Soglin became the first U.S. mayor and only the fourth politician from the United States to meet
Fidel Castro Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (13 August 1926 – 25 November 2016) was a Cuban politician and revolutionary who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and President of Cuba, president ...
. Madison's bond rating (per Moody's Investment Services) was upgraded from AA to AAA status in Soglin's first term in office after he made a personal visit to the New York offices of the rating company. Madison was also named to the most livable cities list several times during Soglin's second tenure as mayor, capturing the number one spot in 1996 and again in 1998. In 2018 the
Brookings Institution The Brookings Institution, often stylized as Brookings, is an American think tank that conducts research and education in the social sciences, primarily in economics (and tax policy), metropolitan policy, governance, foreign policy, global econo ...
found that of the one hundred largest U.S. cities, "...only 11 metro areas achieved inclusive economic growth and prosperity by posting improvements across every measure: Cincinnati, Des Moines, Detroit, Greenville, Madison, Minneapolis–St. Paul, Portland, Providence, San Francisco, Spokane, and Washington, D.C."


Personal life

Soglin is married and has 3 children, 1 of whom is actress Rachael Soglin.https://madison.com/news/local/doug_moe/article_e4adffdd-97e7-5871-a41a-1da3e4396eb1.html


Electoral history


Madison Mayor (1973–1977)

, colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", Primary Election, March 6, 1973 , colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", General Election, April 3, 1973


Madison Mayor (1989–1997)


United States House of Representatives (1996)

, colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", Primary Election, September 10, 1996 , colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", General Election, November 5, 1996


Madison Mayor (2003)

, colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", Primary Election, February 20, 2003 , colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", General Election, April 4, 2003


Madison Mayor (2011–2019)


Wisconsin Governor (2018)


Notes


References


Further reading

* Kenner, Robert, director (2005). ''Two Days in October''. Documentary film. PBS Direct. DVD Release, November 8, 2005. * Maraniss, David (2003). ''They Marched Into Sunlight: War and Peace Vietnam and America, October 1967''.
Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster LLC (, ) is an American publishing house owned by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts since 2023. It was founded in New York City in 1924, by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. Along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group US ...
. * Silber, Glenn and Barry Alexander Brown, directors (1979). ''The War at Home''. Documentary film. Buena Vista Home Entertainment. DVD Release, September 3, 2002. * *


External links


Soglin for Mayor
(Archived) * *
Waxing America
Paul Soglin's blog

at University of Wisconsin-Madison La Follette School of Public Affairs * , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Soglin, Paul 1945 births Jewish American mayors Harvard Kennedy School staff Highland Park High School (Illinois) alumni Living people Mayors of Madison, Wisconsin Politicians from Chicago University of Wisconsin Law School alumni Wisconsin city council members Wisconsin Democrats Jewish American people in Wisconsin politics 20th-century American Jews 21st-century American Jews 20th-century American lawyers 21st-century American lawyers 20th-century mayors of places in Wisconsin 21st-century mayors of places in Wisconsin