William Herbert Gray III (August 20, 1941 – July 1, 2013) was an American politician and member of the
Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to:
*Democratic Party (United States)
Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to:
Active parties Africa
* Botswana Democratic Party
* Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea
*Gabonese Democratic Party
*De ...
who represented from 1979 to 1991. He also served as chairman of the
House Committee on the Budget from 1985 to 1989 and
House Majority Whip from 1989 to 1991. He resigned from Congress in September of that year to become president and chief executive officer of the
United Negro College Fund, a position he held until 2004.
As an
African American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of enslav ...
, he was the fourth-highest-ranking member of the House at the time of his resignation and a minister in
Philadelphia. He was co-founder of the government lobbying and advisory firm,
Gray Loeffler LLC, headquartered in Washington D.C.
Early life
Gray was born in
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Baton Rouge ( ; ) is a city in and the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana. Located the eastern bank of the Mississippi River, it is the parish seat of East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana's most populous parish—the equivalent of counties ...
, but grew up in
St. Augustine, Florida, where his father was president of Florida Normal and Industrial Institute (later renamed
Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University), and later in
North Philadelphia, Pennsylvania where he graduated from
Simon Gratz High School. He attended
Franklin & Marshall College
Franklin & Marshall College (F&M) is a private liberal arts college in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. It employs 175 full-time faculty members and has a student body of approximately 2,400 full-time students. It was founded upon the merger of Frank ...
, where he received a bachelor's degree in 1963. He went on to obtain a master's in divinity from
Drew Theological Seminary
Drew University is a private university in Madison, New Jersey. Drew has been nicknamed the "University in the Forest" because of its wooded campus. As of fall 2020, more than 2,200 students were pursuing degrees at the university's three scho ...
in 1966 and a master's in theology from
Princeton Theological Seminary
Princeton Theological Seminary (PTSem), officially The Theological Seminary of the Presbyterian Church, is a private school of theology in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1812 under the auspices of Archibald Alexander, the General Assembly o ...
in 1970. Gray received a L.H.D. from
Bates College
Bates College () is a Private college, private liberal arts college in Lewiston, Maine. Anchored by the Historic Quad, the Campus of Bates College, campus of Bates totals with a small urban campus which includes 33 Victorian Houses as some of th ...
in 1994.
Career
In 1972, Gray succeeded his father as the senior minister at Bright Hope Baptist Church in
Philadelphia. He was elected as a
Democrat to represent Philadelphia in the
United States House of Representatives in 1978. He represented
Pennsylvania's 2nd congressional district in the House of Representatives from 1978 until his resignation on September 11, 1991. He was the first
African-American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ensla ...
to chair the
House Budget Committee
The United States House Committee on the Budget, commonly known as the House Budget Committee, is a standing committee of the United States House of Representatives. Its responsibilities include legislative oversight of the federal budget process, ...
and also the first to serve as the
Majority Whip (1989–1991). As chairman of the Committee on Budget, Gray introduced H.R. 1460, an anti-Apartheid bill that prohibited loans and new investment in
South Africa and enforced sanctions on imports and exports with South Africa. This bill was an instrumental precursor to the
Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act
The Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act of 1986 was a law enacted by the United States Congress. The law imposed sanctions against South Africa and stated five preconditions for lifting the sanctions that would essentially end the system of apart ...
of 1986 (H.R. 4868).
Gray resigned unexpectedly from Congress in 1991 to serve as president of the United Negro College Fund from 1991 to 2004. The move was considered surprising and prompted speculation that it may have been connected with an investigation into alleged campaign finance violations by the Gray team.
A Pennsylvania Senate seat had been left vacant when
Senator John Heinz was killed in a plane crash. Major-party candidates were chosen by the party committees because it was too late for a primary. The speculation was that Attorney General
Dick Thornburgh struck a deal with Gray, who not only had been the subject of an investigation into campaign finance irregularities but also a grand jury investigation into his church's financial dealings. It was reported that Gray agreed not run in the special election and in return Thornburgh would drop the investigations. Thornburgh resigned as Attorney General and went on to run himself, but lost in an upset to Democrat
Harris Wofford.
Gray served as a special adviser to the
President
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
*President (education), a leader of a college or university
*President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...
and
Secretary of State for
Haitian affairs in 1994. He was named to the
PoliticsPA list of "Pennsylvania's Top Political Activists."
Outside politics he was also a businessman who has been a director at
Dell
Dell is an American based technology company. It develops, sells, repairs, and supports computers and related products and services. Dell is owned by its parent company, Dell Technologies.
Dell sells personal computers (PCs), Server (computin ...
from 2000. Gray was a director of
J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.,
Prudential Financial Inc.,
Rockwell International
Rockwell International was a major American manufacturing conglomerate involved in aircraft, the space industry, defense and commercial electronics, components in the automotive industry, printing presses, avionics and industrial products. R ...
Corporation,
Visteon Corporation and
Pfizer. He retired from Bright Hope Baptist Church in 2007 and was succeeded by Kevin R. Johnson.
Personal life
Gray was married to the former Andrea Dash; they had three sons. Gray was a member of
Alpha Phi Alpha
Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. () is the oldest intercollegiate List of African-American fraternities , historically African American Fraternities and sororities, fraternity. It was initially a literary and social studies club organized in the ...
fraternity. Gray died on July 1, 2013, in
London, while attending
the Wimbledon tennis tournament.
Awards and honors
In 1997 he received the Four Freedom Award for the Freedom of Worship.
In 2014 President Barack Obama signed U.S. House resolution 4838 directing Amtrak to rename Philadelphia's
30th Street Station to William H. Gray III 30th Street Station.
See also
*
List of African-American United States representatives
References
External links
*
Bio with picture from the National Council of ChurchesWilliam Gray - Forbes ProfileDell ProfilePew foster care
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Gray, William H.
1941 births
2013 deaths
20th-century African-American politicians
20th-century American politicians
21st-century African-American people
African-American Baptist ministers
African-American Christians
African-American members of the United States House of Representatives
African-American people in Pennsylvania politics
American lobbyists
Baptist ministers from the United States
Baptists from Louisiana
Bates College alumni
Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Pennsylvania
Directors of JPMorgan Chase
Drew University alumni
Franklin & Marshall College alumni
Political activists from Pennsylvania
People from St. Augustine, Florida
Politicians from Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Politicians from Philadelphia
Princeton Theological Seminary alumni