Will Wilson
Encyclopedia
Will Reid Wilson, Sr. was a prominent Democratic
politician
in his native Texas
best known for his service as attorney general
of Texas
from 1957-1963. In 1968, he joined the Republican Party
to support the election of Richard M. Nixon as U.S. President. Nixon thereafter named Wilson an assistant U.S. attorney general under John Newton Mitchell. Wilson left the federal post a year before the Watergate burglary
began to shatter the Nixon administration.
, where he graduated from Highland Park High School
. He received his bachelor of science
degree in geology
at the University of Oklahoma
at Norman
. Then he entered the law school of Southern Methodist University
in Dallas, where he was named a "Distinguished Graduate". He joined the law firm of Turner, Rogers, and Wynn and served as aide to Dallas Mayor
Woodall Rogers, who served in the nonpartisan
position from 1939-1947. Wilson left Dallas to become an assistant Texas attorney general in the state capital in Austin
.
During World War II
, Wilson joined the United States Army
and advanced to the rank of major, having served in New Guinea
and the Philippines
, where he was on the staff of generals Walter Kruger
and I.P. Swift. He was the battalion commander of the 465th Field Artillery. He accepted the surrender of the staff of the Japanese
General Yamashita
and received the Bronze Star for heroism in combat
from General Swift. After the war, Wilson returned to Dallas to practice law.
of Dallas County, having served from 1947 to 1951. In 1950, he was elected to the nine-member Texas Supreme Court
, the final authority in civil cases and juvenile matters in the state. He left the court as associate justice in 1956 to run for attorney general to succeed John Ben Shepperd
.
While he was attorney general, he received the Wymann Memorial Award for 1959–1960 as the "Outstanding Attorney General in the United States." He moved to halt prostitution
in several cities, including Galveston
, Victoria
, Cuero
, Big Spring
, Texarkana
, Beaumont
, and Port Arthur
. Wilson's service as the top lawyer for state government ended in January 1963, when he was succeeded by fellow Democrat Waggoner Carr
of Lubbock
.
Lyndon Baines Johnson, who along with John B. Connally, Jr.
, as U.S. Secretary of the Navy, had joined the new administration of John F. Kennedy
. Wilson trailed in fourth place in the special election with 121,961 votes (11.5 percent). Ultimately, Republican John G. Tower, a college
professor
from Wichita Falls
, won the remaining five and one-half years of Johnson's term by approximately ten thousand votes over Senator William Blakley of Dallas. who had been appointed on an interim basis by Governor Daniel, himself a former U.S. senator and Texas attorney general.
Wilson did not seek a fourth two-year term as attorney general in 1962; instead he entered the Democratic gubernatorial primary against several prominent opponents, including incumbent
Governor
Marion Price Daniel, Sr.
of Liberty
, highway commissioner Marshall Formby
of Plainview
, General
Edwin A. Walker, who made anticommunism the centerpiece of his campaign, and the leading candidates, former U.S. Secretary of the Navy John Connally of Floresville
, and liberal attorney Don Yarborough
of Houston
(no relation to his fellow liberal U.S. Senator Ralph W. Yarborough of Austin). In the campaign, Wilson was particularly critical of a politician not on the ballot: Lyndon Johnson. Wilson declared that Johnson had engineered Connally's candidacy because the vice president feared a Republican victory in Texas in 1962. According to Wilson, Johnson was engaged in "a move . . . to oust Price Daniel, oust me, oust Senator Ralph Yarborough and gain complete control of the state government."
Ultimately, Connally narrowly won the nomination in a runoff against Yarborough and then defeated the strong Republican gubernatorial candidate in Texas since 1924, Jack Cox
of Houston in the general election
. Cox had lost the Democratic nomination to Governor Daniel in the 1960 party primary. In 1964, Cox, a part of the conservative wing of his new party, lost the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate to George Herbert Walker Bush, also of Houston, and the future vice president and U.S. president.
, and ultimate resignation from the Oval Office
. The conservative Wilson switched to the Republican Party more than five years before Connally. Ironically, it was Connally, considered a political pragmatist, whom Nixon most highly regarded, having appointed him U.S. Secretary of the Treasury in 1970 and reportedly having considered Connally for the vice-presidential nomination vacated in 1973 by Spiro T. Agnew.
humor, Wilson operated two ranch
es: Brushy Creek in Williamson County
and Little River Ranch in Milam County. He served as director of the Brushy Creek and Upper Brushy Creek Water Control Improvement Districts for two decade
s. He was also chairman of the Cullum and Boren and the Wilson Land and Cattle companies.
