Frank Zeidler, Last Socialist Mayor, Dies

From the AP via the Houston Chronicle:

Frank Zeidler, a former Milwaukee mayor who was the last Socialist to run a major American city, has died. He was 93.

Zeidler died late Friday of congestive heart failure and diverticulitis, hospital spokesman Gregg Hartzog said. He led Milwaukee from 1948 through 1960.

Born in Milwaukee on Sept. 10, 1912, Zeidler was part of the Socialist Party's city stronghold, which was fueled by German immigrants who flocked there. The party had thousands of members, a congressional seat and control of the mayor's office for nearly a half-century, ending with Zeidler.

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Of course, I'm not a socialist myself in that I don't really believe that the state ought to own all industry. On the other hand, I'm not particularly opposed to the state owning some specific industries, like maybe energy or healthcare, depending on the circumstances and prospects for the future. On the whole, however, I certainly am in solidarity with socialist aims overall: meeting the economic needs of all individuals, and creating a more fair and just society. The quote I've had under the rotating photo I keep up in the left corner of this page is from one of the great American Socialists, Eugene Debs: who with any morality at all couldn't agree with that statement? Anyway, it still weirds me out to think that socialism was once such a viable point of view in this country that they actually got a lot of people elected to lower office--Debs made a couple of serious runs for the Presidency back in the day, probably just enough to turn the Democrats liberal once the Great Depression hit.

You know, because Zeidler ruled Milwaukee during the 50s, it means that Richie, Potsie, Ralph, and Fonzie all lived in what would have been considered by much of the rest of the country to be a communist city. I wonder if Mr. and Mrs. C were voting for him. Probably not; Richie's dad was a small business owner, and on record as having voted at least once for Eisenhower, a Republican. Those Cunninghams, I'm sure, were no America-haters, let me tell you.

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