Frederick Robert Zimmerman (November 20, 1880December 14, 1954) was a

German American German Americans (german: Deutschamerikaner, ) are Americans who have full or partial German ancestry. With an estimated size of approximately 43 million in 2019, German Americans are the largest of the self-reported ancestry groups by the Unite ...

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

from

Milwaukee 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 is ...

, who served as the 25th Governor of Wisconsin. He served before and after his governorship as

Wisconsin Secretary of State The Secretary of State of Wisconsin is a constitutional officer in the executive branch of the government of the U.S. state of Wisconsin, and is second (behind the Lieutenant Governor) in the line of succession to the office of Governor of Wiscon ...

—for a total of eighteen years in that office. He also served one term in the

Wisconsin State Assembly The Wisconsin State Assembly is the lower house of the Wisconsin Legislature. Together with the smaller Wisconsin Senate, the two constitute the legislative branch of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Representatives are elected for two-year terms, ...

. His son, Robert C. Zimmerman, was also Wisconsin Secretary of State from 1957 until 1975.

Background and early career

Zimmerman was born in Milwaukee, son of Charles E. Zimmerman and Augusta Fiesenhauser Zimmerman. He was a grandson of German-American

Forty-Eighters The Forty-Eighters were Europeans who participated in or supported the Revolutions of 1848 that swept Europe. In the German Confederation, the Forty-Eighters favoured unification of Germany, a more democratic government, and guarantees of human r ...

. His father was born in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

state and came to Milwaukee in 1875. His mother was born in Wisconsin of parents who were natives of

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...

. Zimmerman's father, a molder, died when he was 5 and at an early age he began contributing to the support of his family by selling newspapers. After completing grammar school, he attended

night school A night school is an adult learning school that holds classes in the evening or at night to accommodate people who work during the day. A community college or university may hold night school classes that admit undergraduates. Italy The Scuola ...

briefly, and held various jobs until he was 22, when he started the Bee Hive

Dairy A dairy is a business enterprise established for the harvesting or processing (or both) of animal milk – mostly from cows or buffaloes, but also from goats, sheep, horses, or camels – for human consumption. A dairy is typically located on ...

, distributing milk to Milwaukee residents. He left this job, after his marriage, to take a position as a traveling salesman with the

Pfister & Vogel Pfister & Vogel (P&V) was an American tannery business in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Frederick Vogel emigrated from Wurtemberg, Germany to Milwaukee. In 1848, he founded a tannery on Milwaukee's Menominee River. Having also emigrated from Wurtemberg ...

Leather Leather is a strong, flexible and durable material obtained from the tanning, or chemical treatment, of animal skins and hides to prevent decay. The most common leathers come from cattle, sheep, goats, equine animals, buffalo, pigs and hogs, ...

Company, and also worked as a bookkeeper for a Milwaukee

lumber Lumber is wood that has been processed into dimensional lumber, including beams and planks or boards, a stage in the process of wood production. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, wi ...

firm.

Elective office

Legislature

Zimmerman was elected to the

by six votes in 1908 in a three-way race, receiving 1703 votes on the Republican ticket to 1697 for

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

Harry R. McLogan, and 1159 for

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 e ...

Gilbert H. Poor, to represent the 8th

Milwaukee County Milwaukee County is located in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. At the 2020 census, the population was 939,489, down from 947,735 in 2010. It is both the most populous and most densely populated county in Wisconsin, and the 45th most populous coun ...

district (8th and 23d

wards Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a priso ...

of the City of Milwaukee). He was an active member of the Progressive faction of his party, but served only one term (1909–1910), losing the 1910 election in a four-way contest to Socialist James H. Vint with 1521 votes, to 1501 for Zimmerman, 143 for McLogan, and 12 for

Prohibitionist Prohibitionism is a legal philosophy and political theory often used in lobbying which holds that citizens will abstain from actions if the actions are typed as unlawful (i.e. prohibited) and the prohibitions are enforced by law enforcement.C Canty ...

William H. Trout.

Secretary of State

In 1922, Zimmerman (by then an

industrial relations Industrial relations or employment relations is the multidisciplinary academic field that studies the employment relationship; that is, the complex interrelations between employers and employees, labor/trade unions, employer organizations, ...

manager for

Nash Motors Nash Motors Company was an American automobile manufacturer based in Kenosha, Wisconsin from 1916 to 1937. From 1937 to 1954, Nash Motors was the automotive division of the Nash-Kelvinator Corporation. Nash production continued from 1954 to 195 ...