Wilson died at the age of ninety-three and was interred on December 17, 2005, alongside his wife in the Patriot's Hill section, Row R, No. 24, of the Texas State Cemetery
in Austin.
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
politician
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
in his native Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
best known for his service as attorney general
Attorney General
In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general, or attorney-general, is the main legal advisor to the government, and in some jurisdictions he or she may also have executive responsibility for law enforcement or responsibility for public prosecutions.The term is used to refer to any person...
of Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
from 1957-1963. In 1968, he joined the Republican Party
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
to support the election of Richard M. Nixon as U.S. President. Nixon thereafter named Wilson an assistant U.S. attorney general under John Newton Mitchell. Wilson left the federal post a year before the Watergate burglary
Burglary
Burglary is a crime, the essence of which is illicit entry into a building for the purposes of committing an offense. Usually that offense will be theft, but most jurisdictions specify others which fall within the ambit of burglary...
began to shatter the Nixon administration.
Early years, education, military
Wilson was born to Will R. and Kate Wilson in DallasDallas, Texas
Dallas is the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States...
, where he graduated from Highland Park High School
Highland Park High School (University Park, Texas)
Highland Park High School is located in University Park, Texas.Highland Park is a part of the Highland Park Independent School District. It serves all of the city of University Park, most of the town of Highland Park, and portions of Dallas.-History:...
. He received his bachelor of science
Bachelor of Science
A Bachelor of Science is an undergraduate academic degree awarded for completed courses that generally last three to five years .-Australia:In Australia, the BSc is a 3 year degree, offered from 1st year on...
degree in geology
Geology
Geology is the science comprising the study of solid Earth, the rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which it evolves. Geology gives insight into the history of the Earth, as it provides the primary evidence for plate tectonics, the evolutionary history of life, and past climates...
at the University of Oklahoma
University of Oklahoma
The University of Oklahoma is a coeducational public research university located in Norman, Oklahoma. Founded in 1890, it existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two became the state of Oklahoma. the university had 29,931 students enrolled, most located at its...
at Norman
Norman, Oklahoma
Norman is a city in Cleveland County, Oklahoma, United States, and is located south of downtown Oklahoma City. It is part of the Oklahoma City metropolitan area. As of the 2010 census, Norman was to have 110,925 full-time residents, making it the third-largest city in Oklahoma and the...
. Then he entered the law school of Southern Methodist University
Southern Methodist University
Southern Methodist University is a private university in Dallas, Texas, United States. Founded in 1911 by the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, SMU operates campuses in Dallas, Plano, and Taos, New Mexico. SMU is owned by the South Central Jurisdiction of the United Methodist Church...
in Dallas, where he was named a "Distinguished Graduate". He joined the law firm of Turner, Rogers, and Wynn and served as aide to Dallas Mayor
Mayor
In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....
Woodall Rogers, who served in the nonpartisan
Nonpartisan
In political science, nonpartisan denotes an election, event, organization or person in which there is no formally declared association with a political party affiliation....
position from 1939-1947. Wilson left Dallas to become an assistant Texas attorney general in the state capital in Austin
Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...
.
During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, Wilson joined the United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
and advanced to the rank of major, having served in New Guinea
New Guinea
New Guinea is the world's second largest island, after Greenland, covering a land area of 786,000 km2. Located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, it lies geographically to the east of the Malay Archipelago, with which it is sometimes included as part of a greater Indo-Australian Archipelago...
and the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
, where he was on the staff of generals Walter Kruger
Walter Krueger
Walter Krueger was an American soldier of German descent and General in the first half of the 20th century. He is best known for his command of the Sixth United States Army in the South West Pacific Area during World War II...
and I.P. Swift. He was the battalion commander of the 465th Field Artillery. He accepted the surrender of the staff of the Japanese
Japanese people
The are an ethnic group originating in the Japanese archipelago and are the predominant ethnic group of Japan. Worldwide, approximately 130 million people are of Japanese descent; of these, approximately 127 million are residents of Japan. People of Japanese ancestry who live in other countries...
General Yamashita
Yamashita
Yamashita is a Japanese family name.The name may refer to the following people:*Bruce Yamashita, U.S. military lawyer*Gentaro Yamashita , Japanese admiral*Haruhiro Yamashita , Japanese gymnast*Iris Yamashita, U.S...
and received the Bronze Star for heroism in combat
Combat
Combat, or fighting, is a purposeful violent conflict meant to establish dominance over the opposition, or to terminate the opposition forever, or drive the opposition away from a location where it is not wanted or needed....
from General Swift. After the war, Wilson returned to Dallas to practice law.
