John Bell Williams

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John Bell Williams

John Bell Williams (* 4. December 1918 in Raymond , Hinds County , Mississippi ; † 25. March 1983 in Brandon , Mississippi) was an American politician of the Democratic Party . He was a member of the US House of Representatives from 1947 to 1968 and governor of Mississippi from 1968 to 1972 .

Career

John Bell Williams graduated from Hinds Junior College in 1936 . He then attended the University of Mississippi at Oxford , where he received his doctorate in 1938, then in 1940 the Jackson Law School . In the same year he was admitted to the bar and began practicing in Raymond. During World War II , he enlisted in the United States Army Air Corps in November 1941 , where he served as a pilot. In 1944 he retired from active service after losing the lower part of his left arm in a bomber crash. From 1944 to 1946 he was a prosecutor in Hinds County .

Williams was elected a Democrat in the 80th and ten subsequent Congresses. He was 27 years old when he was elected, making him the youngest MP from Mississippi. His mandate for Mississippi's 3rd Congressional District ran from January 3, 1947 until his resignation on January 16, 1968, when he was elected governor of Mississippi.

Williams was an advocate of States' Rights (especially the autonomy of the southern states over the federal government ) and racial segregation . He left in 1948 in protest the nomination the Democratic convention for the presidential election , the Democratic National Convention , and supported current Thurmond's presidential campaign, which as a Dixiecrat offered mainly a platform for racial segregation. After the Supreme Court ruled on May 17, 1954 in the Brown v. Board of Education had spoken that banned racial segregation in schools, Williams gave a dramatic speech in the House of Representatives and called the day of the decision "Black Monday" (Black Monday). In 1956 he was involved in the constitution of the Southern Manifesto , which spoke out against racial integration in public institutions.

Williams supported Republican Barry Goldwater in his presidential candidacy in 1964 and helped raise funds in Mississippi. Goldwater won the state with 87.1 percent of the vote. Thereupon the leadership of the Democrats withdrew Williams in 1965 his seniority and thus the chairmanship of the trade committee . He remained - unlike his previous party colleague Albert William Watson , who joined the Republicans - a member of the Democrats and as such won his Congress seat again in the 1966 election.

In 1967 Williams returned to Mississippi and ran for governor. The field of candidates was wide, including a former governor ( Ross Barnett ) and two future governors ( William Winter and Bill Waller ). In the primary, Williams claimed that former Governor Barnett had a secret deal with the Kennedys . There was a runoff against Winter, which he won by 61,000 votes. Then Williams defeated the Republican Ruble Phillips in the actual election by almost 182,000 votes. During his tenure as governor, which began January 16, 1968, racial segregation in the Mississippi school system was overturned as a result of a federal court ruling in the spring of 1970. The staunch segregationist Williams declined to oppose the judge's ruling.

After his governorship, Williams returned to his practice as a lawyer in Raymond, which he practiced until his retirement on January 1, 1981. He supported Gerald Ford in the 1976 presidential election and Ronald Reagan in 1980 , two Republicans, each against Jimmy Carter . John Bell Williams lived in Brandon and was married to Elizabeth Ann Wells, who like him had served in the Army during World War II. He died in Brandon on March 25, 1983 and was buried in Raymond.

literature

  • Sandra Stringer Vance: The Congressional Career of John Bell Williams, 1947-1967. Dissertation, Mississippi State University, 1976.

Web links

supporting documents

  1. ^ John A. Lawrence, How the 'Watergate Babies' Broke American Politics. In: Politico , May 26, 2018.
personal data
SURNAME Williams, John Bell
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American politician
DATE OF BIRTH 4th December 1918
PLACE OF BIRTH Raymond , Mississippi
DATE OF DEATH March 25, 1983
Place of death Brandon , Mississippi