This article includes a list ofgeneral references, butit lacks sufficient correspondinginline citations. Please help toimprove this article byintroducing more precise citations.(March 2013) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

William Kettner
Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromCalifornia's11th district
In office March 4, 1913 – March 3, 1921
Preceded by	District created
Succeeded by	Phil Swing
Personal details
Born	(1864-11-20)November 20, 1864 Ann Arbor, Michigan, U.S.
Died	November 11, 1930(1930-11-11) (aged 65) San Diego, California, U.S.
Resting place	Greenwood Memorial Park
Party	Democratic

William Kettner (November 20, 1864 – November 11, 1930) was an AmericanDemocratic politician fromSan Diego, California. He served four terms inCongress from 1913 through 1921 and is credited with bringing manyU.S. Navy facilities to San Diego.

Kettner was born in 1864 inAnn Arbor, Michigan, to John F. and Frederika Kettner, bothGerman immigrants.^[1] His parents moved toSt. Paul, Minnesota, in 1873. His father died when he was 13, so he had to leave school to work, first as a bell boy, then he drove a dray horse. He came to San Diego when he was 21, in the middle of an economic boom in the late 1880s, and worked various odd jobs around the state.

In 1893, he married Ida B. Griffs inVisalia, California, and went into the real estate and insurance business there. The couple divorced in 1904.

Kettner married Marion Morgan in 1905, and they lived in Visalia until moving to San Diego in 1907. William Kettner set up an insurance business, and later became involved with real estate and banking. The next year the city was visited by the U.S. Navy'sGreat White Fleet - its first U.S. stop on a round-the-world cruise. Kettner was inspired by the visit and volunteered to organize the city's reception festivities for the fleet. He then became a member of the board of the San Diego Chamber of Commerce, and served as its director.^[2]

Kettner was first elected to theHouse of Representatives in 1912. Although he was aDemocrat andRepublicans had traditionally represented the district, he was supported by many Republicans, including the conservativeSan DiegoUnion, because of his popularity with the Chamber of Commerce and the turmoil in the national Republican party caused byTheodore Roosevelt's split of the party into "stand-patters" and Progressives. Republicans used the slogan "Why not Kettner?" Kettner won by 3,500 votes. He was re-elected in 1914 by 24,000 votes; in 1916 by 9,000 votes; and in 1918 when he ran unopposed.^[2]

During his four terms in Congress, 1913–1921, he spent much effort bringing naval bases to San Diego. His first accomplishment, achieved by lobbying even before he was sworn in as a member of Congress, was a federal appropriation to dredgeSan Diego Bay to allow large ships to enter. He continued to promote San Diego and Southern California interests (the Congressional district then encompassed ten counties) throughout his tenure.^[2]

Kettner won friends easily with his warm personality and addressed colleagues as "brother", earning him the nickname of "Brother Bill" in San Diego andWashington D.C. He courted many congressmen and officials, lobbying them over dinner and gifting them with California produce such as oranges and wine. He became friends withFranklin D. Roosevelt, thenAssistant Secretary of the Navy. Roosevelt visited San Diego during the1915Panama–California Exposition and came away impressed with the area's potential as a Navy base. He helped Kettner's efforts to establish bases in San Diego as assistant naval secretary and later as thepresident of the United States.

He stepped down as congressman in 1920 due to poor health and a financial downturn with his insurance business.

By the time Kettner retired from Congress in 1921, he had secured many naval bases, includingCamp Kearny on the site which is nowMarine Corps Air Station Miramar as well asNaval Base San Diego,Naval Medical Center San Diego,Naval Training Center San Diego, andNaval Air Station North Island, and the Broadway Naval Supply Depot. The military later became for a time the largest employer inSan Diego County. Kettner was nicknamed the "Million Dollar Congressman" for his ability to gain naval bases in San Diego.

Kettner died in San Diego in 1930 and is buried atGreenwood Memorial Park, beside his mother, who died in 1912.

In 1919 the fireboatBill Kettner, in use until 1961, was named in his honor. In 1930, San Diego's Arctic Street was renamed Kettner Boulevard to honor him.

This sectionis a candidate forcopying over toWikiquote using the Transwiki process.

I firmly believe that most people have a longing to do something for their fellowman, in order that it may be said when they have passed on that their lives have not been spent in vain.

• Kettner, William (1923).Why It Was Done and How.. Compiled by Mary B. Steyle. Kettner's Congressional autobiography, with his portrait.
• Black, Samuel T. (1913).San Diego County California. The S. J. Clark Publishing Company, Chicago., v. 2, pp. 104–105: "William Kettner"
• Heilbron, Carl (1936).History of San Diego County. San Diego Press Club. Biography, pp. 106–108
• Biography (San Diego Historical Society)
• United States Congress."William Kettner (id: K000155)".Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
• "William Kettner: San Diego's Dynamic Congressman",The Journal of San Diego History 25:3 (Summer 1979) by Lucille C. DuVall

• 1864 births
• 1930 deaths
• History of San Diego
• Businesspeople from San Diego
• Politicians from San Diego
• Politicians from Ann Arbor, Michigan
• Politicians from Saint Paul, Minnesota
• American bankers
• American businesspeople in the insurance industry
• American businesspeople in the real estate industry
• American people of German descent
• California city council members
• Democratic Party United States representatives from California
• Burials at Greenwood Memorial Park (San Diego)
• 20th-century United States representatives
• Politicians from Visalia, California
• Businesspeople from Visalia, California

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Articles lacking in-text citations from March 2013
• All articles lacking in-text citations
• Copy to Wikiquote