William Lowe Waller Sr. (October 21, 1926 – November 30, 2011) was an American politician and attorney. A
Democrat, Waller served as the 56th
governor of Mississippi
The governor of Mississippi is the head of government of Mississippi and the commander-in-chief of the U.S. state, state's Mississippi National Guard, military forces. The governor has a duty to enforce state laws, and the power to either appro ...
from 1972 to 1976. Born near
Oxford
Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town.
The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...
, Mississippi to a farming family, Waller went to law school and in 1950 established a law practice in
Jackson. Nine years later, he was elected District Attorney of
Hinds County, Mississippi. Waller attempted to reform the position and provoked the ire of local law enforcement for aggressively prosecuting several cases. In 1964, he twice prosecuted
Byron De La Beckwith for the murder of civil rights activist
Medgar Evers
Medgar Wiley Evers (; July 2, 1925June 12, 1963) was an American civil rights activist and soldier who was the NAACP's first field secretary in Mississippi. Evers, a United States Army veteran who served in World War II, was engaged in efforts ...
, with both trials resulting in
deadlocked juries. In 1967, he launched an unsuccessful campaign for governor, finishing fifth in the Democratic primary.
Waller ran for governor again in 1971, denouncing state establishment leaders and winning in the primary and in the general election. Taking office in January 1972, he associated himself with the
New South governors, his moderate contemporaries in other Southern states. Though unsuccessful in reconciling racial differences within the
Mississippi Democratic Party, he brought blacks into state government and successfully shut down the
State Sovereignty Commission. His tenure was also marked by his significant disagreement with the
Mississippi State Legislature
The Mississippi Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Mississippi. The bicameral Legislature is composed of the lower Mississippi House of Representatives, with 122 members, and the upper Mississippi State Senate, with 52 me ...
. After leaving gubernatorial office in 1976, Waller returned to practicing law in Jackson. He ran for a
U.S. Senate
The United States Senate is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and House have the authority under Article One of the ...
seat in 1978 and for governor again in 1987, losing both races. He released his memoirs in 2007 and died four years later.
Early life
Waller was born on October 21, 1926, near
Oxford
Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town.
The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...
in
Lafayette County, Mississippi, to Percy A. Waller and Myrtle Gatewood. He and his two siblings worked on their parents' farm in their youth. The family was not affluent, but fared better than many of their neighbors during the
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...
. Waller's father was involved in local politics and a friend of politician
Ross Barnett, who later became
governor of the state. He attended public schools in the Black Jack community of
Panola County before graduating from University High School in Oxford in 1944. He earned a
bachelor's degree in business administration from
Memphis State University
The University of Memphis (Memphis) is a public university, public research university in Memphis, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1912, the university has an enrollment of more than 20,000 students.
The university maintains the Herff Col ...
and a
bachelor of laws
A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...
from the
University of Mississippi School of Law.
In 1950, Waller established a legal practice in
Jackson, Mississippi
Jackson is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Mississippi, most populous city of the U.S. state of Mississippi. The city sits on the Pearl River (Mississippi–Louisiana), Pearl River and is locate ...
. He served in the
United States Army
The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...
as an intelligence officer during the
Korean War
The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...
,
attaining the rank of sergeant. He was offered a commission in the intelligence corps, but he declined, being discharged on November 30, 1953. He returned to Jackson to active
Army Reserve duty and resumed his legal career. He married
Carroll Waller on November 11, 1950 and had four sons and a daughter with her. One of his sons,
Bill Waller Jr., later served as Chief Justice of the
Supreme Court of Mississippi
The Supreme Court of Mississippi is the Supreme court, highest court in the state of Mississippi. It was established in 1818 per the terms of the first constitution of the state and was known as the High Court of Errors and Appeals from 1832 to 1 ...
and made an unsuccessful bid for gubernatorial office in 2019.
Early political career
Waller was elected District Attorney of the Seventh Judicial District of Mississippi (
Hinds County) in 1959 and was reelected in 1963. He was sworn in on January 2, 1960. At the time he took office, the district attorney in Hinds County was a part-time job with little expected of its incumbent. Many previous attorneys had used the office to promote their own private legal services. Waller attempted to reform the position, and provoked the ire of local law enforcement for aggressively prosecuting several cases, including a white man who had murdered a black man and a wealthy woman who had murdered her husband. Despite this, his legal practice expanded during his tenure with several new
partners. He also befriended Mississippi political columnist
Bill Minor.
