William Courtland Lantaff (July 31, 1913 – January 28, 1970) was an American lawyer, jurist, and politician who served as a Democratic

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

from

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

for two terms from 1951 to 1955. He also served as State court judge in

and as a member of the

Florida House of Representatives The Florida House of Representatives is the lower house of the Florida Legislature, the State legislature (United States), state legislature of the U.S. state of Florida, the Florida Senate being the upper house. Article III, Section 1 of the C ...

Life and career

Lantaff's family moved to

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville ( ) is the most populous city proper in the U.S. state of Florida, located on the Atlantic coast of North Florida, northeastern Florida. It is the county seat of Duval County, Florida, Duval County, with which the City of Jacksonv ...

in 1921 and to

Miami, Florida Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

in 1929. He graduated from the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preem ...

(where he was a member of

Phi Kappa Tau Phi Kappa Tau (), commonly known as Phi Tau (), is a collegiate fraternity located in the United States. The fraternity was founded in 1906. As of May 2024, the fraternity has 161 chartered chapters, 83 active chapters, 7 associate chapters, a ...

fraternity) in 1935 and from the

University of Florida College of Law The University of Florida Levin College of Law (UF Law) is the law school of the University of Florida located in Gainesville, Florida. Founded in 1909, it is the oldest operating public law school in Florida and second oldest overall in the stat ...

in 1936. He was admitted to the Florida bar in 1937 and practiced law in Miami, serving as assistant city judge of

Miami Beach Miami Beach is a coastal resort city in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. It is part of the Miami metropolitan area of South Florida. The municipality is located on natural and human-made barrier islands between the Atlantic Ocean an ...

in 1939 and 1940. He was inducted into the

Florida National Guard The Florida National Guard is the National Guard force of the state of Florida. It comprises the Florida Army National Guard and the Florida Air National Guard. The United States Constitution charges the National Guard with dual federal and st ...

as a first lieutenant in January 1941 where he served as executive officer for the Military Intelligence Division of the

War Department War Department may refer to: * War Department (United Kingdom) * United States Department of War The United States Department of War, also called the War Department (and occasionally War Office in the early years), was the United States Cabinet ...

General Staff. He was discharged as a lieutenant colonel in November 1945 but returned to active duty from September through December 1950, while he was running for Congress.

Congress

In 1950, he was elected to his first of two terms in the

U.S. House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

, serving as a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (Cyprus) (DCY) **Democratic Part ...

from 1951 to 1955. He appeared on the January 25, 1953 episode of the panel show ''

What's My Line? ''What's My Line?'' is a Panel show, panel game show that originally ran in the United States, between 1950 and 1967, on CBS, originally in black and white and later in color, with subsequent American revivals. The game uses celebrity panelists ...

'' as a contestant.What's My Line? - Margaret Truman (Jan 25, 1953)
/ref>

Later career

Lantaff was a delegate to the 1956 and 1960

Democratic National Convention The Democratic National Convention (DNC) is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1832 by the United States Democratic Party. They have been administered by the Democratic National Committee since the 18 ...

s. At the conclusion of his political career, he returned to the law and was involved in banking and advertising. In 1967, he became a founding board member of the Dade Community Foundation.

Death

He died in 1970 at the age of 56 and is buried in Woodlawn Park Cemetery and Mausoleum (now

Caballero Rivero Woodlawn North Park Cemetery and Mausoleum Caballero Rivero Woodlawn Park North Cemetery and Mausoleum is one of the oldest cemeteries in Miami, Florida. Woodlawn Park Cemetery–North was established in 1913 by three pioneers in Miami's early history – Thomas O. Wilson, William N. Urm ...

), Miami.

References

External links

* 1913 births 1970 deaths Politicians from Buffalo, New York Florida state court judges Democratic Party members of the Florida House of Representatives University of Florida alumni Businesspeople from Florida Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Florida Florida lawyers 20th-century American businesspeople 20th-century American judges Lawyers from Buffalo, New York Fredric G. Levin College of Law alumni 20th-century American lawyers 20th-century members of the United States House of Representatives 20th-century members of the Florida Legislature {{Florida-state-judge-stub