His role in the clash between Senator Joseph R. McCarthy and presidential candidate Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1952 has interested historians for decades.

Walter Jr.'s mother was the former Charlotte "Lottie" Henrietta Schroeder (1869–1947), and he had three brothers: John Michael Kohler III (1902–68), Carl James (1905–60), and Robert Eugene (1908–90).

Walter enjoyed many luxuries while growing up, but they were tempered by a strong-willed father who impressed his boys with the necessity of integrity, hard work, learning, good manners, frugality, and service to the community.

In 1938, Walter and Celeste built a handsome estate, Windway, in the country along the banks of the Pigeon River north of Kohler in the township of Sheboygan Falls.

Walter owned two paintings by French artist Georges Seurat including Black Cow in a Meadow, c. 1881, and Two Stonebreakers, c. 1881, that he donated to Yale.

In August 1942, Kohler joined the United States Navy as a Lieutenant and was assigned duty as a combat intelligence officer in the Solomon Islands.

Walter quietly vowed that if he survived the war, he would go into public service to put an end to such violence and destruction.

Using inheritance funds and borrowed money, Walter made an effort to run the Vollrath Company in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, a maker of kitchen utensils and dairy supply products.

A short time later, Terry Kohler, Walter's son, assumed the reins of the highly expanded and profitable corporation.

Dewey's unpredictable loss to Harry S Truman prompted many Republicans for the next few years to employ "Red Scare" tactics.

The package included two civil rights measures, a hike in old age pensions, and improved unemployment and workmen's compensation benefits.

When the candidate was about to campaign in Wisconsin, Kohler privately asked Eisenhower to alter a proposed Milwaukee speech that was critical of McCarthy.

Walter admitted to being offered various positions in Washington, D.C., including at least one on the White House staff during his second term as governor.

Bill Proxmire, the man Kohler defeated handily, began to campaign the day after the election to win the governorship in 1954.

At the conclusion of his third two-year term in 1956, he had built an impressive record that included advances in higher education, redistricting, highway construction, public welfare, conservation, and the criminal and children's law codes.

In the meantime, Anti-McCarthy forces from the political center and left stepped up their nationwide efforts to bring down the Wisconsin Senator and end the Second Red Scare.

Kohler played a role in the 1960 Republican National Convention, but he then saw himself primarily as a businessman and fundraiser for the American Cancer Society.

He continued to deteriorate until he died of a massive heart attack at Sheboygan Memorial Hospital on March 21, 1976, at the age of 71.