John C. Schafer

John C. Schafer
Photo ca.1927 from the Harris & Ewing collection
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Wisconsin's 4th district
In office January 3, 1939 – January 3, 1941
Preceded by	Raymond J. Cannon
Succeeded by	Thaddeus Wasielewski
In office March 4, 1923 – March 3, 1933
Preceded by	John C. Kleczka
Succeeded by	Raymond J. Cannon
Member of the Wisconsin State Assembly from the Milwaukee 16th district
In office January 3, 1921 – January 1, 1923
Preceded by	George A. Bowman
Succeeded by	Charles B. Perry
Personal details
Born	May 7, 1893 Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S.
Died	June 9, 1962(1962-06-09) (aged 69) Pewaukee, Wisconsin, U.S.
Cause of death	Heart attack
Resting place	Arlington Park Cemetery, Greenfield, Wisconsin
Political party	Republican
Spouse	Elsie V. Webster ​ ​ (m. 1923⁠–⁠1962)​
Children	biological Leslie (Lautenbach) (b. 1925; died 1993) adopted Shirley (Smith) (b. 1918; died 1972) Wilbur Brandt (b. 1919; died 1994) Lorraine Janet (Purnell) (b. 1922; died 2006)
Occupation	Train driver, politician
Military service
Allegiance	United States
Branch/service	United States Army
Years of service	1917–1919
Unit	13th Reg. U.S. Engineers
Battles/wars	World War I

John Charles Schafer (May 7, 1893 – June 9, 1962) was an American railroad operator and Republican politician from Milwaukee County, Wisconsin. He served six terms in the U.S. House of Representatives, representing Wisconsin's 4th congressional district from 1923 to 1933, and from 1939 to 1941. Initially a member of the progressive faction of Republicans, Schafer fell out with progressive leadership after the death of U.S. senator Robert M. La Follette Sr. and then became a supporter of the stalwart faction. Late in his career, he drifted into extreme anti-communism and was a defender of the Nazi German American Bund in the lead-up to World War II.

Earlier in his career, he served one term in the Wisconsin State Assembly (1921). He was noted for his large physical presence, booming voice, and pompadour hairstyle; he was described as weighing 270 lbs in 1928.

John C. Schafer was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in 1893.^[1] He attended West Allis High School until his junior year, when he dropped out to go to work as an office boy at the Allis-Chalmers Manufacturing Company, and eventually went to work on the assembly line.^[2]

When the United States entered World War I, Schafer enlisted in the United States Army with the 13th Engineer Regiment. He was deployed to France for 22 months; the 13th Engineer Regiment worked on railway engineering, and was initially attached to the French 4th Army at Champagne. Later they attached to the French 2nd Army at Verdun, Saint-Mihiel, and the Meuse–Argonne offensive.^[2][3]

After returning from the war, he was employed as a railroad fireman and engineman for the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad.^[4]

Through his work in the railroad industry, he became an active member of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Enginemen labor union.^[4] He was also active in the American Legion and the Veterans of Foreign Wars, and served as vice commander of the Wisconsin department of the VFW in the early 1920s.^[5]

In 1920, Schafer won his first public office, when he was elected to the Wisconsin State Assembly, running on the Republican Party ticket. He represented Milwaukee County's 16th Assembly district, which then comprised roughly the town and city of Wauwatosa and a small part of the city of Milwaukee. He faced only a socialist opponent in the general election and won by a wide margin.^[2]

In his term in the Assembly, Schafer quickly made news. Called socialist, un-American, and anarchistic, he pushed for a resolution calling for Congress to "conscript" the wealthy of America to pay the nation's debts from World War I. The resolution came close to receiving a majority in his caucus, with support from progressive and farm-labor Republicans.^[6] Two years later, after being elected to Congress, Schafer was still adamant about this idea, describing it as a fair balance for the boys who were drafted and sent to war.^[7]

