Ben Boo, born January 21, 1925 in St. Paul, served in the military and fought in both World War II and the Korean War. He was elected mayor on April 4, 1967 and served until 1975. Boo boosted Duluth tourism with the creation of the local ski hill Spirit Mountain. He was a very public figure, traveling through Europe and appearing on American television to talk about common urban issues. After his tenure he served in the Minnesota House of Representatives from 1984-1993 and worked as executive director of the Western Lake Superior Sanitary District. He and his wife Mary have six children.
Born April 17, 1940 in Duluth, Robert Beaudin made jobs and the economy his primary focus. Having worked for U.S. Steel at the Morgan Park plant in Duluth, he was all too aware of the effects of that plant's closure on the people of Duluth. He became mayor on January 2, 1975 when Ben Boo resigned, and he won the next election in 1976. He brought Duluth a $6 million water filtration plant as well as Cirrus Aviation, now the city's largest provider of manufacturing jobs. Beaudin died in January 2013, survived by five children and five grandchildren.