William Thaddeus Coleman Jr. (July 7, 1920 – March 31, 2017) was an American attorney and judge. Coleman was the fourth United States Secretary of Transportation, from March 7, 1975, to January 20, 1977, and the second African American to serve in the

United States Cabinet The Cabinet of the United States is a body consisting of the vice president of the United States and the heads of the executive branch's departments in the federal government of the United States. It is the principal official advisory body to ...

. As an attorney, Coleman played a major role in significant

civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life o ...

cases. At the time of his death, Coleman was the oldest living former Cabinet member.

Early life and education

Coleman was born to Laura Beatrice (née Mason) Coleman and William Thaddeus Coleman Sr. in

Germantown, Philadelphia Germantown ( Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Deitscheschteddel'') is an area in Northwest Philadelphia. Founded by German, Quaker, and Mennonite families in 1683 as an independent borough, it was absorbed into Philadelphia in 1854. The area, which is ...

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, ...

. Coleman's mother came from six generations of Episcopal ministers, including an operator of the

Underground Railroad The Underground Railroad was a network of clandestine routes and safe houses established in the United States during the early- to mid-19th century. It was used by enslaved African Americans primarily to escape into free states and Canada. ...

. W.E.B. DuBois and Langston Hughes would visit the family's home for dinner. One of seven black students at Germantown High School, Coleman was suspended for cursing at a teacher after she praised his honors presentation by saying, "Someday, William, you will make a wonderful chauffeur." When Coleman attempted to join the school's swim team he was again suspended, and the team disbanded after he returned so as to avoid admitting him, only to reform after he graduated. Coleman's swim team coach wrote him a strong letter of recommendation and he was accepted into the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

, where he was a double major in political science and economics. He graduated summa cum laude from the

with a

B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

in history in 1941. There, he was elected to the Phi Beta Kappa Society. He was elected to the

Pi Gamma Mu Pi Gamma Mu or (from Πολιτικές Γνώσεως Μάθεται) is the oldest and preeminent honor society in the social sciences. It is also the only interdisciplinary social science honor society. It serves the various social science dis ...

international honor society in 1941. Coleman was also a member of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity. Coleman was accepted to the Harvard Law School but left in 1943 to enlist in the

United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

, failing in his attempt to join the

Tuskegee Airmen The Tuskegee Airmen were a group of primarily African American military pilots (fighter and bomber) and airmen who fought in World War II. They formed the 332d Fighter Group and the 477th Bombardment Group (Medium) of the United States Army ...

. Instead, Coleman spent the war defending the accused in

courts-martial A court-martial or court martial (plural ''courts-martial'' or ''courts martial'', as "martial" is a postpositive adjective) is a military court or a trial conducted in such a court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of memb ...

. After the war, Coleman returned to Harvard Law, where he became the third black staff member accepted to the '' Harvard Law Review'', and graduated first in his class and magna cum laude in 1946.

Career

He began his legal career in 1947, serving as law clerk to Judge Herbert F. Goodrich of the

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit (in case citations, 3d Cir.) is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts for the following districts: * District of Delaware * District of New Jersey * Ea ...

and

U.S. Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

Justice

Felix Frankfurter Felix Frankfurter (November 15, 1882 – February 22, 1965) was an Austrian-American jurist who served as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1939 until 1962, during which period he was a noted advocate of judic ...

in 1948. He was the first African American to serve as a Supreme Court law clerk. Fellow clerks, including

Elliot Richardson Elliot Lee Richardson (July 20, 1920December 31, 1999) was an American lawyer and public servant who was a member of the cabinet of Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford. As U.S. Attorney General, he was a prominent figure in the Watergat ...

, would have difficulty finding a restaurant where they could eat together. Coleman was hired by the New York law firm of

Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP (known as Paul, Weiss) is an American multinational law firm headquartered on Sixth Avenue in New York City. By profits per equity partner, it is the fifth most profitable law firm in the world. ...

in 1949.