) had moved to the Town of Lake and served two years on the Town Board. He received the Republican nomination and election as Wisconsin Secretary of State in 1922 (with 77.7% of the vote in a four-way race) and re-election in 1924 in a five-way race, earning a then-record 509,771 votes statewide. During this period he remained closely identified with the Progressive faction of the Republican Party.

Governor

When the Progressives refused to endorse him in the gubernatorial election in 1926 (because of his failure to support the 1924 Presidential candidacy of

Robert M. La Follette Sr. Robert Marion "Fighting Bob" La Follette Sr. (June 14, 1855June 18, 1925), was an American lawyer and politician. He represented Wisconsin in both chambers of Congress and served as the 20th Governor of Wisconsin. A Republican for most of his ...

), Zimmerman ran in the Republican

primary election Primary elections, or direct primary are a voting process by which voters can indicate their preference for their party's candidate, or a candidate in general, in an upcoming general election, local election, or by-election. Depending on the ...

as an "independent" against both Progressive (

Herman Ekern Herman Louis Ekern (December 27, 1872 – December 4, 1954) was an American attorney and progressive Republican politician who served as the 28th lieutenant governor of Wisconsin, the 25th attorney general of Wisconsin, and the 42nd speaker of ...

) and Stalwart (

Charles B. Perry Charles B. Perry was an American lawyer from Wauwatosa, Wisconsin who served as a Republican member and Speaker of the Wisconsin State Assembly. Biography Perry was born in New Haven County, Connecticut on December 9, 1855. He attended high scho ...

) candidates, as well as another "independent". Zimmerman won the Republican nomination and was elected by an absolute majority, outpolling Stalwart Perry (who came in second, running as an "Independent"), as well as the Democratic, Socialist, Prohibitionist and

Socialist Labor The Socialist Labor Party (SLP)"The name of this organization shall be Socialist Labor Party". Art. I, Sec. 1 of thadopted at the Eleventh National Convention (New York, July 1904; amended at the National Conventions 1908, 1912, 1916, 1920, 1924 ...

candidates combined, with 350,927 votes out of 552,921. In 1928 he was defeated for re-nomination, running a poor third to Stalwart

Walter J. Kohler Sr. Walter Jodok Kohler Sr., (March 3, 1875April 21, 1940) was an American businessman and politician from the Kohler family of Wisconsin. He was an innovative and highly successful Wisconsin industrialist. The Kohler Company was founded by his fat ...

, and Progressive Congressman Joseph D. Beck.Anderson, William J.; Anderson, William A., eds. ''The Wisconsin blue book, 1929'' Madison: Democrat Printing Company, State Printer, 1929; p. 736
/ref> Thereafter he went into a political decline for several years, briefly holding a position in the Beverage Tax Commission in 1936.

Secretary of State once more

Zimmerman was nominated and elected Secretary of State on the Republican ticket in 1938 and served until his death, polling a larger vote at each subsequent election and in 1952 again received the highest total ever given any candidate for any office in the state.

Private life

Zimmerman was a delegate to the Republican National Conventions in

1916 Events Below, the events of the First World War have the "WWI" prefix. January * January 1 – The British Royal Army Medical Corps carries out the first successful blood transfusion, using blood that had been stored and cooled. * ...

1920 Events January * January 1 ** Polish–Soviet War in 1920: The Russian Red Army increases its troops along the Polish border from 4 divisions to 20. ** Kauniainen, completely surrounded by the city of Espoo, secedes from Espoo as its own ma ...

1924 Events January * January 12 – Gopinath Saha shoots Ernest Day, whom he has mistaken for Sir Charles Tegart, the police commissioner of Calcutta, and is arrested soon after. * January 20– 30 – Kuomintang in China hol ...

1940 A calendar from 1940 according to the Gregorian calendar, factoring in the dates of Easter and related holidays, cannot be used again until the year 5280. Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January *January ...

, and

1944 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 2 – WWII: ** Free French General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny is appointed to command French Army B, part of the Sixth United States Army Group in Nor ...

. He was attacked as a member of America First, but he denied membership therein, although he generally followed the

isolationist Isolationism is a political philosophy advocating a national foreign policy that opposes involvement in the political affairs, and especially the wars, of other countries. Thus, isolationism fundamentally advocates neutrality and opposes entangl ...

position Position often refers to: * Position (geometry), the spatial location (rather than orientation) of an entity * Position, a job or occupation Position may also refer to: Games and recreation * Position (poker), location relative to the dealer * ...

. He died in Milwaukee in 1954 just after again winning re-election as Secretary of State.