Jack Sensenbrenner

Maynard Edward "Jack" Sensenbrenner (September 18, 1902 – 1991) was an American politician of the Democratic party, who served as a populist mayor of Columbus, Ohio.

The son of a jeweler, Sensenbrenner was born in Circleville, Ohio, in the countryside directly southward of Columbus on the highway U.S. 23. Sensenbrenner graduated from Circleville High School and attended a Bible college in Los Angeles, wishing to follow his twin brother Marion into the ministry, but he did not complete the course. Sensenbrenner worked in a variety of jobs, including working in oil fields and for the advertising department of the Los Angeles Times. During the Great Depression, he worked as a Fuller Brush salesman in southern California. His move to the west coast was prompted by Mildred Sexauer. Jack was in love with Mildred and when her family moved out West to find work, Jack followed. Jack and Mildred were happily married for over fifty years, producing three children, Patricia (died at birth), Edward and Richard.

In 1934, he returned to Circleville and started working sales. Soon he moved to Columbus, settling on the West side where he became a partner in a religious bookstore.

In 1953, Sensenbrenner, then a stranger to politics (although he had been active in the Columbus community) surprised the Franklin County Democratic Committee with a visit and announced his ambition to run for mayor of Columbus. The party was without any strong hopefuls—Columbus had not had a Democratic mayor since 1935— but they would not endorse Sensenbrenner. Only after a runoff within the party did Sensenbrenner secure the Democratic nomination. His upset win in 1954 was written up around the country. That success might have largely been due to Sensenbrenner's decision to campaign on local television, which was uncommon at the time.

Sensenbrenner was unseated temporarily from 1960 to 1963 by Republican W. Ralston Westlake, but won back his seat. He served as Columbus's mayor from 1954 to 1960 and from 1964 to 1972. He laid the groundwork for the massive growth of Columbus in the late 20th century by requiring all neighborhoods that accepted city water service to be annexed into the city. His creed "God, Love and Country" helped to win Columbus the coveted "All America City Award" from the National Civic League in 1958. Under his leadership Columbus grew by more than 100 square miles.

Sensenbrenner was a popular political character in Columbus, known for throwing around terms like spizzerinctum, which, he said, was the quality that made "Columbus, the United States of America, the Boy Scouts of America ... absolutely dynamic." (He picked up the term from his high school football coach.) He habitually wore a straw skimmer hat and at the drop of a hat would perform an old-fashioned shuffle dance.

Sensenbrenner's wife, the former Mildred Harriet Sexauer, was the niece of a former mayor of Lancaster, Ohio. They were married in 1927. His grandson, Richard Sensenbrenner(Edward's son), has served as a member of the Columbus city council.