Aloys P. Kaufmann was born in St. Louis in 1902. He began his political career in 1936 when he became head of the Republican Party City Central Committee. In April 1943 he became President of the Board of Alderman and later that year he succeeded to the office of Mayor upon the death of Mayor Becker. In November 1944, Kaufmann was elected to serve out the unexpired term of Mayor Becker and in 1945 he was re-elected to a full four-year term by a two-to-one majority. In 1949, Kaufmann chose not to run again and entered private law practice. In 1954 he became President of the Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan St. Louis. Kaufmann also served as Bi-State Development Commissioner, Executive Vice President and General Counsel of the city’s Urban Redevelopment Corporation, and Director of the St. Louis Human Development Corporation. Kaufman died in St. Louis on February 12, 1984.

Kaufmann helped draw up the $43 million bond issue proposal that was approved by the voters August 1, 1944 which, among other things, provided for the expansion of Lambert Field Municipal Airport from 350 to 1400 acres. The first St. Louis Earnings Tax Ordinance was passed in 1946, but was declared unconstitutional by the Missouri Supreme Court. Later, in 1948, a second Earnings Tax Ordinance was passed after the Missouri Legislature had passed an Enabling Act.