Albert G. Schmedeman, former governor of Wisconsin and minister to Norway during the Wilson administration, was born in Madison on November 25, 1864. He attended city schools and the Northwestern Business College. Schmedeman then entered the clothing business and went on to become one of Madison's leading merchants. He was also very active in city political life, serving as a member of the city council from 1903 until 1907. In 1910 he was an unsuccessful candidate for Congress. During this period Schmedeman was also active within the state Democratic Party organization. He was rewarded for his partisan activities by President Woodrow Wilson with an appointment as counsel to Norway in 1913. Schmedeman continued in this post throughout Wilson's administration, also serving as the U.S. representative to the International Conference at Spitzbergen. In 1926 Schmedeman was elected mayor of Madison, a post to which he was reelected without interruption until he resigned in 1933 to become governor of Wisconsin. Schmedeman's victory in 1932, which came largely as a result of the national Democratic victory of Franklin D. Roosevelt, was the first Democratic gubernatorial victory since George Peck (1891-1894).
Schmedeman was ousted after one term by Progressive Philip La Follette. In 1935 Roosevelt appointed him as administrator of the Federal Housing Administration office in Milwaukee. After his retirement in 1942 at age 78 Schmedeman returned to Madison. He died on November 26, 1946.
