 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "William Spong Jr." – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(September 2010) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
William B. Spong Jr. | |
|---|---|
 | |
| 17thDean of William & Mary Law School | |
| In office 1976–1985 | |
| Preceded by | James P. Whyte Jr. |
| Succeeded by | Timothy J. Sullivan |
| United States Senator fromVirginia | |
| In office December 31, 1966 – January 3, 1973 | |
| Preceded by | A. Willis Robertson |
| Succeeded by | William L. Scott |
| Member of theVirginia Senate from the3rd district | |
| In office January 12, 1966 – December 31, 1966 Serving with William Hodges & William Kellam | |
| Preceded by | Gordon F. Marsh |
| Succeeded by | Willard J. Moody |
| Member of theVirginia Senate from the10th district | |
| In office January 11, 1956 – January 12, 1966 | |
| Preceded by | James D. Hagood |
| Succeeded by | Edward E. Willey |
| Member of theVirginia House of Delegates fromPortsmouth City | |
| In office January 13, 1954 – January 11, 1956 Serving with John A. MacKenzie | |
| Preceded by | R. Winston Bain |
| Succeeded by | Willard J. Moody |
| Personal details | |
| Born | William Belser Spong Jr. (1920-09-29)September 29, 1920 Portsmouth,Virginia, U.S. |
| Died | October 8, 1997(1997-10-08) (aged 77) Portsmouth, Virginia, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse | Virginia Wise Galliford |
| Alma mater | Hampden–Sydney College University of Virginia University of Edinburgh |
| Signature |  |
| Military service | |
| Branch/service | |
| Years of service | 1942–1945 |
| Unit | 93rd Bombardment Group |
| Battles/wars | World War II |
William Belser Spong Jr. (September 29, 1920 – October 8, 1997) was an AmericanDemocratic Partypolitician and aUnited States Senator who represented the state ofVirginia from 1966 to 1973.
Spong was born inPortsmouth, Virginia, and attendedpublic schools,Hampden–Sydney College inHampden Sydney, theUniversity of Virginia inCharlottesville, and theUniversity of Edinburgh inScotland. He studiedlaw, and was admitted to the bar in 1947, commencing practice in Portsmouth soon thereafter. DuringWorld War II, Spong served in theArmy Air Corps, Eighth Air Force from 1942 to 1945. After the war, Spong was a lecturer in law and government at theCollege of William and Mary from 1948 to 1949.
Spong entered Virginia politics as a member of theVirginia House of Delegates from 1954 to 1955, and afterwards as a member of theVirginia State Senate from 1956 to 1966. While in the Senate, Spong was chairman of the Virginia Commission on Public Education from 1958 to 1962.
In 1966, Spong was personally recruited by PresidentLyndon Johnson to mount a primary challenge against 20-year incumbent SenatorA. Willis Robertson. Johnson was angered at Robertson's opposition to theCivil Rights andVoting Rights Acts. Spong defeated Robertson in one of the biggest upsets in Virginia political history and breezed to victory in November. Robertson resigned on December 31, 1966;GovernorMills Godwin appointed Spong to the seat, giving Spong higher seniority than other senators elected that November. Spong's primary victory marked the beginning of the end of theByrd Organization's long dominance of Virginia politics. Spong's Senate career was short-lived; in1972, he was narrowly defeated for reelection by 8th District RepresentativeWilliam L. Scott.
Spong would be the last Democrat elected to the Senate from Virginia untilChuck Robb's victory in 1988. Spong's Senate colleague,Harry F. Byrd Jr., became an independent in 1970.
After his Senate career, Spong returned to the practice of law, and also served as a lawprofessor and thedean of theMarshall-Wythe School of Law at the College of William and Mary from 1976 to 1985. In 1976, Spong was president of theVirginia Bar Association. He was appointed interim president ofOld Dominion University in 1988, and was a resident of Portsmouth until his death. He is interred at theUniversity of Virginia Cemetery inCharlottesville, Virginia.
A popular Internet joke claims[1] that William B. Spong of Virginia andHiram Fong of Hawaii sponsored a bill recommending the mass ringing of church bells to welcome the arrival in Hong Kong of theU.S. Table Tennis Team after its tour of Communist China. The bill failed to pass, cheating the Senate out of passing the Spong-Fong Hong Kong Ping Pong Ding Dong Bell Bill.
In fact, Senator Spong never sponsored such a bill, but he did have some fun with the press soon after arriving inWashington, D.C. As described in an article by his cousin, the Rt. Rev.John Shelby Spong, Senator Spong:
was invited with the other freshman senators to address the National Press Club. Fearful that someone on radio or television would call him Senator Sponge, he used his brief five-minute introductory speech to that body to secure proper name identification. His first act as a senator, he announced in his southern drawl, would be to introduce a bill to protect the rights of songwriters in Hong Kong. He would be joined in this effort by the senior senator of Louisiana,Russell Long, and the senior senator from Hawaii,Hiram Fong, and together they would present the Long Fong Spong Hong Kong Song Bill. His name was never mispronounced by members of the media.[citation needed]
Other sources crediting Spong with the humorous bill name suggest different contexts.[2][3]
Spong married Virginia Wise Galliford. They had two children, Martha and Tom.
Some few years ago, members of Congress played a game, conjuring up preposterous names for bills.
| Party political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Democratic nominee forU.S. Senator fromVirginia (Class 2) 1966,1972 | Succeeded by |
| U.S. Senate | ||
| Preceded by | U.S. senator (Class 2) from Virginia December 31, 1966 – January 3, 1973 Served alongside:Harry F. Byrd Jr. | Succeeded by |
| Academic offices | ||
| Preceded by | Dean ofthe College of William & Mary Law School 1976–1985 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by Dr. Joseph M. Marchello | President ofOld Dominion University 1989–1990 | Succeeded by Dr. James V. Koch |
| Class 1 |  | |
|---|---|---|
| Class 2 | ||
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
