Herb Kohl, a former Democratic U.S. senator from Wisconsin and former proprietor of the Milwaukee Bucks basketball staff, has died. He was 88.
His demise Wednesday was introduced by Herb Kohl Philanthropies, which didn’t give a trigger however mentioned he died after a short sickness.
Kohl was a well-liked determine in Wisconsin, buying the Bucks to maintain them from leaving city, and spending generously from his fortune on civic and academic causes all through the state. He additionally used his cash to fund his Senate races, permitting to him to painting himself as “no person’s senator however yours.”
Within the Senate, a physique famend for egos, Kohl was an uncommon determine. He was quiet and never one to hunt credit score, but efficient on points essential to the state, particularly dairy coverage. He was one of many richest members of the Senate, and the Senate’s solely skilled sports activities staff proprietor.
Kohl was born in Milwaukee, the place he was a childhood pal of Bud Selig, who went on to develop into commissioner of the MLB. The 2 roomed collectively on the College of Wisconsin and remained mates in maturity.
After receiving his bachelor’s diploma from the College of Wisconsin in 1956, Kohl went on to earn a grasp’s diploma in enterprise administration from Harvard College in 1958, and he served within the Military Reserve from 1958-64. He helped develop the family-owned enterprise, Kohl’s grocery and department shops, and served as firm president within the Nineteen Seventies. The company was offered in 1979.
Kohl additionally acquired into Wisconsin politics within the Nineteen Seventies, serving as chair of the state Democratic Celebration from 1975 to 1977.
In 1985, Kohl purchased the Bucks for $18 million.
“I’m happy, glad and delighted,” he mentioned at a information convention. “The Milwaukee Bucks are in Milwaukee and they’ll keep in Milwaukee.”
He later remarked: “The chance I used to be given to buy and to maintain the staff right here in Milwaukee is without doubt one of the most unusual and lucky experiences I’ve ever loved.”
The staff was in the course of its sixth straight profitable season when Kohl purchased it, and it went on to publish profitable information within the first six full seasons with Kohl as proprietor, earlier than stumbling via a lot of the Nineties. The staff improved within the late ’90s and early 2000s. In 2006, Kohl, proprietor of the small-market Bucks, was one in every of eight league house owners to ask NBA commissioner David Stern to implement income sharing.
Kohl’s civic commitments prolonged effectively past retaining skilled basketball in Wisconsin. He donated $25 million to the College of Wisconsin to assist fund development of the Kohl Heart, residence to the college’s basketball and hockey groups. It was the only largest non-public donation in college historical past.
“I used to be very glad to be able to assist construct a first-rate, state-of-the-art sports activities area,” Kohl as soon as mentioned. “I believe it cements the college’s fame as one of many premier athletic packages within the Huge Ten and the nation.”
He additionally used his personal cash to fund the Herb Kohl Academic Basis, which donates cash for scholarships and fellowships to college students, lecturers and colleges in Wisconsin.
In 1988, Kohl determined to run for the Senate, following the announcement that Sen. William Proxmire was retiring, and defeated then-state Sen. Susan Engeleiter, the Republican candidate. He received reelection in 1994, 2000 and 2006. His appreciable fortune helped scare away the Republican Celebration from mounting a severe problem in 2006.
Kohl by no means accepted a pay elevate within the Senate; he drew a wage of $89,500 yearly, the identical pay he acquired when he entered the Senate in 1989, returning the remaining to the Treasury Division.
Within the Senate, Kohl tended to residence state pursuits. He opposed the Northeast Dairy Compact, a program opposed by Midwestern dairy farmers, and helped forestall it from being renewed in Congress. Kohl was instrumental in developing with a substitute program, the Milk Revenue Loss Contract, which paid dairy farmers money when costs fell beneath a sure stage; this system particularly helped Wisconsin dairy farmers.
As the highest Democrat on the Senate Appropriations agriculture subcommittee, which controls the price range of the Division of Agriculture, Kohl had a robust say on farm coverage. He was additionally the highest Democrat on the Senate Getting old Committee and the Judiciary antitrust subcommittee. Kohl served as chair of all three panels when Democrats had been within the majority.
Kohl didn’t thoughts doing issues within the Senate with out a lot credit score. As Congress grew to become increasingly partisan, the diminutive Kohl virtually gave the impression to be a throwback to a different period.
“I’m an individual who doesn’t consider in invective,” he as soon as mentioned. “I by no means exit and look to seize the mike or go in entrance of the TV digital camera. After I go to work on a regular basis, I verify my ego on the door.”
Kohl’s average temperament was matched by his voting file.
In 2001, he was one in every of only a dozen Democratic senators to vote for President George W. Bush’s tax cuts, however he voted in opposition to the president’s tax cuts in 2003. He additionally voted to authorize army pressure in opposition to Iraq in 2002.
Kohl, who by no means married, mentioned that being single gave him time to stability the calls for of life as a senator and proprietor. An indication on his Senate workplace desk mentioned: “The Bucks Cease Right here.”
Former AP reporter Frederic J. Frommer in Washington, D.C., was the first author of this obituary. AP reporter Todd Richmond reported reported from Madison, Wisconsin.
