William Robert Blair II (October 22, 1930 – January 18, 2014) was an American politician, lawyer, and businessman.

Early life

William Robert Blair II was born in

Clarksburg, West Virginia Clarksburg is a city in Harrison County, West Virginia, United States, and its county seat. The population was 16,039 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in West Virginia, tenth-most populous city ...

, on October 22, 1930. He was graduated from

West Virginia University West Virginia University (WVU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Morgantown, West Virginia, United States. Its other campuses are those of the West Virginia University Ins ...

in 1954, with A.B. and LL.B. degrees. He then served in the

United States Air Force Judge Advocate General's Corps The Judge Advocate General's Corps also known as the "JAG Corps" or " JAG" is the legal arm of the United States Air Force. History The United States Air Force became a separate military service in September 1947. On June 25, 1948, Congress es ...

for two years at

Chanute Air Force Base Chanute Air Force Base is a decommissioned United States Air Force facility, located in Champaign County, Illinois, south of and adjacent to Rantoul, Illinois, about south of Chicago. Its primary mission throughout its existence was Air Force ...

. He moved to

Park Forest, Illinois Park Forest is a village and south suburb of Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, United States, with a small southern portion in Will County, Illinois, Will County. The village was originally designed by Loebl Schlossman & Hackl, Loebl Schlossman & ...

in 1957. He became active in local

Will County Will County is a county in the northeastern part of the state of Illinois. According to the 2020 census, it had a population of 696,355, an increase of 2.8% from 677,560 in 2010, making it Illinois's fourth-most populous county. The county sea ...

politics as a member of the Will County Public Building Commission and a precinct committeeman the Will County Republican Central Committee. During his early legal career, he served as house counsel for

Swift & Company JBS USA Holdings, Inc. is a meat processing company and a wholly owned subsidiary of the Brazilian multinational JBS S.A. The subsidiary was created when JBS entered the U.S. market in 2007 with its purchase of Swift & Company. JBS USA is bas ...

and as a partner of Wood & Blair, while also serving as President of Fairfax Realty Company.

Illinois House of Representatives

The 1960 reapportionment process was stalled by partisan gridlock. Subsequently, the

Illinois Supreme Court The Supreme Court of Illinois is the state supreme court, the highest court of the judiciary of Illinois. The court's authority is granted in Article VI of the current Illinois Constitution, which provides for seven justices elected from the fiv ...

ordered an at large election for all 177 members of the Illinois House in 1964. Voters were given ballots three feet long. Blair was one of fifty-nine

Republicans Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

elected to 177 seats. Blair was a and served in the

Illinois House of Representatives The Illinois House of Representatives is the lower house of the Illinois General Assembly. The body was created by the first Illinois Constitution adopted in 1818. The House under the constitution as amended in 1980 consists of 118 representativ ...

from 1965 to 1975. After a 1965 Illinois Supreme Court Case to resolve the redistricting issue, Blair's home was drawn into the 41st district which consisted of Wheatland, DuPage, Plainfield, Lockport,

Homer Homer (; , ; possibly born ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Despite doubts about his autho ...

Troy Troy (/; ; ) or Ilion (; ) was an ancient city located in present-day Hisarlik, Turkey. It is best known as the setting for the Greek mythology, Greek myth of the Trojan War. The archaeological site is open to the public as a tourist destina ...

, Joliet,

New Lenox New Lenox is a village in central Will County, Illinois, United States. It is a Southwest suburb of Chicago. The village population was 27,214 as of the 2020 census. New Lenox has schools like Lincoln-Way West High School, Providence Catholic H ...

, Frankfort,

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

, Green Garden, Monee,

Crete Crete ( ; , Modern Greek, Modern: , Ancient Greek, Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the List of islands by area, 88th largest island in the world and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fifth la ...

, Wilton, Peotone,

Will Will may refer to: Common meanings * Will and testament, instructions for the disposition of one's property after death * Will (philosophy), or willpower * Will (sociology) * Will, volition (psychology) * Will, a modal verb - see Shall and will ...

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

, townships in Will County. Blair was elected as one of the district's three representatives alongside William G. Barr and

John J. Houlihan John Joseph Houlihan (March 25, 1923 – July 24, 2003) was an American politician and businessman. Houlihan was born in Chicago, Illinois, and went to the Chicago parochial and public schools. He graduated from Leo Catholic High School. He was ...

. He served as speaker during the 77th and 78th Illinois General Assemblies. He was not reelected in the 1974 general election. After his time in the legislature, he served as a public member of the Illinois Transportation Study Commission.

Post-legislative career

In 1978, he was a candidate for the Republican nomination for

Illinois Comptroller The Comptroller of Illinois is a constitutional officer in the executive branch of government of the U.S. state of Illinois. Ten individuals have held the office of Comptroller since the enactment of the Illinois Constitution of 1970, replaci ...

. Blair ran against John W. Castle, director of the Department of Local Government Affairs for Governor James R. Thompson. Thompson, who had convinced Castle to run for Comptroller instead of Treasurer, endorsed Castle leading Blair to criticize Castle for an inability to do the job independently. With more than 52% of the vote, Castle defeated Blair in the Republican primary. In 1982, he ran for the Republican nomination for

Illinois Treasurer The Treasurer of Illinois is a constitutional officer in the executive branch of government of the U.S. state of Illinois. Seventy-four individuals have occupied the office of Treasurer since statehood. The incumbent is Mike Frerichs, a Democ ...

. He lost the primary to Peoria businessman John Dailey. Blair died January 18, 2014.

Notes

, - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Blair, W. Robert 1930 births 2014 deaths Politicians from Clarksburg, West Virginia People from Forest Park, Illinois Military personnel from West Virginia West Virginia University alumni West Virginia University College of Law alumni Illinois lawyers Businesspeople from Illinois Speakers of the Illinois House of Representatives Republican Party members of the Illinois House of Representatives 20th-century American businesspeople 20th-century American lawyers Lawyers from Clarksburg, West Virginia Businesspeople from Clarksburg, West Virginia 20th-century members of the Illinois General Assembly