G. Mennen Williams | |
|---|---|
 | |
| 59th Chief Justice of theMichigan Supreme Court | |
| In office January 1, 1983 – January 1, 1987 | |
| Preceded by | John Warner Fitzgerald |
| Succeeded by | Dorothy Comstock Riley |
| Justice of the Michigan Supreme Court | |
| In office January 1, 1971 – January 1, 1987 | |
| Preceded by | John R. Dethmers Harry F. Kelly |
| Succeeded by | Robert P. Griffin |
| 11thUnited States Ambassador to the Philippines | |
| In office June 17, 1968 – April 7, 1969 | |
| President | Lyndon B. Johnson Richard Nixon |
| Preceded by | William McCormick Blair Jr. |
| Succeeded by | Henry A. Byroade |
| 2nd Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs | |
| In office February 1, 1961 – March 23, 1966 | |
| President | John F. Kennedy Lyndon B. Johnson |
| Preceded by | Joseph C. Satterthwaite |
| Succeeded by | Joseph Palmer II |
| 41st Governor of Michigan | |
| In office January 1, 1949 – January 1, 1961 | |
| Lieutenant | John W. Connolly William C. Vandenberg Clarence A. Reid Philip A. Hart John B. Swainson |
| Preceded by | Kim C. Sigler |
| Succeeded by | John B. Swainson |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Gerhard Mennen Williams (1911-02-23)February 23, 1911 Detroit, Michigan, U.S. |
| Died | February 2, 1988(1988-02-02) (aged 76) Detroit, Michigan, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse | |
| Education | Princeton University (AB) University of Michigan (JD) |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  United States |
| Branch/service |  United States Navy |
| Years of service | 1942–1946 |
| Rank | Lieutenant Commander |
| Battles/wars | World War II |
Gerhard Mennen "Soapy" Williams (February 23, 1911 – February 2, 1988) was an American politician who served as the 41stgovernor of Michigan, elected in 1948 and serving six two-year terms in office. He later served asAssistant Secretary of State for African Affairs under presidentsJohn F. Kennedy andLyndon B. Johnson and as chief justice of theMichigan Supreme Court.
Williams advocated for civil rights, racial equality, and justice for the poor. As assistant secretary of state, his remark that "what we want for the Africans is what they want for themselves", reported in the press as "Africa for the Africans", sparked controversy at the time.
A staunch liberal, Williams was described by theChicago Tribune as a political reformer who "helped forge the alliance between Democrats, blacks and union voters in the late 1940s that began a strongliberal tradition in Michigan."[1]
Williams was born inDetroit, Michigan, to Henry P. Williams and Elma Mennen. His mother came from a prominent family; her father, Gerhard Heinrich Mennen, was the founder of theMennen brand of men's personal care products. Because of this, Williams acquired the popular nickname "Soapy".[2]
Williams attended theSalisbury School in Connecticut, an exclusiveEpiscopalpreparatory school. He graduated fromPrinceton University with an A.B. in history in 1933 after completing a senior thesis titled "Social Significance of Henry Ford".[3] At Princeton, Williams was a member of theQuadrangle Club.[4] He then received aJuris Doctor degree from theUniversity of Michigan Law School.[5] While at law school, Williams became affiliated with theDemocratic Party, departing from his family's strong ties to theRepublican Party.
Williams met Nancy Quirk on a blind date while attending the university. She was the daughter of D. L. Quirk and Julia (Trowbridge) Quirk, a prominentYpsilanti family involved in banking and paper milling. Her brother, Daniel Quirk, was later mayor of Ypsilanti.[6] The couple married in 1937 and had three children; a son, G. Mennen Williams Jr., and two daughters, Nancy Ketterer III and Wendy Stock Williams.
He worked with the law firm Griffiths, Williams and Griffiths from 1936 to 1941. Law firm partners included Hicks Griffiths andMartha Griffiths, later elected a member of Congress and lieutenant governor of Michigan.
During World War II, he served four years in theUnited States Navy as an air combat intelligence officer in theSouth Pacific. He achieved the rank oflieutenant commander and earned tenbattle stars. He later served as the deputy director of theOffice of Price Administration from 1946 to 1947, and was named to theMichigan Liquor Control Commission in 1947.
On November 2, 1948, Williams was elected governor of Michigan, defeating GovernorKim Sigler with the support of labor unions and dissident Republicans. He was elected to a record six two-year terms in that post.[a] Among his accomplishments was the construction of theMackinac Bridge. He appeared on the cover ofTime's September 15, 1952, issue, sporting his signature green bow tie with white polka dots.
