Former Adjutant-General and Progressive political leader Ralph Maxwell Immell (pronounced m'l) was born in Blair, Wisconsin, on September 11, 1894. He graduated from the local high school in 1911 and received a two-year teaching certificate from La Crosse State Teachers College in 1915. After teaching in rural schools he enrolled at the University of Wyoming in 1916 and received an A.B. in 1918. While a student at the University he enlisted in the Reserve Officers Training Corps and with the commission of lieutenant served 19 months overseas during World War I.
After his discharge Immell entered law school at the University of Wisconsin and graduated in 1921. Immell's father had been a leader in the Trempealeau County Progressive movement and in 1922 the younger Immell campaigned actively in behalf of Robert M. La Follette Sr. That association was, no doubt, partly responsible for his appointment as secretary to Governor James G. Blaine following a brief employment as assistant to the Dane County district attorney. In 1923 Blaine appointed Immell as state adjutant general. Because of his youth, Immell's appointment was a controversial one. However, despite limited financial appropriations, he was able to build the Wisconsin Guard into a unit with an admirable national reputation.
A man of prodigious energy and administrative abilities, Immell's talents were utilized by subsequent Wisconsin governors of widely divergent political views. During the 1930s he was a close political ally of Progressive Governor Philip La Follette, and Immell assumed responsibility for many areas of public administration traditionally regarded as outside the military sphere. Under La Follette he played a leading role in the bank stabilization program of the early 1930s. In 1931 the governor appointed him to the Conservation Commission, and until his resignation in 1937 Immell played a leading role in its soil conservation and reforestation programs. From 1932 until 1935 he was chairman of the commission and director of the Conservation Department. In 1934 La Follette asked Immell to head the W.P.A. in Wisconsin. During this period Immell's name appeared in the press as frequently as any civilian Wisconsin politician.
The close relationship with the La Follette Progressives continued with Immell's appointment as executive director of the abortive National Progressives of America in 1938. It was also widely rumored in 1938 that Immell was to succeed La Follette as the Progressives' gubernatorial candidate. Eventually, however, his Progressive association won Immell the enmity of La Follette's Republican successor, Julius P. Heil, and by 1940 Immell was left without a unit to command. Determined to serve in the field during World War II he took a demotion from his rank of brigadier general to colonel. However, he retained his rank as adjutant general on leave until 1945. Immell's service in North Africa, Italy, and France was distinguished, and by 1944 his earlier rank had been restored. In 1945 he was promoted to major general. A full description of his World War II service record and his numerous awards and decorations is included in the unofficial 201 file in the Immell Papers.
After his return to the United States, Immell was appointed commanding general of the 84th Infantry Division with headquarters in Madison from 1947 until 1954. Immell also resumed his political career. In 1946 and 1948 he was an unsuccessful gubernatorial candidate on a slate of former Progressives on the Republican ticket. In 1952 he was a leading Wisconsin supporter for Dwight Eisenhower. Eventually he returned to his law practice as a partner in the Madison firm Immell, Herro, Buehner, & DeWitt. He also served as president of Television Wisconsin, licensee for WISC-TV.
Immell married Hazel Mary Gray in 1922 and the couple had two children, Robert Blaine and Mary Gray. After Mrs. Immell's death in 1962, Immell married the former Mrs. Joseph C. Dean. He died in Madison on August 28, 1969.