Attorney General Wilson
In 1946, he was elected to a four-year term as district attorneyDistrict attorney
In many jurisdictions in the United States, a District Attorney is an elected or appointed government official who represents the government in the prosecution of criminal offenses. The district attorney is the highest officeholder in the jurisdiction's legal department and supervises a staff of...
of Dallas County, having served from 1947 to 1951. In 1950, he was elected to the nine-member Texas Supreme Court
Texas Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of Texas is the court of last resort for non-criminal matters in the state of Texas. A different court, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, is the court of last resort for criminal matters.The Court is composed of a Chief Justice and eight Associate Justices...
, the final authority in civil cases and juvenile matters in the state. He left the court as associate justice in 1956 to run for attorney general to succeed John Ben Shepperd
John Ben Shepperd
John Ben Shepperd was the segregationist Texas attorney general from 1953–1957 who led resistance to the desegregation of public schools mandated by the 1954 Supreme Court decision Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka...
.
While he was attorney general, he received the Wymann Memorial Award for 1959–1960 as the "Outstanding Attorney General in the United States." He moved to halt prostitution
Prostitution
Prostitution is the act or practice of providing sexual services to another person in return for payment. The person who receives payment for sexual services is called a prostitute and the person who receives such services is known by a multitude of terms, including a "john". Prostitution is one of...
in several cities, including Galveston
Galveston, Texas
Galveston is a coastal city located on Galveston Island in the U.S. state of Texas. , the city had a total population of 47,743 within an area of...
, Victoria
Victoria, Texas
Victoria is a city in and the seat of Victoria County, Texas, United States. The population was 60,603 at the 2000 census. The three counties of the Victoria Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 111,163 at the 2000 census,...
, Cuero
Cuero, Texas
Cuero is a city in DeWitt County, Texas, United States. The population was 6,571 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of DeWitt County. It is also unofficially known as the "turkey capital of the world"...
, Big Spring
Big Spring, Texas
Big Spring is a city in and the county seat of Howard County, Texas, United States, at the crossroads of U.S. Highway 87 and Interstate 20. With a population of 25,233 at the 2000 census, it is the largest city between Midland to the west, Abilene to the east, Lubbock to the north, and San Angelo...
, Texarkana
Texarkana, Texas
Texarkana is a city in Bowie County, Texas, United States. It effectively functions as one half of a city which crosses a state line — the other half, the city of Texarkana, Arkansas, lies on the other side of State Line Avenue...
, Beaumont
Beaumont, Texas
Beaumont is a city in and county seat of Jefferson County, Texas, United States, within the Beaumont–Port Arthur Metropolitan Statistical Area. The city's population was 118,296 at the 2010 census. With Port Arthur and Orange, it forms the Golden Triangle, a major industrial area on the...
, and Port Arthur
Port Arthur, Texas
-Demographics:As of the 2000 census, there were 57,755 people, 21,839 households, and 14,675 families residing in the city. The population density was 696.5 people per square mile . There were 24,713 housing units at an average density of 298.0 per square mile...
. Wilson's service as the top lawyer for state government ended in January 1963, when he was succeeded by fellow Democrat Waggoner Carr
Waggoner Carr
Vincent Waggoner Carr was a Democratic Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives and Attorney General of Texas.-Early years, education, military service:...
of Lubbock
Lubbock, Texas
Lubbock is a city in and the county seat of Lubbock County, Texas, United States. The city is located in the northwestern part of the state, a region known historically as the Llano Estacado, and the home of Texas Tech University and Lubbock Christian University...
.
Back-to-back Senate and gubernatorial races
In the spring of 1961, Wilson, along with some seventy other individuals, paid the $50 filing fee to enter the special election for the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Vice President of the United StatesVice President of the United States
The Vice President of the United States is the holder of a public office created by the United States Constitution. The Vice President, together with the President of the United States, is indirectly elected by the people, through the Electoral College, to a four-year term...
Lyndon Baines Johnson, who along with John B. Connally, Jr.
John Connally
John Bowden Connally, Jr. , was an influential American politician, serving as the 39th governor of Texas, Secretary of the Navy under President John F. Kennedy, and as Secretary of the Treasury under President Richard M. Nixon. While he was Governor in 1963, Connally was a passenger in the car in...
