Herb Kohl

His father was a Polish Jewish immigrant and his mother was a Russian Jewish immigrant who came to the United States in the 1920s.

Kohl attended Washington High School.

Herbert Hiken Kohl (February 7, 1935 – December 27, 2023) was an American businessman, philanthropist, and Democratic politician from Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Herbert Hiken Kohl was born on February 7, 1935, and raised in Milwaukee, the son of Mary (née Hiken) and Max Kohl.

He earned a Bachelor of Science from the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 1956 and a Master of Business Administration degree from Harvard Business School in 1958.

While an undergraduate, he joined the Pi Lambda Phi fraternity.

He was also a roommate of Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig.

Between 1958 and 1964, Kohl was a member of the United States Army Reserve.

After finishing graduate school, Kohl worked as an investor in real estate and the stock market, eventually spinning off his own company, Kohl Investments, to manage these assets.

He and his brother became heirs to a family-owned chain that included 50 grocery stores and several department stores, pharmacies and liquor stores.

Wisconsin also gave its electoral votes to the Democratic presidential candidate for the first time since 1964.

And during the presidential nominating contest, Wisconsin's Democratic state primary had emerged as one of the pivotal contests in selecting a nominee.

In 1970, Kohl was named president of Kohl's and served until the corporation was sold to BATUS Inc. (formerly British American Tobacco) in 1978.

After becoming prominent in Wisconsin business circles, Kohl also became involved in state politics as a donor and fundraiser for Patrick Lucey, who was elected Governor of Wisconsin in 1970 and reelected in 1974.

After the 1974 election, Kohl first emerged in the state political arena as master of ceremonies at Lucey's second inauguration.

Shortly after that inauguration, the chairman of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, Bill Gerrard—another Lucey ally—resigned.

Lucey encouraged Kohl to seek the chairmanship, and Kohl agreed.

He was named interim chairman at an April 12, 1975, emergency session, and was then elected by the party's state convention delegates later that summer.

Under Kohl's chairmanship, Democrats won historic victories in the 1976 election, reaching a supermajority in both chambers of the legislature for the first time since the creation of the Republican Party.

Shortly after the 1976 election, Kohl announced he felt that he had accomplished enough as chairman and was ready to step down.

He ultimately remained in office until the June 1977 state party convention.

He purchased the Milwaukee Bucks of the National Basketball Association in 1985 to prevent the team from relocating out of Milwaukee.

He is also the namesake of the Kohl Center arena on the University of Wisconsin–Madison campus.

Kohl purchased the Milwaukee Bucks of the National Basketball Association (NBA) from Jim Fitzgerald in 1985 for $18 million to ensure the team remained in Milwaukee.

Incumbent William Proxmire, a Democrat, did not seek reelection to the U.S. Senate in 1988.

Kohl ran for the seat and faced Tony Earl, Ed Garvey, and Doug La Follette in the Democratic Party primary election.

Kohl won the nomination and defeated Republican Susan Engeleiter in the general election.

He served 24 years as a United States senator from Wisconsin, from 1989 to 2013, and earlier served as chairman of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin.

Alongside his brother and father, he was a founder of the Kohl's department stores chain, of which he went on to become president and chief executive officer.

He was reelected in 1994 against Robert Welch, in 2000 against John Gillespie, and in 2006 against Robert Lorge.

He was one of the few Democrats to vote for the tax cut passed in 2001, and he also supported the elimination of the "marriage penalty".

Despite these views, he was seen as generally supportive of progressive taxation.

In 2003, he considered an offer to sell the team to former NBA superstar Michael Jordan, but decided to retain ownership.

Kohl supported President Barack Obama's health reform legislation; he voted for the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act in December 2009, and he voted for the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010.

Kohl voted in favor of most lawsuit reform measures as well as for rules tightening personal bankruptcy.

He long supported amending the U.S. Constitution to require a balanced budget.

On May 13, 2011, Kohl announced he would not run for re-election in 2012, saying, "The office doesn't belong to me. It belongs to the people of Wisconsin, and there is something to be said for not staying in office too long."

Kohl has been described as having been a populist-leaning liberal.

In 2013, Kohl began to bring in new partners who were committed to keeping the team in Milwaukee.

Kohl agreed to sell the Bucks to New York–based billionaires Wes Edens and Marc Lasry for $550 million on April 16, 2014.