William McBride (May 10, 1945 – December 22, 2012) was an

American lawyer ''The American Lawyer'' is a monthly legal magazine and website published by ALM Media. The periodical and its parent company, ALM (then American Lawyer Media), were founded in 1979 by Steven Brill.politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking ...

. A member of the Democratic Party, he challenged

Jeb Bush John Ellis "Jeb" Bush (born February 11, 1953) is an American politician and businessman who served as the 43rd governor of Florida from 1999 to 2007. Bush, who grew up in Houston, was the second son of former President George H. W. Bush ...

for

Florida governor The governor of Florida is the head of government of the state of Florida and the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The governor has a duty to enforce state laws and the power to either approve or veto bills passed by the Florida ...

in the 2002 gubernatorial election. Bush won by a 56 to 43 percent margin, making him the first

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

governor of Florida to serve two terms. McBride had earlier defeated former

United States Attorney General The United States attorney general (AG) is the head of the United States Department of Justice, and is the chief law enforcement officer of the federal government of the United States. The attorney general serves as the principal advisor to the p ...

Janet Reno Janet Wood Reno (July 21, 1938 – November 7, 2016) was an American lawyer who served as the 78th United States attorney general. She held the position from 1993 to 2001, making her the second-longest serving attorney general, behind only Wi ...

in the Democratic primary. McBride was born in Belleville, Illinois and grew up in Leesburg, Florida. He graduated from the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

in 1967. While at UF, McBride served as treasurer of

Florida Blue Key Florida Blue Key is a student leadership honor society at the University of Florida which was founded in 1923. History Founding and early years "Florida Blue Key was founded on November 1, 1923, several days prior to the University's Homeco ...

and was inducted into the University of Florida Hall of Fame. McBride served in the

Marine Corps Marines, or naval infantry, are typically a military force trained to operate in littoral zones in support of naval operations. Historically, tasks undertaken by marines have included helping maintain discipline and order aboard the ship (refl ...

from 1968 to 1971. McBride was awarded a

Bronze Star The Bronze Star Medal (BSM) is a United States Armed Forces decoration awarded to members of the United States Armed Forces for either heroic achievement, heroic service, meritorious achievement, or meritorious service in a combat zone. Wh ...

with a

Valor device Valor, valour, or valorous may mean: * Courage, a similar meaning * Virtue ethics, roughly "courage in defense of a noble cause" Entertainment * Valor (band), a Christian gospel music group * Valor Kand, a member of the band Christian Death * ...

. Upon his return to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

, McBride taught at Officer Candidates School at

Marine Corps Base Quantico Marine Corps Base Quantico (commonly abbreviated MCB Quantico) is a United States Marine Corps installation located near Triangle, Virginia, covering nearly of southern Prince William County, Virginia, northern Stafford County, and southeas ...

. Upon leaving the Marine Corps, McBride attended the University of Florida Law School. While studying law he fell under the tutelage of

Chesterfield Smith Chesterfield Harvey Smith (July 28, 1917 – July 16, 2003) was an American lawyer. He co-founded the law firm Holland & Knight and served as president of the American Bar Association in 1973-1974, during the Watergate scandal. Early life an ...

, a powerful politically connected Florida attorney and then president of the

American Bar Association The American Bar Association (ABA) is a voluntary bar association of lawyers and law students, which is not specific to any jurisdiction in the United States. Founded in 1878, the ABA's most important stated activities are the setting of aca ...

. McBride left law school for a time to serve as Smith's assistant at the ABA. After graduation, McBride joined Smith's Tampa law firm,

Holland & Knight Holland & Knight LLP is an American multinational law firm with more than 1,700 lawyers and other professionals in 35 offices in the United States, Europe, Latin America, and North Africa. Headquartered in Tampa, Florida, the firm provides repre ...

, where he rose in the ranks until becoming managing partner in 1992. McBride's tenure at the helm of Holland & Knight has been the source of some controversy. He is credited with having expanded the firm's size and power and with having helped to make it the seventh-largest firm in the U.S. by number of lawyers employed at the time of his retirement in 2001. At the time the firm ranked 21st in terms of revenue but 98th in terms of profit-per-partner, and had "become known as a reputable, but flabby, operation, long on underproductive partners and comparatively short on workhorse associates." McBride was the father of two children with his wife, Adelaide "Alex" Sink, a former statewide president for

NationsBank NationsBank was one of the largest banking corporations in the United States, based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The company named NationsBank was formed through the merger of several other banks in 1991, and prior to that had been through mul ...

(now

Bank of America The Bank of America Corporation (often abbreviated BofA or BoA) is an American multinational investment bank and financial services holding company headquartered at the Bank of America Corporate Center in Charlotte, North Carolina. The bank ...

), former

Chief Financial Officer of Florida The chief financial officer of Florida is an elected statewide constitutional officer of Florida. The office was created in 2002 following the 1998 reforms of the Florida Cabinet. The CFO is a combination of the former offices of comptroller and ...

, and 2010 Democratic nominee for Governor of Florida. Since 2003, Bill McBride was partner with the law firm of Barnett, Bolt, Kirkwood, Long & McBride in Tampa. He was also chair of the board of the investment banking firm Hyde Park Capital Partners, LLC, with offices in Tampa and

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...

. McBride was a member of the American Law Institute and was a member of the board of directors of the Warrington College of Business Administration's Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the University of Florida. McBride was named Mr. Leesburg High while still a student. He attended Boy's State while in school and ran a successful campaign for governor at the event. McBride died on December 22, 2012, after suffering a heart attack while vacationing with his family in Mt Airy, North Carolina.

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:McBride, Bill 1945 births 2012 deaths Florida Democrats Florida lawyers People from Belleville, Illinois Spouses of Florida politicians United States Marines United States Marine Corps personnel of the Vietnam War Military personnel from Florida University of Florida alumni Holland & Knight partners Members of the American Law Institute Candidates in the 2002 United States elections Fredric G. Levin College of Law alumni 20th-century American lawyers