Rather than running for re-election to the Assembly, in 1922 he entered the race for U.S. House of Representatives in Wisconsin's 4th congressional district following the retirement of incumbent John C. Kleczka. At the time, the 4th district comprised all of the southern half of Milwaukee County, including the southern half of the city of Milwaukee, and the town and city of Wauwatosa.^[3]

In the Republican primary, Schafer identified as a progressive ally of U.S. Senator Robert M. "Fighting Bob" La Follette.^[4] Initially five other candidates entered the Republican primary for the open seat, but three candidates withdrew from the race and consolidated their support behind John L. Grunwald, a staffer for the incumbent U.S. representative, Kleczka. The withdrawn candidates, George Czerwinski, Francis E. Davidson, and Frank Mackut Jr., indicated that their withdrawal was intended to block Schafer—who they described as a "radical"—from obtaining the nomination.^[8] The sixth candidate in the race was Delbert Miller, mayor of West Allis and a former state representative. Schafer narrowly prevailed in the three-way contest, receiving 37% of the vote.^[9]

In the general election, conservative Republicans still sought to block Schafer from the seat, providing support to the socialist candidate, Edmund T. Melms.^[10] Schafer won another very close race, defeating Melms by just 631 votes.^[11] Schafer credited his election victory to strong support from organized labor.^[7]

Schafer was described by the Green Bay Press-Gazette as the first member of Congress to be sworn in wearing a cap. In describing Schafer's appearance, they said he looked like he had just stepped out of a locomotive cab and still had grime on his hands.^[12] He was one of the youngest representatives that Wisconsin ever sent to Congress, being just 29 when sworn in; in his first term he was sometimes referred to as the "baby congressman".^[13]

In 1924, Schafer was a strong supporter of Robert La Follette's unsuccessful bid for the Republican presidential nomination. He continued supporting La Follette as he pursued a third party bid for the presidency under his Progressive Party banner. Schafer, however, ran for re-election in his seat as a Republican, but faced another contested primary. He prevailed by a safe margin this time, receiving 57% of the vote against state senator George Czerwinski and James D. Reilly.^[14] Schafer won the general election by a similarly comfortable margin, defeating Socialist Leo Krzycki and Democrat Thomas H. Dorr.^[15]

Returning to the 69th Congress, Schafer's standing in the caucus was severely damaged by his support of La Follette in the 1924 election. He was one of eleven rebel Republicans targeted for expulsion from the caucus by speaker Nicholas Longworth, but the full caucus split over whether to enforce the proposed punishment.^[16] Schafer however remained defiant and stated that he did not intend to return to the caucus anyway.^[17] Ultimately all of the Wisconsin Republicans were stripped of their committee seniority.

After Robert La Follette Sr. died in 1925, Schafer considered running in the U.S. Senate special election to succeed him. He was reluctant to support 30-year-old Robert M. La Follette Jr., but ultimately fell in line to avoid division within the progressive faction.^[18] He ended up splitting with progressives the next year anyway, over the 1926 U.S. Senate election. The incumbent senator, Irvine Lenroot was already considered a progressive, but Schafer and others contemplated a primary challenge against him.^[19][20] Ultimately, progressive governor John J. Blaine, who was then widely seen as orchestrating the progressive movement in the state, chose to run against Lenroot. Schafer chose not to run for Senate, but blasted Blaine's candidacy and his ally, gubernatorial candidate Herman L. Ekern, referring to their Madison operation as a "self-perpetuating oligarchy." Schafer instead threw his support behind the conservative Republican faction of Fred R. Zimmerman.^[21] Most Wisconsin progressives stuck with Blaine, and Robert La Follette Jr. publicly withdrew his support for Schafer. Schafer's move against Blaine would also cost him many of his labor union endorsements, including the national organization of his own Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Enginemen.^[22] Schafer faced no opponent in his congressional primary, but the state progressive organization threw their support behind socialist candidate Edmund T. Melms in the general election. Nevertheless, Schafer won his third term by a respectable margin, defeating Melms and Democratic attorney William J. Kershaw.^[23]