Williams believed theMichigan Department of Corrections was underfunded and outdated, and that the state's prisons were dangerously overcrowded. While visitingMarquette Branch Prison in July 1950, Williamswas attacked and briefly held hostage by a group of three inmates hoping to escape. The governor had a knife held to his throat, but his attackers were soon overpowered by his bodyguard and prison employees. One of his attackers was shot dead. Williams was unharmed and mostly unshaken, choosing to continue on with his tour of theUpper Peninsula. He used the attack to his political advantage, blaming it on budget cuts made by theRepublican-controlledMichigan Legislature.[10] Later in the same year, Williams gained prominence for his refusal to extraditeHaywood Patterson, one of theScottsboro Boys, who had escaped from prison in Alabama in 1948 and hidden in Detroit for two years.[11]
Also during Williams's 12 years in office, a farm-marketing program was sanctioned, teachers' salaries, school facilities and educational programs were improved and there were also commissions formed to research problems related to aging, sex offenders and adolescent behavior.
Williams named the first woman judge in the state's history as well as the first black judge.[1] As a delegate to theDemocratic National Convention in 1956, he unsuccessfully sought the vice-presidential nomination. At the 1952, 1956 and 1960 conventions he fought for insertion of a strong civil rights plank in the party platform. He strongly opposed the selection ofLyndon Baines Johnson as vice president in 1960, feeling that Johnson was "ideologically wrong on civil rights". Williams made public his opposition, shouting "No" when a call was made for Johnson's nomination to be made unanimous. He was the only delegate to publicly oppose Johnson's nomination.[12]
His final term in office was marked by high-profile struggles with the Republican-controlledstate legislature and a near-shutdown of the state government. He therefore chose not to seek reelection in 1960. Williams left office on January 1, 1961.
A portrait of Governor Williams, painted byJohn Coppin, hangs in the rotunda of theMichigan State Capitol. In the painting, Williams wears his trademark green polka dot bow tie and sits in front of the Mackinac Bridge.[13]
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After leaving office in 1961, Williams assumed the post ofAssistant Secretary of State for African Affairs in the administration of PresidentJohn F. Kennedy. His remark at a press conference that "what we want for the Africans is what they want for themselves", reported in the press as "Africa for the Africans", sparked controversy.[14] Whites inSouth Africa andRhodesia, and in the British and Portuguese colonies contended that Williams wanted them expelled from the continent. Williams defended his remarks, saying that he included white Africans as Africans. Williams was defended by Kennedy at a press conference, saying that "Africa for the Africans does not seem to me to be an unreasonable statement." Kennedy said that Williams made it clear he was referring to Africans of all colors, and "I don't know who else Africa should be for."[15]
He served in this post until early 1966, when he resigned to unsuccessfully challenge Republican US senatorRobert P. Griffin. Two years later, he was named by PresidentLyndon B. Johnson to beU.S. ambassador to the Philippines, where he served less than a year.[16]
In 1969 he wrote a book on the emergence of modern Africa,Africa for the Africans.
Williams was elected to theMichigan Supreme Court in 1970 and was named chief justice in 1983, serving in that capacity through 1986.[17] Thus, likeWilliam Howard Taft in the federal government,[18] he occupied the highest executive and judicial offices inMichigan government.
Williams left the court on January 1, 1987, and died the following year in Detroit at the age of 76, three weeks before his 77th birthday. He was temporarily entombed at Evergreen Cemetery in Detroit and there was a formal military funeral for him. After winter his remains were interred at the Protestant Cemetery onMackinac Island. HisNew York Times obituary said of Williams's diplomatic service: "Traveling widely, he studied the needs of countries in the birth pangs of independence and brought their pleas for American investment and trust to Washington."[2]
The state government's law building, G. Mennen Williams State Office Building in Lansing, constructed in 1967,[19] was dedicated in Williams's honor on June 1, 1997.[20]
A G. Mennen Williams dinner is an annual event held by the Ionia County Democratic Party each July at theIonia Free Fair. Originally called the Democratic Tent Dinner at its start in the mid-40s, it was renamed after Soapy in 1988 as a way to pay homage to the man that paved the way for dinners to be held at the fair. The Ionia Republican Party had held dinners at the fairgrounds during the 1940s, but the Democrats could not until Soapy stepped up and gained the party equal access in 1949.[citation needed]
A portion ofInterstate 75 inCheboygan County is known as the G. Mennen Williams Highway.[21]
At theUniversity of Detroit Mercy School of Law, the Moot Court Board of Advocates hosts the annual G. Mennen Williams Moot Court Competition.[22]
| Party political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Democratic nominee forGovernor of Michigan 1948,1950,1952,1954,1956,1958 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Democratic nominee for U.S. senatorfromMichigan (Class 2) 1966,1966 | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Governor of Michigan January 1, 1949 – January 1, 1961 | Succeeded by |
| Government offices | ||
| Preceded by | Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs February 1, 1961 – March 23, 1966 | Succeeded by |
| Diplomatic posts | ||
| Preceded by | United States Ambassador to the Philippines June 17, 1968 – April 7, 1969 | Succeeded by |
| Legal offices | ||
| Preceded by | Justice of the Michigan Supreme Court January 1, 1971 – January 1, 1987 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Chief Justice of theMichigan Supreme Court January 1, 1983 – January 1, 1987 | Succeeded by |
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| International | |
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| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
