Rauch was born in Eaton, Manitowoc County, Wisconsin. He went to both public and parochical schools. He entered Marquette University, did “various forms of common labor, both on the farm and in the city,” to work his way through the University. After completing his undergraduate studies, he stayed at Marquette to earn a master's degree. [Rauch contradicts himself, in one reference letter he states his master's degree was in social science and in another, in political science. See, H. Rauch to William Lamers, 1942, Aug. 1, and H. Rauch to Manitowoc Herald Times, 1946, September 28.] He taught at Marquette University for five years and then spent four years with the Wisconsin Ice and Coal Company “progressively as office clerk, salesman and assistant plant manager, with responsibilities in personnel and product deliveries.”
In 1934, he joined the Wisconsin Industrial Commission at Milwaukee and was in charge of the Unemployment Compensation Department. In May, 1937, he was promoted to the job of Regional Director (Milwaukee Area) to the Wisconsin Labor Relations Board, and later made Director of Conciliation. When the new Act of 1939 created the Wisconsin Employment Relations Board, he was appointed to it.
In 1940, he was appointed to take charge of the Employment Stabilization program for the Industrial Commission. It was during this time that the federal government successfully instituted a program for federalizing unemployment compensation, and that Rauch lobbied against the proposal on behalf of the Wisconsin Industrial Commission.
Rauch also was a popular speaker, and he appeared before many professional and labor organizations. He usually spoke on job stabilization and the problem of unemployment. The cases in this file are the ones in which he acted as impartial arbitor.
