Paul Soglin, student activist, city alderman, and Madison mayor, was born on April 22, 1945 in Chicago to Albert and Rose (née Century) Soglin. Albert Soglin was a math instructor at Chicago City Junior College. Paul was raised in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago and graduated from Highland Park High School. In August 1969, Soglin married Diane Thaler. Soglin and Thaler divorced in 1979 and he married Sara Ann Falconer in 1982 with whom he had three children: Alexandra, Natasha, and Rachael.
Soglin moved to Madison, Wisconsin in 1962 to enter the pre-med program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Following a shift in major, he graduated with a bachelor's degree in history and political science in 1966 and began a graduate program in history at University of Wisconsin-Madison the same year. In 1969, Soglin transferred to the University of Wisconsin Law School where he graduated in 1972 with a Juris Doctor (J.D.).
Soglin's political career began during his undergraduate years at University of Wisconsin-Madison. He acted as the treasurer of the Madison chapter of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and later became a member of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS). This involvement soon brought Soglin into contact with the increasingly robust movement against American military operations in Vietnam. By the mid 1960s, Madison had developed into a noted center of the anti-war movement and Soglin had become a highly visible campus leader instrumental in organizing political actions. In particular, Soglin was a central figure in the galvanizing October 1967 protests against Dow Chemical Company and their attempt to recruit Wisconsin students for what were deemed war-related activities.
In 1968, Soglin expanded his involvement into local politics when he ran and was successfully elected to the Madison City Council representing the 8th ward, a bohemian student sector of the city popularly known as “Miffland”. He was re-elected in 1970 on the strength of his representation of Madison's radical student population and a successful campaign to transfer the ownership of the Madison Bus Company to municipal hands. Soglin's re-election was marked by his election to the position of president pro-tem of the Common Council, a position he held from 1971 through 1972.
With his political career on the ascendancy, Soglin made an unsuccessful attempt to run for mayor in 1971. In his second bid for mayor in 1973, Soglin defeated the conservative incumbent mayor, William Dyke, and became the youngest person in Madison history to hold this office. Soglin served three terms as mayor and stepped down in 1979. During his first tenure as mayor, Soglin surprised many skeptics by pushing through a series of practical reforms including: improving public transportation, redeveloping State Street, sponsoring the construction of a concourse around the capitol, backing a day care voucher program, building the Madison Civic Center, and engaging in repeated attempts to gain municipal ownership of the city's utilities.
During this period, Soglin maintained a high public profile through his participation in the United States Conference of Mayors. Through this organization he undertook a number of international excursions including a tour of Israel and his third trip to Cuba. Other notable trips included a well-publicized mission to Cuba in 1975 where he met with Fidel Castro and an invitation to attend peace events in Hiroshima, Japan.
Following a brief appointment as a fellow at the John F. Kennedy School of Public
Administration at Harvard University, Soglin acted as partner in a variety of Madison-area law firms before returning to public office with a successful bid for mayor in 1989. He was elected to a total of three terms during his second tenure as mayor of Madison. This period was noted for Soglin's continued work for improved public transportation and his backing of the Monona Terrace convention center. Prior to the end of his sixth term as mayor, Soglin made a failed attempt to secure a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives in 1996.
In April 2003, Soglin attempted a return to the mayor's office but lost to newcomer Dave Cieslewicz. Following the election, Soglin returned to the private sector with a new position at Epic Systems, a Madison-based medical software firm.
Timeline
| 1945 |
Birth
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| 1966 |
Receives B.A. from University of Wisconsin
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| 1968 |
Elected to the Madison Common Council
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| 1970 |
Elected president pro-tem of the Common Council
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| 1971 |
Defeated in first mayoral campaign
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| 1972 |
Receives J.D. from University of Wisconsin
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| 1973-1975 |
1st term as mayor of Madison
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| 1975-1977 |
2nd term as mayor of Madison
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| 1975 |
Travels to Cuba and meets Fidel Castro
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| 1977-1979 |
3rd term as mayor of Madison
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| 1979 |
Steps down from mayor's office to enter private sector
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| 1979-1980 |
Fellow, Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University
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| 1980-1988 |
Practices law in Madison
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| 1989-1991 |
4th term as mayor of Madison
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| 1991-1995 |
5th term as mayor of Madison (Madison institutes 4-year terms)
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| 1995-1997 |
6th term as mayor of Madison
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| 1996 |
Failed attempt to secure a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives
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| 1997-2003 |
Teaches at the La Follette School of Public Affairs at the University of Wisconsin-Madison
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| 2003 |
Loses bid for mayor to Dave Cieslewicz
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| 2011-2015 |
7th term as mayor of Madison
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| 2015-2019 |
8th term as mayor of Madison
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