G. Mennen Williams: Difference between revisions

Gerhard Mennen Williams, also known as Soapy Williams, (February 23 1911 – February 2 1988), was a politician from the U.S. state of Michigan.

A Democrat, Williams served for twelve years as Governor of Michigan and also served on the Michigan Supreme Court where he would later become Chief Justice. Williams' most notable accomplishment as governor was the construction of the Mackinaw Bridge which links Michigan's lower and upper peninsulas.

Williams was born in Detroit, Michigan to Henry P. Williams and Elma Mennen. His mother came from a prominent family; her father, Gerhard Heinrich Mennen, was the founder of the Mennen brand of men's personal care products (now marketed by the Colgate-Palmolive company). Because of this, Williams acquired the popular nickname Soapy.

Williams attended the Salisbury School in Connecticut, a highly exclusive Episcopalian preparatory school. He graduated from Princeton University in 1933 and received a law degree from the University of Michigan Law School.

Williams married Nancy Quirk, the daughter of a prominent Ypsilanti family involved in banking and paper milling. While attending university, they met on a blind date. The couple married in 1937. The union produced a son, G. Mennen Williams Jr., and two daughters, Nancy Ketterer III and Wendy Stock Williams.

While at law school, Williams became affiliated with the Democratic Party, departing from his family's strong ties to the Republican Party.

He worked with the law firm Griffiths, Williams and Griffiths from 1936 to 1941. During World War II, he served four years in the United States Navy as an air combat intelligence officer in the South Pacific. He achieved the rank of lieutenant commander and earned ten battle stars.

Williams was named to the state Liquor Control Commission in 1947. The following year he was elected Governor with the support of labor unions and dissident Republicans. He was subsequently elected to a record six two-year terms in that post. His most enduring accomplishment was probably the construction of the Mackinac Bridge, and he began the tradition of the governor leading the Mackinac Bridge Walk across it every Labor Day.

He was also famous for refusing to extradite Haywood Patterson, one of the Scottsboro Boys accused of the rape of two white women, although most people believe that the girls fabricated their story to avoid charges of prostitution or vagrancy.

His final term in office, however, was a rocky one, marked by high-profile struggles with the Republican-controlled state legislature and a near-shutdown of the state government. He therefore chose not to seek re-election in 1960. Williams left office on January 1, 1961, his 12 years in office being matched only by John Engler and ultimately surpassed by William Milliken, who served 14 years as governor.

Williams' public career was far from over, however. He was quickly appointed to the new post of Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs by President John F. Kennedy, where Williams became known for his frequent refrain, "Africa for the Africans!"

He served in this post until early 1966, when he resigned to unsuccessfully challenge Republican United States Senator Robert P. Griffin. Two years later, he was named by President Lyndon B. Johnson to be U.S. ambassador to the Philippines, where he served less than a year. Williams was elected to the state Supreme Court in 1970, however, and in 1983 was named Chief Justice.

He left the Court on January 1 1987 and died February 2 1988, aged 76. There was a formal military funeral for him and he was buried in the Protestant Cemetery on Mackinac Island.

• Michigan Supreme Court Historical Society
• Michigan Lawyers in History