After the election, Schafer continued his crusade against Blaine, calling for investigations into his finances and those of Blaine-aligned anti-prohibition organizations which had advertised aggressively during the campaign.^[24] But shortly into the 70th Congress, Schafer also fell out with Zimmerman, who had been elected governor; Schafer denounced Zimmerman's tax policy and called for investigations into his 1926 campaign expenditures, while continuing to attack Blaine and La Follette in the same statement.^[25] Later that year, he called on the Wisconsin Legislature to enact a corrupt practices act with stronger enforcement measures.^[26] Several Wisconsin newspapers speculated that Schafer would launch a primary challenge against La Follette in 1928,^[27] others speculated that he would run for mayor of Milwaukee,^[28] but Schafer ultimately chose to run for another term in the House. His split with the progressives deepened in 1928, as he supported Herbert Hoover for president against Blaine's preferred candidate George W. Norris.^[29]

Blaine and La Follette determined to try to end Schafer's career in 1928, supporting a primary challenge by Cudahy city attorney Edward G. Minor.^[30][31] Despite losing most of his national and institutional allies, Schafer still won renomination and defeated Minor, taking 70% of the primary vote.^[32] While running in his own primary, Schafer took time to lob attacks at the progressive gubernatorial candidate, Joseph D. Beck, who was also defeated.^[33] At the general election, Schafer was an outspoken advocate for the Republican ticket, headed by Hoover, and recalled the record of Robert La Follette Sr. to defend Hoover and attack his Democratic opponent, Al Smith.^[34][35] Schafer won his fourth term with 44% of the vote.^[32]

Due to his support in the presidential election, Schafer was given preferential treatment for nominating candidates for presidential appointments under Hoover, in a shift away from the old Republican power-brokers in Wisconsin.^[36] He faced a progressive primary challenge again in 1930, this time from 29-year-old attorney Charles H. Quirk, but survived again with 61% of the vote.^[37] He went on to another comfortable victory in the general election.^[37] In the 1932 primary, Schafer defeated Quirk again,^[38] but in the general election the progressives threw their support behind Franklin D. Roosevelt and the Democratic ticket. Coupled with the national mood in the Great Depression, the Democrats won a landslide election in 1932, and Schafer lost badly to Democrat Raymond J. Cannon.^[39]

Schafer left office in March 1933, but before he did, he was able to vote for passage of the Twenty-first Amendment to the United States Constitution, the beginning of the end of Prohibition in the United States. Schafer had been a leader of the anti-prohibition forces in Congress, and was described as the floor leader for their faction since 1930.^[40]

Shortly after leaving office, Schafer was appointed to the board which reviewed veterans' pension claims in Milwaukee.^[41] Within a year, however, Schafer was planning his return to office. He initially flirted with a run for U.S. Senate against La Follette Jr., but ultimately decided to run again for his former seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.^[42] During 1934, the Wisconsin Progressive Party formally split from the Republican Party of Wisconsin. This simplified Schafer's path to the Republican nomination—he faced no primary opponent—but complicated the general election. Cannon won re-election with just 38.5% of the vote; Schafer came in a distant second with progressive Laurence C. Gram and socialist Marvin V. Baxter each taking substantial percentages.^[43]

In December 1935, Schafer declared a run for mayor of Milwaukee against socialist incumbent Daniel Hoan in 1936.^[44][45] Schafer did not advance to the general election, coming in a distant third in the nonpartisan primary, behind Hoan and Milwaukee sheriff Joseph J. Shinners.^[46]

Undetered by his defeat in the mayoral primary, Schafer entered the race for U.S. House again three months later.^[47] Unlike 1934, he faced a competitive primary in 1936 against two opponents, but prevailed with 59% of the vote. At the general election though, Schafer again fell to a distant third, receiving just 21% of the vote.^[48]

Schafer made a third bid to reclaim his seat in 1938, and once again had to win a primary against two opponents. On the Democratic side, the incumbent Raymond Cannon lost his primary to attorney Thaddeus Wasielewski. Cannon, however, decided to then make an independent bid for re-election, and split the Democratic vote. Schafer managed to win a narrow plurality, polling just 637 votes ahead of Wasielewski in the general election.^[49]