As the district attorney, Waller prosecuted
Byron De La Beckwith in the murder of civil rights advocate
Medgar Evers
Medgar Wiley Evers (; July 2, 1925June 12, 1963) was an American civil rights activist and soldier who was the NAACP's first field secretary in Mississippi. Evers, a United States Army veteran who served in World War II, was engaged in efforts ...
in two trials in 1964, both of which resulted in mistrials due to
deadlocked juries. Waller did not approve of Evers' activism and did not view the trials as a means to denounce
Jim Crow
The Jim Crow laws were state and local laws introduced in the Southern United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries that enforced racial segregation, " Jim Crow" being a pejorative term for an African American. The last of the ...
racial segregation, but saw it as an opportunity to demonstrate that laws would be upheld in the state. Most observers agreed Waller ably presented his case against Beckwith, establishing his rifle as the murder weapon and using witnesses to establish his presence in the vicinity of the killing on the night it had occurred. Though worried that it might backfire among the white jury members, Waller also attempted to establish a motive for the murder by getting Beckwith to testify to his support for white supremacy and staunch opposition to racial integration. Fears among white Mississippians that Waller was a "liberal" for trying De Le Beckwith led his firm to lose clients. Numerous observers speculated that the trials would damage his political prospects, with ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' writing in February 1964 that "He may have put his career on the block by his tireless prosecution of the case". Despite this, he won some national acclaim for convincing several white jurors to vote for conviction and ingratiated himself to Mississippi's black population. Beckwith was later convicted after a third trial in 1994.
By the mid-1960s, Waller was disenchanted with Mississippi's political leaders' hardline efforts to resist desegregation. In 1967, he ran for the office of governor in the
Democratic primary. Not backed by a significant campaign organization, he was low on resources and confined to active campaigning on the weekends. The contest was dominated by issues of race. Waller attempted to straddle both sides of the issue, becoming the first Mississippian gubernatorial candidate to ever publicly condemn the
Ku Klux Klan
The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to KKK or Klan, is an American Protestant-led Christian terrorism, Christian extremist, white supremacist, Right-wing terrorism, far-right hate group. It was founded in 1865 during Reconstruction era, ...
while also criticizing civil rights activists and praising the work of
Citizens' Councils. Largely ignored by the public in favor of other segregationist candidates, he placed fifth in the primary, earning 60,090 votes, only nine percent of the vote.
Gubernatorial career
1971 campaign and election
In 1971, Waller mounted
another campaign for gubernatorial office, facing
Lieutenant Governor
A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...
Charles L. Sullivan,
Jimmy Swan, and four others in the Democratic primary. While Swan resorted to racist appeals and declared his opposition to integration, Waller and Sullivan focused on other matters, though they both affirmed their support for "
law and order" and
segregation academies
Segregation academies are private schools in the Southern United States that were founded in the mid-20th century by white parents to avoid having their children attend desegregated public schools. They were founded between 1954, when the U.S ...
, and opposed
desegregation busing. They also pledged to appoint blacks to state offices. Waller stated that he was running against the "Capitol Street Gang", establishment industry leaders and lawyers in Jackson he said had acted as a
political machine
In the politics of representative democracies, a political machine is a party organization that recruits its members by the use of tangible incentives (such as money or political jobs) and that is characterized by a high degree of leadership c ...
and captured control of state government, preventing Mississippi from economically developing. He declared his support for raising teacher salaries and investing more funds in state highways. He hired
Deloss Walker of
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. Situated along the Mississippi River, it had a population of 633,104 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in Tenne ...
, as a campaign consultant, beginning a trend of gubernatorial candidates using out-of-state advertising agencies which lasted into the 1980s.
The primary went into a runoff between Waller and Sullivan, Waller garnered the endorsements of U.S. Senator
James Eastland and former governor Barnett, and relied on a network of Eastland supporters to organize grassroots backing for himself. He attacked Sullivan as an "establishment" figure and won the runoff with 54 percent of the vote, taking 389,952 votes to Sullivan's 329,236. In the general election Waller faced two independents, civil rights activist
Charles Evers (the brother of Medgar) and segregationist judge
Tom P. Brady. Evers was the other major candidate and, despite the fears of public observers, the campaign was largely devoid of racism and both him and Waller avoided negative tactics. Waller won with 601,222 votes to Evers' 172,762 and Brady's 6,653. He was inaugurated as Governor of Mississippi on January 18, 1972.
Executive action and appointments

As governor, Waller began hosting weekly press conferences. He was ''ex officio'' a member of
Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission
The Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission (also called the MSSC or Sov-Com) was a state agency in Mississippi active from 1956 to 1973 and tasked with fighting integration and controlling civil rights activism. It was overseen by the List of G ...
and responsible for appointing several other of its members. The sovereignty commission was responsible for upholding segregation in the state, though by the time Waller took office it had little business to conduct. He delayed in naming his appointees to the body and sent a representative to its meetings in lieu of his attendance. In 1973 he vetoed the commission's funding bill, leading it to shut down in June before being formally abolished in 1977. Despite some criticism in the press over costs, he directed the purchase of the state's first jet to serve as official transportation for state officials. He undertook several trips to Europe, Asia, and South America to secure business deals for the state.
