John Bell Williams (December 4, 1918 – March 25, 1983) was an American Democratic politician who represented

Mississippi Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...

in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1947 to 1968 and served as the 55th

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 1968 to 1972. He was first elected to Congress at the age of just 27 in 1946, representing southwestern Mississippi. He was re-elected repeatedly to Congress through the 1966 election in what was then a one-party Democratic state, but was stripped of his congressional leadership positions after he publicly supported Republican

Barry Goldwater Barry Morris Goldwater (January 2, 1909 – May 29, 1998) was an American politician and major general in the United States Air Force, Air Force Reserve who served as a United States senator from 1953 to 1965 and 1969 to 1987, and was the Re ...

in the 1964 presidential election. Williams was elected governor in 1967, defeating numerous candidates. He had a history of supporting racial segregation but complied with a federal court order to finally desegregate Mississippi's public schools.

Early life and education

John Bell Williams was born in 1918 in

Raymond Raymond is a male given name of Germanic origin. It was borrowed into English from French (older French spellings were Reimund and Raimund, whereas the modern English and French spellings are identical). It originated as the Germanic ᚱᚨᚷ� ...

, the county seat of

Hinds County, Mississippi Hinds County is a county located in the U.S. state of Mississippi. With its county seats (Raymond and the state's capital, Jackson), Hinds is the most populous county in Mississippi with a 2020 census population of 227,742 residents. Hinds Co ...

, near the state capital of

Jackson Jackson may refer to: Places Australia * Jackson, Queensland, a town in the Maranoa Region * Jackson North, Queensland, a locality in the Maranoa Region * Jackson South, Queensland, a locality in the Maranoa Region * Jackson oil field in Durham, ...

. He graduated in 1938 from

Hinds Community College Hinds Community College is a public community college with its main campus in Raymond, Mississippi, United States and branches in Jackson, Pearl, Utica, and Vicksburg. The Hinds Community College District includes the counties of Hinds, Cla ...

, then known as Hinds Junior College. He attended the

University of Mississippi The University of Mississippi (Epithet, byname Ole Miss) is a Public university, public research university in University, near Oxford, Mississippi, United States, with a University of Mississippi Medical Center, medical center in Jackson, Miss ...

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 ...

and graduated in 1940 from

Mississippi College School of Law Mississippi College School of Law (MC Law or MC Law School) is an American Bar Association accredited law school. MC Law is one of two law schools in the state of Mississippi, and is the only law school in the capital city of Jackson, Mississipp ...

, then known simply as the Jackson Law School. In November 1941, he enlisted with the

United States Army Air Corps The United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) was the aerial warfare service component of the United States Army between 1926 and 1941. After World War I, as early aviation became an increasingly important part of modern warfare, a philosophical ri ...

and served as a pilot during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. He retired from active service after losing the lower part of his left arm as a result of a bomber crash in 1944.

Political career

In November 1946, Williams was elected at the age of 27 (he turned 28 in December) to 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 ...

as a Democrat from southwestern

. He was the youngest U.S. Representative to have been elected from Mississippi. Williams advocated

states' rights In United States, American politics of the United States, political discourse, states' rights are political powers held for the state governments of the United States, state governments rather than the federal government of the United States, ...

and

racial segregation Racial segregation is the separation of people into race (human classification), racial or other Ethnicity, ethnic groups in daily life. Segregation can involve the spatial separation of the races, and mandatory use of different institutions, ...

. He joined his state's delegation in a walkout of the

1948 Democratic National Convention The 1948 Democratic National Convention was held at Philadelphia Convention Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from July 12 to July 15, 1948, and resulted in the nominations of President Harry S. Truman for a full term and Senator Alben W. ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, Pennsylvania. He supported

Strom Thurmond James Strom Thurmond Sr. (December 5, 1902 – June 26, 2003) was an American politician who represented South Carolina in the United States Senate from 1954 to 2003. Before his 49 years as a senator, he served as the 103rd governor of South ...

Dixiecrat The States' Rights Democratic Party (whose members are often called the Dixiecrats), also colloquially referred to as the Dixiecrat Party, was a short-lived segregationist, States' Rights, and old southern democratic political party in the ...

presidential campaign, whose primary platform was racial segregation. Thurmond easily carried the electoral vote in Mississippi and three other states in the Deep South. After the

Supreme Court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

issued its ''

Brown v. Board of Education ''Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka'', 347 U.S. 483 (1954), was a landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court that ruled that U.S. state laws establishing racial segregation in public schools are unconstitutional, even if the ...

'' ruling on May 17, 1954, which outlawed racial segregation in public schools, Williams made a speech on the House floor branding the day 'Black Monday', and subsequently signed the 1956

Southern Manifesto The Declaration of Constitutional Principles (known informally as the Southern Manifesto) was a document written in February and March 1956, during the 84th United States Congress, in opposition to racial integration of public places. The manife ...

