William Doddridge McFarlane (July 17, 1894 – February 18, 1980) was a

United States 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 ...

from

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

. Born in

Greenwood, Arkansas Greenwood is a city in and one of the two county seats of Sebastian County, Arkansas, United States. It is the fifth largest municipality in the Fort Smith, Arkansas-Oklahoma Metropolitan Statistical Area with a population of 8,952 according to ...

, McFarlane attended public schools and the

University of Arkansas at Fayetteville The University of Arkansas (U of A, UArk, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Fayetteville, Arkansas. It is the flagship campus of the University of Arkansas System and the largest university in the state. Founded as Arkansas ...

1909-1914. He engaged in the mercantile business in

, from 1914 to 1918. During the First World War, he was commissioned a second lieutenant in August 1918, and served until honorably discharged on December 13, 1918. He returned to the University of Arkansas in 1919 and received his Bachelor of Arts degree that year from Kent Law School,

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, and his LL.B. in 1921; later, in his 70s, he completed his J.D. there in 1969. He was

admitted to the bar An admission to practice law is acquired when a lawyer receives a license to practice law. In jurisdictions with two types of lawyer, as with barristers and solicitors, barristers must gain admission to the bar whereas for solicitors there are dist ...

in 1921 and commenced practice in

Graham, Texas Graham is a city in north-central Texas. It is the county seat and largest city of Young County. History The site was first settled in 1871 by brothers Gustavus A. and Edwin S. Graham, primary shareholders in the Texas Emigration and Land Company ...

. He served as member of the

Texas House of Representatives The Texas House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Texas Legislature. It consists of 150 members who are elected from single-member districts for two-year terms. As of the 2010 United States census, each member represents abou ...

from 1923 to 1927, and then in the

Texas State Senate The Texas Senate ( es, Senado de Texas) is the upper house of the Texas State Legislature. There are 31 members of the Senate, representing single-member districts across the U.S. state of Texas, with populations of approximately 806,000 per cons ...

from 1927 to 1931. McFarlane was elected as a Democratic Representative for Texas's 13th congressional district to the Seventy-third and to the two succeeding Congresses (March 4, 1933 – January 3, 1939). He was an unsuccessful candidate for renomination in 1938 to the Seventy-sixth Congress. He resumed the practice of law, and served as special assistant to the attorney general at

Texarkana, Texas Texarkana is a city in Bowie County, Texas, United States, in the Ark-La-Tex region. Located approximately from Dallas, Texarkana is a twin city with neighboring Texarkana, Arkansas. The Texas city's population was 36,193 at the 2020 census. ...

, from 1941 to 1944, and then as director of the Surplus Property Smaller War Plants Corporation,

Washington, DC ) , 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 ...

, from December 1944 to January 1946. He served as special assistant to the Attorney General in Washington, DC, January 1946 to July 1, 1951. He was an unsuccessful candidate in 1951 to fill the vacancy in the Eighty-second Congress. He subsequently served in the Lands Division of the Justice Department from December 1, 1951, until his retirement on August 1, 1966, when he again resumed the practice of law. He was the father of five children: Mary, Betty, Bill, Barbara, and Robert. Son

Robert McFarlane Robert Carl "Bud" McFarlane (July 12, 1937 – May 12, 2022) was an American Marine Corps officer who served as National Security Advisor to President Ronald Reagan from 1983 to 1985. Within the Reagan administration, McFarlane was a leading ar ...

was the National Security Advisor to President

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 ...

from 1983 until late 1985. William McFarlane and his wife Inez resided in Graham, Texas, where he died February 18, 1980. He was interred in Oak Grove Cemetery.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McFarlane, William D. 1894 births 1980 deaths People from Greenwood, Arkansas People from Graham, Texas Military personnel from Arkansas University of Arkansas alumni Chicago-Kent College of Law alumni Democratic Party Texas state senators Democratic Party members of the Texas House of Representatives Texas lawyers United States Army officers Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Texas 20th-century American politicians 20th-century American lawyers Military personnel from Texas