Waller appointed several blacks to positions in state government and his staff, the first time this had been done since the
Reconstruction era
The Reconstruction era was a period in History of the United States, US history that followed the American Civil War (1861-65) and was dominated by the legal, social, and political challenges of the Abolitionism in the United States, abol ...
, but most had no history of political activity. His first black appointee was Jim Rundles as a special assistant. Rundles was known as a mild-mannered man who had refused to take part in civil rights demonstrations. He also appointed the first black woman to a state board in Mississippi's history and integrated the
Mississippi Highway Patrol. On the whole, his administration was overwhelmingly staffed by whites. He created a Minority Advisory Committee and an Office of Minority Business Enterprise. In August 1972, he became the first Mississippi governor to visit the territory of the
Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians
The Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians () is one of three federally recognized tribes of Choctaw, an indigenous Indian people, and the only one in the state of Mississippi. On April 20, 1945, this tribe was organized under the Indian Reorgan ...
when he spoke at the opening of the Choctaw Indian Fair.
At the onset of his term, Waller and his family decided not to move into the
Mississippi Governor's Mansion, which had fallen into disrepair. Waller's wife led a campaign to restore the house, and the family eventually occupied it in May 1975. Unlike his predecessors and successors, Waller refused to use convicts as servants in the mansion. In 1972, he authorized the
work release
In prison systems, work release programs allow certain prisoners to go outside the prison and work at a place of employment, returning to prison when their shift is complete. It is granted only to prisoners who are sufficiently trusted or can be su ...
of Charles Wilson, one of the men convicted of murdering civil rights activist
Vernon Dahmer. Waller had served as legal counsel for the convicted murderer prior to his election, and his action drew scrutiny from blacks. Waller responded to criticism by saying that Wilson, who made artificial limbs, was needed for his skills in
Laurel, Mississippi
Laurel is a city in and the second county seat of Jones County, Mississippi, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 17,161. Laurel is northeast of Ellisville, the first county seat, which contains the first county ...
, and by releasing Hal C. Zachary, a black college graduate who'd murdered a segregationist, under the same program. The following week, Waller declared that Medgar Evers Day would be celebrated on the tenth anniversary of the civil rights leader's death, but then did not attended the formal ceremony marking the date. Some observers saw this declaration as an attempt to deflect from the release authorization.
Legislative action
By the time Waller took office, the position of governor in Mississippi had long been subordinated in policy matters to the legislature. Waller announced large annual legislative proposals, but made little effort to build relationships with legislative leaders, including Lieutenant Governor
William F. Winter and Speaker of the House of Representatives
John R. Junkin. Waller rarely informed Winter when he was leaving the state, meaning the latter often discovered that he was to be acting governor from newspaper stories. Waller disregard Junkin's advice to leave most matters of public importance to the legislature, and came into frequent conflict with the body, vetoing 32 bills during his tenure. His relationship with legislators was poor on an individual level, and he would seek support for his ideas from the public rather than them. The legislature overrode some of his vetoes, the first time it had done so to a governor in 44 years.
Waller proposed several reform measures which were opposed by older and more rural legislators. He supported efforts to create public kindergartens and reenact a compulsory education law, but these measures all died in the Senate. He appointed a blue ribbon committee to make recommendations on higher education, but the board of trustees of the University of Mississippi refused to cooperate with it or accept its criticisms of the university system. He supported the legislature's creation of new schools at
Mississippi State University
Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a Public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Mississippi State, Mississippi, Un ...
. In February 1974, he vetoed a special appropriation bill for university libraries, arguing that the university system did not require additional capital outlays. He also backed an unsuccessful bill to set limits on campaign spending. The legislature ignored his proposals to redraft the
state constitution and permit gubernatorial succession.
Waller endorsed the funding of a $600 million highway program, but the proposal had been devised during his predecessor's tenure and declining government revenues led it to be later suspended. He initially backed a reform of the state's tax structure and the raising of the oil and gas
severance tax
Severance taxes are taxes imposed on the removal of natural resources within a taxing jurisdiction. Severance taxes are most commonly imposed in oil producing states within the United States. Resources that typically incur severance taxes when ...
, but later backed away from these efforts due to opposition from legislators and lobbyists. He successfully secured funding for a new Mississippi Highway Patrol headquarters and enhancements to the state crime laboratory. He also convinced the legislature to remove tax collection responsibilities from the duties of
county sheriff
A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland, the , which is commonly ...
s.