. Williams supported the Democratic

Stevenson Stevenson is an English language patronymic surname meaning "son of Steven". Its first historical record is from pre-10th-century England. Another origin of the name is as a toponymic surname related to the place Stevenstone in Devon, England. The ...

- Sparkman campaign in 1952, but he favored unpledged Democratic electors in 1956 and

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Janu ...

. In 1964, Williams endorsed Republican presidential nominee

in the general election against incumbent

Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), also known as LBJ, was the 36th president of the United States, serving from 1963 to 1969. He became president after the assassination of John F. Kennedy, under whom he had served a ...

and helped raise funds for Goldwater in Mississippi. Because of his activities for Goldwater, the Democratic caucus (in the House of Representatives) stripped Williams and a colleague, Albert W. Watson of

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

, of their House seniority. Williams remained a Democrat and retained his seat in 1966. Watson soon became a Republican.

Governor

In 1967, Williams ran for governor. The field of candidates was large, including former Governor

Ross Barnett Ross Robert Barnett (January 22, 1898November 6, 1987) was an American politician and segregationist who served as the 53rd governor of Mississippi from 1960 to 1964. He was a Southern Democrat who supported racial segregation. Early life Ba ...

and two future governors, William Winter and

Bill Waller 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 from 1972 to 1976. Born near Oxford, Mississippi to a farming family, Wall ...

. In the primary campaign, Williams claimed that, during the 1962 desegregation of the University of Mississippi, Barnett made a secret deal with the Kennedys over the admission of

James Meredith James Howard Meredith (born June 25, 1933) is an American civil rights activist, writer, political adviser, and United States Air Force veteran who became, in 1962, the first African-American student admitted to the racially segregated Univers ...

, while publicly claiming to do everything to maintain college segregation. In the first round of balloting, Williams finished second to Winter, the moderate candidate. In the runoff, Williams defeated Winter by 61,000 votes. In the general election, Williams handily defeated Democrat-turned-Republican Rubel Phillips, in his second unsuccessful campaign for governor. Phillips' running mate for lieutenant governor in 1963, Stanford Morse, a member of the

Mississippi State Senate The Mississippi State Senate is the upper house of the Mississippi Legislature, the State legislature (United States), state legislature of the U.S. state of Mississippi. The Senate, along with the Lower house, lower Mississippi House of Represen ...

from Gulfport from 1956 to 1964, endorsed Williams in the 1967 race. During the campaign, Williams joked that when the returns were tabulated, the Republicans "won't be able to find a Rubel in the rubble."Billy Hathorn, 'Challenging the Status Quo: Rubel Lex Phillips and the Mississippi Republican Party (1963-1967)', ''The Journal of Mississippi History'' XLVII, November 1985, No. 4, pp. 258, 261 During Williams' term as governor, Mississippi was ordered to

desegregate Racial integration, or simply integration, includes desegregation (the process of ending systematic racial segregation), leveling barriers to association, creating equal opportunity regardless of race, and the development of a culture that draws ...

its public school system by a federal court, as it had made little progress since the 1954 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that deemed such public schools unconstitutional. A case had been brought by civil rights activists and some desegregation of schools had happened at local levels. Williams did not defy the court. In December 1978, 24 years after ''

'', the Mississippi legislature officially removed from the state constitution the mandate that schools be segregated. In the ensuing popular election to confirm or reject this action, 29.90% of those voting voted against removing the language.

Return to private practice

After his term, Williams resumed his law practice. Williams endorsed Republicans

Gerald Ford Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr. (born Leslie Lynch King Jr.; July 14, 1913December 26, 2006) was the 38th president of the United States, serving from 1974 to 1977. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, Ford assumed the p ...

1976 Events January * January 2 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 18 – Full diplomatic ...

and

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party a ...

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning Sys ...

for president, rather than the Democratic nominee both times,

Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (October 1, 1924December 29, 2024) was an American politician and humanitarian who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party ...

, despite the fact that Carter was also a Southerner.

Death

After leaving office, Williams divorced his wife. He died in Rankin County on March 25, 1983, being found dead in his apartment the following day; the cause was ruled to be a heart attack. He was buried on March 28, 1983, and his funeral was held in the First Baptist Church in Jackson the following day.'Former Governor John Bell Williams' (obituary); ''

Jackson Clarion-Ledger ''The Clarion Ledger'' is an American daily newspaper in Jackson, Mississippi. It is the second-oldest company in the state of Mississippi, and is one of the few newspapers in the nation that continues to circulate statewide. It is an operating ...

'', March 29, 1983, p. 26.

References

Works cited

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, John Bell 1918 births 1983 deaths American amputees American politicians with disabilities Democratic Party governors of Mississippi United States Army Air Forces pilots of World War II Hinds Community College alumni University of Mississippi alumni People from Brandon, Mississippi People from Raymond, Mississippi Mississippi College School of Law alumni Dixiecrats Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Mississippi Signatories of the Southern Manifesto New Right (United States) 20th-century members of the United States House of Representatives