William Herbert Gray III (August 20, 1941 – July 1, 2013) was an American politician and member of the
Democratic Party 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
UNCF, the United Negro College Fund, also known as the United Fund, is an American philanthropic organization that funds scholarships for black students and general scholarship funds for 37 private historically black colleges and universitie ...
, 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 ens ...
, he was the fourth-highest-ranking member of the House at the time of his resignation and a minister 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. Since ...
. 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 List of capitals in the United States, capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana. Located the eastern bank of the Mississippi River, it is the county seat, parish seat of East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana, E ...
, but grew up in
St. Augustine, Florida
St. Augustine ( ; es, San Agustín ) is a city in the Southeastern United States and the county seat of St. Johns County on the Atlantic coast of northeastern Florida. Founded in 1565 by Spanish explorers, it is the oldest continuously inhabi ...
, 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
Simon Gratz High School Mastery Charter, formerly Simon Gratz High School is a secondary school in Philadelphia, named after Simon Gratz (1840-1925), a member of the Philadelphia Board of Education. Originally a public high school operated by th ...
. 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 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 of t ...
in 1970. Gray received a L.H.D. from
Bates College
Bates College () is a private liberal arts college in Lewiston, Maine. Anchored by the Historic Quad, the campus of Bates totals with a small urban campus which includes 33 Victorian Houses as some of the dormitories. It maintains of nature p ...
in 1994.
Career
In 1972, Gray succeeded his father as the senior minister at Bright Hope Baptist Church 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. Since ...
. He was elected as a
Democrat to represent Philadelphia in the
United States 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 ...
in 1978. He represented
Pennsylvania's 2nd congressional district
Pennsylvania's second congressional district includes all of Northeast Philadelphia and parts of North Philadelphia east of Broad Street, as well as portions of Philadelphia's River Wards. It has been represented by Democrat Brendan Boyle since ...
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 ensl ...
to chair the
House Budget Committee and also the first to serve as the
Majority Whip
A whip is an official of a political party whose task is to ensure party discipline in a legislature. This means ensuring that members of the party vote according to the party platform, rather than according to their own individual ideolog ...
(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
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring coun ...
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
A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
John Heinz
Henry John Heinz III (October 23, 1938 – April 4, 1991) was an American businessman and Republican politician from Pennsylvania. Heinz represented the Pittsburgh suburbs in the United States House of Representatives from 1971 to 1977 ...
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
Richard Lewis Thornburgh (July 16, 1932 – December 31, 2020) was an American lawyer, author, and Republican politician who served as the 41st governor of Pennsylvania from 1979 to 1987, and then as the United States attorney general fr ...
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 ...
and
Secretary of State for
Haiti
Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and s ...
an 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), servers, data ...
from 2000. Gray was a director of
J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.,
Prudential Financial
Prudential Financial, Inc. is an American Fortune Global 500 and Fortune 500 company whose subsidiaries provide insurance, retirement planning, investment management, and other products and services to both retail and institutional customers t ...
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
Visteon Corporation (VC) is an American global automotive electronics supplier and Fortune 500 company spun off from the Ford Motor Company in 2000. Visteon is composed of multiple businesses that design, engineer, and manufacture vehicle cockpit ...
and
Pfizer
Pfizer Inc. ( ) is an American multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology corporation headquartered on 42nd Street in Manhattan, New York City. The company was established in 1849 in New York by two German entrepreneurs, Charles Pfize ...
. 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 historically African American fraternity. It was initially a literary and social studies club organized in the 1905–1906 school year at Cornell University but later evolved in ...
fraternity. Gray died on July 1, 2013, in
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
, 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
3 (three) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 2 and preceding 4, and is the smallest odd prime number and the only prime preceding a square number. It has religious or cultural significance in many societie ...
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