John Bell Williams (December 4, 1918 – March 25, 1983) was an American
Democratic politician who represented
Mississippi
Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...
in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1947 to 1968 and served as
Governor of Mississippi
A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political r ...
from 1968 to 1972.
He was first elected to Congress in 1946, representing southwestern
Mississippi
Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...
. At just 27 years old, he was the youngest man to be elected
U.S. Representative
The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...
from Mississippi. He was re-elected repeatedly to Congress through the 1966 election in what was then a one-party Democratic state but was stripped of his congressional leadership positions after he supported Republican
Barry Goldwater
Barry Morris Goldwater (January 2, 1909 – May 29, 1998) was an American politician and United States Air Force officer who was a five-term U.S. Senator from Arizona (1953–1965, 1969–1987) and the Republican Party nominee for presiden ...
in the 1964 presidential election.
Williams was
elected Governor in 1967, defeating numerous candidates. He had a history of supporting racial segregation but complied with a federal court order to finally desegregate Mississippi's public schools.
Early life and education
John Bell Williams was born in 1918 in
Raymond
Raymond is a male given name. It was borrowed into English from French (older French spellings were Reimund and Raimund, whereas the modern English and French spellings are identical). It originated as the Germanic ᚱᚨᚷᛁᚾᛗᚢᚾᛞ ( ...
, the county seat of
Hinds County
Hinds County is a county located in the U.S. state of Mississippi. With its county seats ( Raymond and the state's capital, Jackson), Hinds is the most populous county in Mississippi with a 2020 census population of 227,742 residents. Hinds Cou ...
, near the state capital of
Jackson
Jackson may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Jackson (name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the surname or given name
Places
Australia
* Jackson, Queensland, a town in the Maranoa Region
* Jackson North, Qu ...
. He graduated in 1938 from
Hinds Community College
Hinds Community College is a public community college with its main campus in Raymond, Mississippi and branches in Jackson and Vicksburg. The Hinds Community College District includes Hinds County, Claiborne County, part of Copiah County, Ra ...
, then known as Hinds Junior College. He attended the
University of Mississippi
The University of Mississippi (byname Ole Miss) is a public research university that is located adjacent to Oxford, Mississippi, and has a medical center in Jackson. It is Mississippi's oldest public university and its largest by enrollment.
...
at
Oxford
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
and graduated in 1940 from
Mississippi College School of Law
Mississippi College School of Law is an American Bar Association accredited law school. MC Law is one of only two law schools in the state of Mississippi, and is the only law school in the capital city of Jackson, Mississippi. The school is a pro ...
, then known simply as the Jackson Law School.
In November 1941, he enlisted with the
United States Army Air Corps
The United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) was the aerial warfare service component of the United States Army between 1926 and 1941. After World War I, as early aviation became an increasingly important part of modern warfare, a philosophical r ...
and served as a pilot during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. He retired from active service after losing the lower part of his left arm as a result of a bomber crash in 1944.
Political career
In November 1946, Williams was elected at the age of 27 (he turned 28 in December) to the
U.S. House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...
as a Democrat from southwestern
Mississippi
Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...
. He was the youngest U.S. Representative to have been elected from Mississippi.
Williams advocated
states' rights
In American political discourse, states' rights are political powers held for the state governments rather than the federal government according to the United States Constitution, reflecting especially the enumerated powers of Congress and the ...
and
racial segregation
Racial segregation is the systematic separation of people into race (human classification), racial or other Ethnicity, ethnic groups in daily life. Racial segregation can amount to the international crime of apartheid and a crimes against hum ...
. He joined his state's delegation in a walkout of the
1948 Democratic National Convention
The 1948 Democratic National Convention was held at Philadelphia Convention Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from July 12 to July 14, 1948, and resulted in the nominations of President Harry S. Truman for a full term and Senator Alben W. Ba ...
in
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
,
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
. He supported
Strom Thurmond’s
Dixiecrat presidential campaign, whose primary platform was racial segregation. Thurmond easily carried the
electoral vote in Mississippi and three other Deep South states.
After the
Supreme Court
A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...
issued its ''
Brown v. Board of Education
''Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka'', 347 U.S. 483 (1954), was a landmark decision by the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled that U.S. state laws establishing racial segregation in public schools are unconstitutional, even if the segrega ...
'' ruling on May 17, 1954, which outlawed racial segregation in public schools, Williams made a speech on the House floor branding the day 'Black Monday', and subsequently signed the 1956
Southern Manifesto
The Declaration of Constitutional Principles (known informally as the Southern Manifesto) was a document written in February and March 1956, during the 84th United States Congress, in opposition to racial integration of public places. The manife ...
. Williams supported the Democratic
Stevenson-
Sparkman campaign in 1952, but he favored unpledged Democratic electors in 1956 and
1960.
In 1964, Williams endorsed
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 ...