Thurgood Marshall Thurgood Marshall (July 2, 1908 – January 24, 1993) was an American civil rights lawyer and jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1967 until 1991. He was the Supreme Court's first African-A ...

, then the chief counsel of the

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is a civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E. ...

, recruited Coleman to be one of the lead strategists and coauthor of the legal brief in ''

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 ...

'' (1954), in which the U.S. Supreme Court held

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 ...

in public schools to be unconstitutional. He served as a member of the NAACP's national legal committee, director and member of its executive committee, and president of board of the

NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (NAACP LDF, the Legal Defense Fund, or LDF) is a leading United States civil rights organization and law firm based in New York City. LDF is wholly independent and separate from the NAACP. Altho ...

. Coleman was also a member of President

Dwight D. Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; ; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was an American military officer and statesman who served as the 34th president of the United States from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, ...

's Committee on Government Employment Policy (1959–1961) and a consultant to the U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency (1963–1975). Coleman served as an assistant counsel to the President's Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy (1964), also known as the

Warren Commission The President's Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy, known unofficially as the Warren Commission, was established by President Lyndon B. Johnson through on November 29, 1963, to investigate the assassination of United States P ...

, on which then-Congressman Gerald Ford was a commissioner. During the Warren Commission's investigation into the

assassination of John F. Kennedy John F. Kennedy, the 35th president of the United States, was assassinated on Friday, November 22, 1963, at 12:30 p.m. CST in Dallas, Texas, while riding in a presidential motorcade through Dealey Plaza. Kennedy was in the vehicle with ...

, the Commission received word via a backchannel that Fidel Castro, then

Prime Minister of Cuba The Prime Minister of Cuba ( es, Primer Ministro de Cuba), officially known as the President of the Council of Ministers ( es, Presidente del Consejo de Ministros de Cuba) between 1976 and 2019, is the head of government of Cuba and the chairma ...

, wanted to talk to them. The Commission sent Coleman as an investigator and he met with Castro on a fishing boat off the coast of Cuba. Castro denied any involvement in the assassination of President Kennedy during Coleman's three-hour questioning. Coleman reported the results of his investigation and interview with Castro directly to Commission Chairman Earl Warren, the Chief Justice of the United States. Coleman was co-counsel to the petitioners in ''

McLaughlin v. Florida ''McLaughlin v. Florida'', 379 U.S. 184 (1964), was a case in which the United States Supreme Court ruled unanimously that a cohabitation law of Florida, part of the state's anti-miscegenation laws, was unconstitutional. The law prohibited habitu ...

'' (1964), in which the Supreme Court unanimously struck down a law prohibiting an interracial couple from living together. In 1969, he was a member of the U.S. delegation to the twenty-fourth session of the

United Nations General Assembly The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA or GA; french: link=no, Assemblée générale, AG) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as the main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ of the UN. Curr ...

. Coleman was also a member of the National Commission on Productivity (1971–1972). Coleman served in the boardrooms of PepsiCo, IBM,

Chase Manhattan Bank JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., doing business as Chase Bank or often as Chase, is an American national bank headquartered in New York City, that constitutes the consumer and commercial banking subsidiary of the U.S. multinational banking and fi ...

, and

Pan American World Airways Pan American World Airways, originally founded as Pan American Airways and commonly known as Pan Am, was an American airline that was the principal and largest international air carrier and unofficial overseas flag carrier of the United States ...

. He was senior partner in the law firm of Dilworth, Paxson, Kalish, Levy & Coleman at the time of his appointment to the Ford Administration.

Cabinet post

Flag of the United States Secretary of Transportation

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 ...

Gerald Ford appointed Coleman to serve in his Cabinet as the fourth

Secretary of Transportation A secretary, administrative professional, administrative assistant, executive assistant, administrative officer, administrative support specialist, clerk, military assistant, management assistant, office secretary, or personal assistant is a wh ...

on March 7, 1975. During Coleman's time at the Department of Transportation, the

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA ) is an agency of the U.S. federal government, part of the Department of Transportation. It describes its mission as "Save lives, prevent injuries, reduce vehicle-related crashes" rel ...