Political affairs

Waller associated himself with the
New South governors, his moderate contemporaries in other Southern states, and distanced himself from Alabama's staunchly segregationist governor,
George Wallace
George Corley Wallace Jr. (August 25, 1919 – September 13, 1998) was an American politician who was the 45th and longest-serving governor of Alabama (1963–1967; 1971–1979; 1983–1987), and the List of longest-serving governors of U.S. s ...
. At the time he took office, the
Mississippi Democratic Party was split into two factions: the Regulars, composed of white segregationists, and the Loyalists, composed of black members of the
Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party and moderate whites. In anticipation of the
1972 Democratic National Convention, Waller encouraged the Regular and Loyalist factions to re-unify, fearing that the convention would exclude the Regulars otherwise.
Waller initially rejected a meeting with Loyalist leader
Aaron Henry to reach a compromise, but later offered to give the Loyalists 40% representation in a mixed convention delegation. The offer was rebuffed and the convention ultimately seated the Loyalist faction's own delegation. Negotiations between the two groups continued throughout Waller's tenure. As part of this, Waller signed a law which permitted the Loyalist faction to choose between electing delegates in presidential primaries or nominating them at district conventions. He supported former mayor and district attorney
Maurice Dantin in the
1975 Mississippi gubernatorial election. He was succeeded by
Cliff Finch on January 20, 1976.
Later political career
After leaving gubernatorial office, Waller returned to practicing law in Jackson. Most of his clients were working-class people, and he handled many divorce and personal injury suits. On March 10, 1978, he hosted a press conference in which he criticized Eastland for sharing his intent to seek
reelection to the U.S. Senate, saying "I happen to believe a young man with some stamina and vigor is needed." On March 20, Waller officially announced his own campaign for the Senate seat, declaring, "We need a 60 hour a week man in Washington, not a six hour a week man." The following day Eastland withdrew his campaign. Angered by Waller's perceived betrayal, he recruited Dantin to run against him in the Democratic primary. Sullivan and Governor Finch also entered the race. Dantin won the primary while Waller, viewed by many Democrats as ungrateful of Eastland's support for him in 1971, placed fourth. Waller sought the Democratic nomination for governor again in 1987, running on a platform of increased highway construction,
program budgeting for state agencies, and the revival of
referendums
A referendum, plebiscite, or ballot measure is a direct vote by the electorate (rather than their representatives) on a proposal, law, or political issue. A referendum may be either binding (resulting in the adoption of a new policy) or advis ...
. He finished third in the first primary. He supported Republican
Kirk Fordice's gubernatorial reelection campaign in 1995 and
Haley Barbour
Haley Reeves Barbour (born October 22, 1947) is an American attorney, politician, and lobbyist who served as the 63rd governor of Mississippi from 2004 to 2012. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he previously ser ...
's reelection in 2007. He was opposed to removing the
Confederate battle flag canton from the
flag of Mississippi
The flag of the U.S. state of Mississippi consists of a white magnolia blossom surrounded by 21 stars and the words "In God We Trust" written below, all put over a blue Canadian pale with two vertical gold borders on a red Glossary of vexillolo ...
.
Later life and legacy
In 2007, Waller released an autobiography, ''Straight Ahead: Memoirs of a Mississippi Governor''. On November 29, 2011, Waller was admitted to the St. Dominic Hospital in Jackson. He died there the following day at the age of 85
and was buried in Jessamine Cemetery in
Ridgeland.
Journalist
Hodding Carter III believed Waller's time in office was "inconsequential". Historian
David Sansing opined that "Waller was elected at a crucial time in the state's history and his constructive leadership helped chart a new direction for Mississippi."
[ Minor wrote that "the greatest value of the Waller years" was in his creation of "harmony between blacks and whites in Mississippi's highly complex society". Journalist Adam Nossiter reflected, "Waller was not too keen on the integrationist goals of the civil rights movement, but Jim Crow disturbed his ideals of justice and fair play. As a prosecutor, and later as the governor, he bulled through old restrictions. He came along at a moment when, because of intensive black voter registration, the politics of his convictions were plausible."
]
References
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Waller, Bill
1926 births
2011 deaths
United States Army personnel of the Korean War
Democratic Party governors of Mississippi
Southern Baptists
University of Memphis alumni
University of Mississippi alumni
People from Lafayette County, Mississippi
Politicians from Jackson, Mississippi
Lawyers from Jackson, Mississippi
Baptists from Mississippi
Military personnel from Mississippi
20th-century American lawyers
20th-century Baptists
United States Army non-commissioned officers
Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission members