Walter J. Kohler Jr.

Walter Jodok Kohler Jr. was born on April 4, 1904, on his family's lavish estate in Kohler, Wisconsin.[1] His grandfather, John Michael Kohler had founded the Kohler Company in the late 19th century, and his father, Walter J. Kohler Sr. (1875–1940) was active in his family's plumbing supply business and served one term as the State's governor (1929–31). Walter Jr.'s mother was the former Henrietta "Lottie" Schroeder (1869–1947), and he had three brothers: John Michael Kohler III (1902–68), Carl James (1905–60), and Robert Eugene (1908–90).

Walter enjoyed many luxuries while growing up, but they were tempered by a strong-willed father who impressed his boys with the necessity of integrity, hard work, learning, good manners, frugality, and service to the community. Walter followed what was becoming a family tradition by graduating from Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts, and Yale University.

In 1925, after college, Walter joined the Kohler Company. He knew much about the factory, having been employed there in a number of often grueling jobs during school breaks—another family tradition for males. In 1932, he married Chicago socialite Marie Celeste Holden (1900–74), a divorcée with a child. The couple had two children: Terry Jodok (1934–2016) and Charlotte Nicolette (1936–2012). In 1938, Walter and Celeste built a handsome estate, Windway, not far from the main plant; Walter lived there for the rest of his life. After World War II, he and Celeste divorced. In 1948 Walter married Charlotte McAleer (1912–95), a wealthy divorcée from Philadelphia.

In his last years, he and Charlotte traveled widely throughout the world and enjoyed long holidays in Antigua and Florida. He died in Sheboygan on March 21, 1976, following a heart attack. Obituaries emphasized Walter's character and integrity, noting his wartime service, his business success, and his three successive terms as governor.

In August 1942, Kohler joined the United States Navy as a Lieutenant and was assigned duty as a combat intelligence officer in the Solomon Islands. In January 1944 he became part of the crew of the USS Hancock, a huge new aircraft carrier of the Essex class assigned to the South Pacific as part of the Third Fleet. Kohler was the ship's air combat intelligence officer. The Hancock was in the thick of fierce fighting throughout the year. On December 3, Kohler was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Commander, receiving the highest recommendations.

On April 7, 1945, the Hancock was hit by a Kamikaze plane that caused major damage. Walter quietly vowed that if he survived the war, he would go into public service to put an end to such violence and destruction. Soon afterward, exhausted by intense battle, he sought an honorable discharge. On September 24, he left the Navy. Now 41, Kohler had served 37 months of active duty. The Bronze Star Medal and the Asiatic theater ribbon with five battle stars were among his awards.

Walter discovered after the war that the entire Kohler Company was in the control of his uncle, Herbert V. Kohler. The industrialist told the veteran that he had no future in the company. Using inheritance funds and borrowed money, Walter made an effort to run the Vollrath Company in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, a maker of kitchen utensils and dairy supply products. The Kohlers and Vollraths were related and had long enjoyed economic ties. With the aid of a key insider, Walter became president of Vollrath in April 1947. Under his energetic leadership, the company began almost immediately to increase its profits. Between 1945 and 1950, the net worth of the company virtually doubled, and an assortment of new products appeared. By early 1958 sales had doubled in a decade. Walter led the Vollrath Company until his death. A short time later, Terry Kohler, Walter's son, assumed the reins of the highly expanded and profitable corporation. He had worked full-time for the company since 1963.

Walter J. Kohler Jr. decided to move into politics in 1948 and he joined Team Stassen for the presidential elections. While this was unsuccessful, his networking and hard work in politics paid off when he became the 33rd Governor of Wisconsin in 1951.[2] Walter had experienced politics first hand, being active in his father's reelection campaign in 1932. After returning from the war, he thought of running for the United States Senate, but that was also the driving ambition of Joseph R. McCarthy, an ex-Marine who had run for the Senate two years earlier. Walter had little choice but to step aside.

In the late 1940s, Walter rose within the Wisconsin Republican Party by making friends, working for others, and winning the support of industrialist Tom Coleman, a dominant force within the Party. In 1948, Kohler was a delegate to the national convention and made it clear that he was a moderate Republican in the mold of the Republican presidential candidate, Thomas Dewey.

Dewey's unpredictable loss to Harry S Truman prompted many Republicans for the next few years to employ "Red Scare" tactics. The practice of "irresponsibly" labeling Democratic opponents as Communists or pro-Communists would help many of them win office. Kohler was never sympathetic to the right-wing, McCarthyite wing of the party. Still, he made infrequent gestures in that direction to appeal to the many Wisconsinites who were certain that their junior senator's charges were on target. Moreover, Kohler thought that at times, such as in the case against Alger Hiss, McCarthy and his allies were on the right track.

Kohler played a role in the 1960 Republican National Convention, but he then saw himself primarily as a businessman and fundraiser for the American Cancer Society.

Walter's health declined in the late 1960s and early 1970s. He had shingles and was diagnosed with skin cancer and had an operation to remove some cancerous tissue in 1972 at the Mayo Clinic. Then in 1975, Walter underwent heart surgery, which did nothing to improve his condition. He continued to deteriorate until he died of a massive heart attack at Sheboygan Memorial Hospital on March 21, 1976, at the age of 71.[4][5] He is buried in Kohler's Woodland Cemetery.

• 1960 Wisconsin Blue Book
• 2003–2004 Wisconsin Blue Book
• 2006 Distinguished Service: The Life of Gov. Walter J. Kohler Jr. by Thomas C. Reeves
• Haney, Richard, C., A Concise History of the Modern Republican Party of Wisconsin (The Republican Party of Wisconsin (The Republican Party of Wisconsin, 1976)
• Reeves, Thomas C., The Life and Times of Joe McCarthy, a Biography (Stein and Day, 1982)
• Sykes, Jay G., Proxmire (Robert B. Luce, 1972)