's automobile test facility at

East Liberty, Ohio East Liberty is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) located in Perry Township, Logan County, Ohio, United States. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 366. It is located just off U.S. Route 33, east of Belle ...

commenced operations, and the Department established the Materials Transportation Bureau to address pipeline safety and the safe shipment of hazardous materials. In February 1976, Coleman authorized a testing period for the supersonic

Concorde The Aérospatiale/BAC Concorde () is a retired Franco-British supersonic airliner jointly developed and manufactured by Sud Aviation (later Aérospatiale) and the British Aircraft Corporation (BAC). Studies started in 1954, and France an ...

jet, and flights began on After the

Port Authority of New York and New Jersey The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, PANYNJ; stylized, in logo since 2020, as Port Authority NY NJ, is a joint venture between the U.S. states of New York and New Jersey, established in 1921 through an interstate compact authorize ...

banned the jet, the U.S. Supreme Court restored Coleman's authorization. In December 1976, Coleman rejected consumer activists' pressure for a federal mandate on automobile

airbags An airbag is a vehicle occupant-restraint system using a bag designed to inflate extremely quickly, then quickly deflate during a collision. It consists of the airbag cushion, a flexible fabric bag, an inflation module, and an impact sensor. T ...

and instead announced a two-year demonstration period favored by the auto industry. Coleman's tenure ended in January 1977, after

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, he previously served as the 76th governor of Georgia from 1 ...

won the 1976 election.

Post-Cabinet service and honors

On leaving the department, Coleman returned to Philadelphia and subsequently became a partner in the

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

office of the

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

-based law firm O'Melveny & Myers. Colman argued a total of 19 cases before the Supreme Court. He appeared for the respondent in the argument and reargument of ''

Garcia v. San Antonio Metropolitan Transit Authority ''Garcia v. San Antonio Metropolitan Transit Authority'', 469 U.S. 528 (1985), is a landmark United States Supreme Court decision in which the Court held that the Congress has the power under the Commerce Clause of the Constitution to extend the F ...

'' (1985). In 1983, with the election quickly approaching, the Reagan administration stopped supporting the IRS's position against

Bob Jones University , motto_lang = Latin , mottoeng = We seek, we trust , top_free_label = , top_free = , type = Private university , established = , closed = , f ...

that overtly discriminatory groups were ineligible for certain tax exemptions. Coleman was appointed to argue the now unsupported lower court position before the Supreme Court, and won in ''

Bob Jones University v. United States ''Bob Jones University v. United States'', 461 U.S. 574 (1983), was a decision by the United States Supreme Court holding that the religion clauses of the First Amendment did not prohibit the Internal Revenue Service from revoking the tax exempt ...

''. Coleman was elected to the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, a ...

in 1993. On September 29, 1995, Coleman was presented with the

Presidential Medal of Freedom The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the highest civilian award of the United States, along with the Congressional Gold Medal. It is an award bestowed by the president of the United States to recognize people who have made "an especially merit ...

by President

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...

. After the July 17, 1996, crash of

TWA Flight 800 Trans World Airlines Flight 800 (TWA800) was a Boeing 747-100 that exploded and crashed into the Atlantic Ocean near East Moriches, New York, on July 17, 1996, at about 8:31pm. EDT, 12 minutes after takeoff from John F. Kennedy Internationa ...

, he served on the President's Commission on Airline and Airport Security. Coleman received an honorary

LL.D. Legum Doctor (Latin: “teacher of the laws”) (LL.D.) or, in English, Doctor of Laws, is a doctorate-level academic degree in law or an honorary degree, depending on the jurisdiction. The double “L” in the abbreviation refers to the early ...

