William F. Hildenbrand (November 28, 1921 – July 21, 2011) was an American government officer who served as the

Secretary of the United States Senate The secretary of the Senate is an officer of the United States Senate. The secretary supervises an extensive array of offices and services to expedite the day-to-day operations of that body. The office is somewhat analogous to that of the clerk ...

from 1981 to 1985.

Biography

Hildenbrand was born in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, on November 28, 1921. He enlisted in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

in 1942 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 opposing ...

and was sent to Europe in the

infantry Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and mar ...

. He returned to

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

following the end of World War II, where he worked as a

radio announcer An announcer is a voice artist who relays information to the audience of a broadcast media programme or live event. Television and other media Some announcers work in television production, radio or filmmaking, usually providing narrations ...

. He was once again deployed by the Army during the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

. Hildenbrand was hired as a congressional staffer by Rep. Harry Haskell, a Republican from Delaware, in 1957, based moved to

Washington D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, Na ...

Haskell lost his bid for re-election in 1958, so Hildenbrand took a position with the

Department of Health, Education and Welfare The United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is a cabinet-level executive branch department of the U.S. federal government created to protect the health of all Americans and providing essential human services. Its motto is ...

. In 1969, Hildenbrand returned to the Capitol when he was hired as a staff member for the Republican

Minority Whip The positions of majority leader and minority leader are held by two United States senators and members of the party leadership of the United States Senate. They serve as the chief spokespersons for their respective political parties holdin ...

, Senator

Hugh Scott Hugh Doggett Scott Jr. (November 11, 1900 – July 21, 1994) was an American politician. A member of the Republican Party, he represented Pennsylvania in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1947 to 1959 and in the U.S. Senate, from 195 ...

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, ...

. Hildenbrand became the Secretary for the Minority of the Senate in 1974. Republicans won control of the United States Senate in the 1980 Senate elections and took control of the chamber in January 1981. Hildenbrand aided

Senate Majority Leader The positions of majority leader and minority leader are held by two United States senators and members of the party leadership of the United States Senate. They serve as the chief spokespersons for their respective political parties holding t ...

Howard Baker in the transition from Democratic control to Republican control, the first such transfer of party control in the Senate in twenty-six years. The Republicans named Hildenbrand as the

in 1981. He served as Secretary until his retirement in 1985. Hildenbrand released a

memoir A memoir (; , ) is any nonfiction narrative writing based in the author's personal memories. The assertions made in the work are thus understood to be factual. While memoir has historically been defined as a subcategory of biography or autobiog ...

entitled, ''When the Senate Cared'', in 2007. He also added his stories and history to the Senate's oral history

archive An archive is an accumulation of historical records or materials – in any medium – or the physical facility in which they are located. Archives contain primary source documents that have accumulated over the course of an individual or ...

for preservation. Hildenbrand died on July 21, 2011, at the age of 89. The United States Senate passed a resolution honoring him for his service to the chamber.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hildenbrand, William 1921 births 2011 deaths Secretaries of the United States Senate United States Army personnel of World War II United States Army personnel of the Korean War Writers from Pennsylvania Politicians from Pottsville, Pennsylvania