During the 76th Congress, Schafer spent much of his time engaged in Red Scare agitation, alleging communist infiltration of the Roosevelt administration and denouncing individuals he believed were identified with communist interests.^[50] He argued for the deportation of Walter Krivitsky and frequently targeted labor leader John L. Lewis for personal attacks and innuendo.^[51] Schafer's activities became so extreme that a fellow U.S. representative, Kent E. Keller, referred to him as the leader of the "Silver Shirts", referring to the fascist Silver Legion of America.^[52] Schafer also found himself aligned with the Nazis on other issues—he favored all isolationist bills in the Congress and strongly resisted attempts to provide weapons or other war materiel to England or France; he also proposed that the U.S. should demand payment from France and England of World War I debts.^[53][54] He also ran to the defense of the Nazi-supporting German American Bund and their training camp near Grafton, Wisconsin, comparing it to the YMCA.^[55] During that Congress, he also voted in favor of creating American concentration camps, intended for the detention of aliens whose country of origin would not readmit them.^[56]

Schafer faced no opponent in the Republican primary in 1940. At the general election, he faced a rematch with Thaddeus Wasielewski with progressive former state senator Leonard Fons also in the race. The configuration resulted in a close three-way outcome, with Wasielewski prevailing with 35.6%; Schafer finished in third place, but still received 31.5%.^[57]

Despite his earlier isolationist positions, after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Schafer offered to again serve the United States in World War II.^[58] A few months later, Schafer announced he would make another bid for re-election to the U.S. House of Representatives. He again won the Republican primary, but fell far short of Wasielewski in the general election.^[59] Despite losing by more than 17,000 votes, Schafer attempted to contest the results of the 1942 election. Schafer alleged that Wasielewski overspent the personal campaign expenditure limit and violated the corrupt practices act for failing to file complete reports of his campaign committees.^[60] The House Committee on Elections heard evidence in September 1943 and ruled in March 1944 to dismiss Schafer's complaint.^[61]

In 1945, Schafer became commander-in-chief of the United American War Veterans, an obscure national veterans organization which claimed 10,000 members at the time. In 1952 he attempted to convert the organization into a political party as the United American War Veterans Political Party.^[62] That did not stop him, however, from making another run for U.S. House of Representatives on the Republican Party ticket later that year. Despite a field of 10 other candidates in the Republican primary, Schafer prevailed with just 19.5% of the vote.^[63] He went on to face the incumbent Democrat, Clement Zablocki, in the general election and lost in a landslide.^[63] Schafer ran one final time in 1954, but lost in another landslide to Zablocki.^[64]

After the death of U.S. senator Joseph McCarthy in 1957, Schafer made one final bid for public office, running in the special election to succeed him. He faced a field of six other prominent Republicans in the primary race and came in last, receiving only 1,906 votes (0.6%).^[65]

John C. Schafer was the third of eight children born to Ernest John Schafer and his wife Grace Evaline (née Schlenger). For some years in his childhood, the family resided in the log cabin house built by Schafer's great-grandfather, who had emigrated to the United States from Alsace–Lorraine.^[1]

On November 2, 1923, Schafer secretly married Mrs. Elsie Fay (née Webster) in Waukegan, Illinois.^[66] Elsie brought one daughter from her previous marriage and they adopted two other children. They also had one daughter together.^[67] Elsie Schafer was found liable in 1934 for a death and two injuries in a Washington, D.C., automobile accident in 1932; they were obliged to pay $9,700 in compensation (about $227,000 adjusted for inflation).^[68]

In the last years of his life, Schafer resided at the home of his brother, Michael, in Pewaukee, Wisconsin. He died there of a heart attack on June 9, 1962.^[1] At the time of his death, his wife was living in Masscahusetts.

• Media related to John C. Schafer at Wikimedia Commons

• United States Congress. "John C. Schafer (id: S000111)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.