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 1975. Coleman was also awarded honorary degrees from, among others,

Williams College Williams College is a private liberal arts college in Williamstown, Massachusetts. It was established as a men's college in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim Williams, a colonist from the Province of Massachusetts Bay who was kill ...

in May 1975,

Gettysburg College Gettysburg College is a private liberal arts college in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1832, the campus is adjacent to the Gettysburg Battlefield. Gettysburg College has about 2,600 students, with roughly equal numbers of men and women. ...

on May 22, 2011, and

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with ...

in May 2012. Coleman was elected to the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...

in 2001. In September 2004, President

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

appointed Coleman to the

United States Court of Military Commission Review The Military Commissions Act of 2006 mandated that rulings from the Guantanamo military commissions could be appealed to a Court of Military Commission Review, which would sit in Washington D.C. In the event, the Review Court was not ...

. In June 2006, Coleman received the Golden Plate Award of the

American Academy of Achievement The American Academy of Achievement, colloquially known as the Academy of Achievement, is a non-profit educational organization that recognizes some of the highest achieving individuals in diverse fields and gives them the opportunity to meet ...

. In December 2006, Coleman served as an honorary pallbearer during the

state funeral of Gerald Ford On December 26, 2006, Gerald Ford, the 38th president of the United States, died at home in Rancho Mirage, California at 6:45 p.m. local time (02:45, December 27, UTC).Wilson, JeffFormer President Ford dies at 93Associated Press. At 8:49& ...

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, ...

Personal life

In 1945, Coleman married Lovida Mae Hardin (1923–2020). They had three children: Lovida H. Coleman, Jr. (1949–2018);

William Thaddeus Coleman III William Thaddeus Coleman III (born 1947) is a United States lawyer who served as General Counsel of the Army during the Clinton administration. Biography Coleman was born in Boston on April 20, 1947, the son of William Thaddeus Coleman, Jr. ...

, a

General Counsel of the Army The General Counsel of the Army (also known as the Army General Counsel, abbreviated AGC) is the chief legal officer of the U.S. Department of the Army and senior legal advisor to the Secretary of the Army. U.S. law provides that the General Co ...

under President Clinton and stepfather of

Flavia Colgan Flavia Monteiro Colgan (, born October 18, 1977) is a Brazilian - American Democratic Party (United States), Democratic strategist who is an active political contributor on MSNBC and serves as a special correspondent for Extra (U.S. TV program), ' ...

; and

Hardin Coleman Dr. Hardin Coleman is a Professor of Counseling Psychology at the Boston University School of Education, where he served as dean in the School of Education from 2008 to 2017. He graduated with a B.A. in Psychology from Williams College, and in 198 ...

, dean,

Boston University School of Education Boston University Wheelock College of Education & Human Development is the school of education within Boston University. It is located on the University's Charles River Campus in Boston, Massachusetts in the former Lahey Clinic building. BU Whee ...

. Coleman Jr. died from complications of Alzheimer's disease at his home in

Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandri ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

on March 31, 2017, aged 96.

References

Notes

External links

*

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20060221005439/http://www.americanpresident.org/history/geraldford/cabinet/transportation/transportationCopy1/ Biography at AmericanPresident.orgbr>William Coleman's oral history video excerpts
at The National Visionary Leadership Project
"Remarks by the President in Presentation if the Presidential Medal Of Freedom" – September 29, 1995
* , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Coleman, William Thaddeus Jr. 1920 births 2017 deaths 20th-century American politicians African-American lawyers African-American members of the Cabinet of the United States American civil rights lawyers Ford administration cabinet members Guantanamo Bay captives legal and administrative procedures Harvard Law School alumni Law clerks of the Supreme Court of the United States Lawyers from Philadelphia Military personnel from Philadelphia Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison people Pennsylvania Republicans Politicians from Philadelphia Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients United States Secretaries of Transportation Warren Commission counsel and staff Burials at Arlington National Cemetery Members of the American Philosophical Society United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II Judges of the United States Court of Military Commission Review Black conservatism in the United States