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.
George D. Johnson was born on February 18, 1917 in Duluth. After attending several area colleges and universities, Johnson worked in the American Steel and Wire division of U.S. Steel. He served his first term as mayor from 1953-1956 under the "commissioner" model of government. When Mayor E. Clifford Mork died in office in 1962, Johnson was appointed to take his place and won the subsequent election in 1963 under the "strong mayor" government model. After his terms he rose to prominence in the United Steelworks of America, the Minnesota Mayors Association, the League of Minnesota Municipalities, and the City Charter Commission. He died in 1999, leaving behind his wife Eleanor and two 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.