Barry Goldwater
Barry Morris Goldwater (January 2, 1909 – May 29, 1998) was an American politician and United States Air Force officer who was a five-term U.S. Senator from Arizona (1953–1965, 1969–1987) and the Republican Party nominee for presiden ...
in
the general election against incumbent president
Lyndon B. Johnson
Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), often referred to by his initials LBJ, was an American politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. He had previously served as the 37th vice ...
and helped raise funds for Goldwater in Mississippi. Because of his activities for Goldwater, the Democratic caucus (in the House of Representatives) stripped Williams and a colleague,
Albert W. Watson of
South Carolina
)''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no)
, anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind"
, Former = Province of South Carolina
, seat = Columbia
, LargestCity = Charleston
, LargestMetro = ...
, of their House seniority.
Williams remained a Democrat and retained his seat in 1966. Watson soon became a Republican.
Governor
In 1967, Williams ran for governor. The field of candidates was large, including former Governor
Ross Barnett
Ross Robert Barnett (January 22, 1898November 6, 1987) was the Governor of Mississippi from 1960 to 1964. He was a Southern Democrat who supported racial segregation.
Early life
Background and learning
Born in Standing Pine in Leake Count ...
and two future governors,
William Winter and
Bill Waller. In the primary campaign, Williams claimed that, during the 1962 desegregation of the University of Mississippi, former Governor Ross Barnett made a secret deal with
the Kennedys over the admission of
James Meredith
James Howard Meredith (born June 25, 1933) is an American civil rights activist, writer, political adviser, and Air Force veteran who became, in 1962, the first African-American student admitted to the racially segregated University of Mississ ...
, while publicly claiming to do everything to maintain college segregation.
In the first round of balloting, Williams finished second to the moderate candidate, William Winter. In the runoff, Williams defeated Winter by 61,000 votes. In the general election, Williams handily defeated Democrat-turned-Republican
Rubel Phillips
Rubel Lex Phillips (March 29, 1925 – June 18, 2011) was an American politician and lawyer. Growing up poor in Alcorn County, Mississippi, he served in the United States Navy during World War II and, upon returning, earned a law degree. Haili ...
, in his second unsuccessful campaign for governor. Phillips’ running mate for lieutenant governor in 1963,
Stanford Morse, a member of the
Mississippi State Senate
The Mississippi Senate is the upper house of the Mississippi Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Mississippi. The Senate, along with the lower Mississippi House of Representatives, convenes at the Mississippi State Capitol ...
from
Gulfport from 1956 to 1964, endorsed Williams in the 1967 race.
During the campaign, Williams joked that when the returns were tabulated, the Republicans “won’t be able to find a Rubel in the rubble.”
[Billy Hathorn, ‘Challenging the Status Quo: Rubel Lex Phillips and the Mississippi Republican Party (1963-1967)’, ''The Journal of Mississippi History'' XLVII, November 1985, No. 4, pp. 258, 261]
During Williams’ term as governor, Mississippi was ordered to
desegregate
Desegregation is the process of ending the separation of two groups, usually referring to races. Desegregation is typically measured by the index of dissimilarity, allowing researchers to determine whether desegregation efforts are having impact o ...
its public school system by a federal court, as it had made little progress since the 1954 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that deemed such public schools unconstitutional. A case had been brought by civil rights activists and some desegregation of schools had happened at local levels. Williams did not defy the court. In December 1978, 24 years after ''
Brown v. Board of Education
''Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka'', 347 U.S. 483 (1954), was a landmark decision by the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled that U.S. state laws establishing racial segregation in public schools are unconstitutional, even if the segrega ...
'', Mississippi legislature officially removed from
its state constitution the mandate that schools be segregated.
Return to private practice
After his term, Williams resumed his law practice. Williams endorsed Republicans
Gerald Ford
Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr. ( ; born Leslie Lynch King Jr.; July 14, 1913December 26, 2006) was an American politician who served as the 38th president of the United States from 1974 to 1977. He was the only president never to have been elected ...
in 1976 and
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...
in 1980 for president, rather than the Democratic nominee both times,
Jimmy Carter
James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he previously served as th ...
of
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States
Georgia may also refer to:
Places
Historical states and entities
* Related to the ...
.
Death
After leaving office, Williams divorced his wife. He died in
Rankin County on March 25, 1983, being found dead in his apartment the following day; the cause was ruled to be a heart attack. He was buried on March 28, 1983, and his funeral was held in the First Baptist Church in Jackson the following day.
[‘Former Governor John Bell Williams’ (obituary); '']Jackson Clarion-Ledger
''The Clarion Ledger'' is an American daily newspaper in Jackson, Mississippi. It is the second-oldest company in the state of Mississippi, and is one of the few newspapers in the nation that continues to circulate statewide. It is an operating d ...
'', March 29, 1983, p. 26.
See also
*
Conservative Democrat
References
Works cited
*
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, John Bell
1918 births
1983 deaths
American amputees
American politicians with disabilities
American segregationists
American white supremacists
Democratic Party governors of Mississippi
United States Army Air Forces pilots of World War II
Hinds Community College alumni
University of Mississippi alumni
People from Brandon, Mississippi
People from Raymond, Mississippi
Mississippi College School of Law alumni
Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Mississippi
Old Right (United States)
20th-century American politicians