Julius Peter Heil was born on July 24, 1876, at Duesmond-on-the-Mosel, Germany, and migrated to New Berlin, Wisconsin, at age five. He began working as a drill-press operator at age fourteen, and by 1901 had formed his own firm, the Heil Company of Milwaukee, which would eventually become a major manufacturer of heavy-duty steel industrial equipment.
In 1933 Heil was appointed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to head the state advisory board of the National Recovery Administration. In 1938 he was elected governor on the Republican ticket which ended Progressive Philip La Follette's dominance of politics in Wisconsin. Heil was reelected in 1940 but upset in his try for a third term by Orland Loomis. The major achievements of Heil's two terms were the enactment of the State Employment Peace Act, the reorganization of the welfare and tax departments, the creation of the Department of Securities, and the modernization of the state accounting system. Heil returned to the chairmanship of his company until his death on November 30, 1949.
