William L. Dawson (politician)

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William L. Dawson

William Levi Dawson (* 26. April 1886 in Albany , Georgia ; †  9. November 1970 in Chicago , Illinois ) was an American politician of the Democratic Party , of more than 27 years the state of Illinois in the US House of Representatives represented and thus the African-American members with the longest membership in the Congress belongs.

Life

Degree and lawyer

After attending the Albany Normal School in 1905, he studied at Fisk University , which he graduated in 1909. He then completed his postgraduate studies of law at the Law School of Northwestern University and at Kent College of Law . After the US entry into the First World War , he made 1917-1919 his military service in the 365th  infantry regiment and was last to first lieutenant promoted. After being admitted to the bar, he began working as a lawyer in Chicago in 1920 .

At the beginning of the 1930s he began his political career in the Democratic Party and was initially from 1930 to 1932 a member of the Central Committee of the Democrats in Illinois and from 1933 to 1939 a member of the City Council of Chicago, in which he represented the 2nd  Ward . He was then a member of the Democratic National Committee from 1939 until his death .

Congressman

In the US congressional elections in 1942 Dawson was elected to the US House of Representatives for the first time and represented in this after 13 subsequent re-elections from January 3, 1943 until his death on November 9, 1970, the first congressional electoral district of Illinois as the successor to Arthur W. Mitchell . He is one of the Afro-American congressmen with the longest membership in the US House of Representatives.

During this time he was from March 1949 to March 1952 Chairman of the Committee on Expenditures in Executive Departments and from March 1955 until his death Chairman of the Committee on Government Operations ( House Committee on Government Operations ).

In the 1950s he was next to TRM Howard as one of the leading spokespersons for the Regional Council of Negro Leadership (RCNL), a civil rights organization and advocacy group for African American US citizens. Because of his commitment and his services in the US presidential election in 1960 , John F. Kennedy offered him the post of US Postmaster General and thus a position in the cabinet after his election as US President in January 1961 . He turned down this offer, however, because he would rather continue to assert his influence in the US House of Representatives. However, he was next to Marjorie Lawson chairman of a council for civil rights, which was set up by Kennedy on advice from Harris Wofford .

After his death, he was replaced as Congressman by Ralph Metcalfe and after his cremation he was buried in the columbarium of the Griffin Funeral Home in Chicago.

Background literature

Web links

  • William L. Dawson in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)