, as U.S. Secretary of the Navy, had joined the new administration of John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
. Wilson trailed in fourth place in the special election with 121,961 votes (11.5 percent). Ultimately, Republican John G. Tower, a college
College
A college is an educational institution or a constituent part of an educational institution. Usage varies in English-speaking nations...
professor
Professor
A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...
from Wichita Falls
Wichita Falls, Texas
Wichita Falls is a city in and the county seat of Wichita County, Texas, United States, United States. Wichita Falls is the principal city of the Wichita Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Archer, Clay and Wichita counties. According to the U.S. Census estimate of 2010,...
, won the remaining five and one-half years of Johnson's term by approximately ten thousand votes over Senator William Blakley of Dallas. who had been appointed on an interim basis by Governor Daniel, himself a former U.S. senator and Texas attorney general.
Wilson did not seek a fourth two-year term as attorney general in 1962; instead he entered the Democratic gubernatorial primary against several prominent opponents, including incumbent
Incumbent
The incumbent, in politics, is the existing holder of a political office. This term is usually used in reference to elections, in which races can often be defined as being between an incumbent and non-incumbent. For example, in the 2004 United States presidential election, George W...
Governor
Governor of Texas
The governor of Texas is the head of the executive branch of Texas's government and the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The governor has the power to either approve or veto bills passed by the Texas Legislature, and to convene the legislature...
Marion Price Daniel, Sr.
Price Daniel
Marion Price Daniel, Sr. , was a Democratic U.S. Senator and the 38th Governor of the state of Texas. He was appointed by President Lyndon B. Johnson to be a member of the National Security Council, Director of the Office of Emergency Preparedness, and Assistant to the President for Federal-State...
of Liberty
Liberty, Texas
Liberty is a city in and the county seat of Liberty County, Texas, United States and a part of the Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown metropolitan area. The population was 8,033 at the 2000 census....
, highway commissioner Marshall Formby
Marshall Formby
Marshall Clinton Formby, Jr. , was a Texas attorney, newspaper publisher, radio executive, and a Democratic politician who served a term in the Texas State Senate from District 30 from 1941 to 1945. He was a defender of West Texas interests and entitled a 1962 book, These Are My People...
of Plainview
Plainview, Texas
Plainview is a city in and the county seat of Hale County, Texas, United States. The population was 22,336 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Plainview is located at ....
, General
General
A general officer is an officer of high military rank, usually in the army, and in some nations, the air force. The term is widely used by many nations of the world, and when a country uses a different term, there is an equivalent title given....
Edwin A. Walker, who made anticommunism the centerpiece of his campaign, and the leading candidates, former U.S. Secretary of the Navy John Connally of Floresville
Floresville, Texas
Floresville is a city in Wilson County, Texas, United States. The population was 5,868 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Wilson County. The city is also part of the San Antonio Metropolitan Statistical Area....
, and liberal attorney Don Yarborough
Don Yarborough
Donald Howard Yarborough, known as Don Yarborough , was a liberal Democratic politician who was reportedly the first Southern politician to endorse the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Yarborough, an attorney in Houston, Texas, ran for governor of Texas in 1962, 1964, and 1968...
of Houston
Houston, Texas
Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States, and the largest city in the state of Texas. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 2.1 million people within an area of . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of , which is the ...
(no relation to his fellow liberal U.S. Senator Ralph W. Yarborough of Austin). In the campaign, Wilson was particularly critical of a politician not on the ballot: Lyndon Johnson. Wilson declared that Johnson had engineered Connally's candidacy because the vice president feared a Republican victory in Texas in 1962. According to Wilson, Johnson was engaged in "a move . . . to oust Price Daniel, oust me, oust Senator Ralph Yarborough and gain complete control of the state government."
Ultimately, Connally narrowly won the nomination in a runoff against Yarborough and then defeated the strong Republican gubernatorial candidate in Texas since 1924, Jack Cox
Jack Cox (Texas)
Jack M. Cox was an oil equipment executive from Houston and the 1962 Republican gubernatorial nominee in the state of Texas.-Early years:...
of Houston in the general election
General election
In a parliamentary political system, a general election is an election in which all or most members of a given political body are chosen. The term is usually used to refer to elections held for a nation's primary legislative body, as distinguished from by-elections and local elections.The term...
. Cox had lost the Democratic nomination to Governor Daniel in the 1960 party primary. In 1964, Cox, a part of the conservative wing of his new party, lost the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate to George Herbert Walker Bush, also of Houston, and the future vice president and U.S. president.
Federal service
After his Senate and gubernatorial election defeats, Wilson co-founded the law firm, Wilson, Kendall, Koch, and Randall in Austin. He served from 1969-1971 as the assistant attorney general in charge of the Criminal Division of the Justice Department. Wilson's book A Fool For a Client focuses upon President Nixon's decline, pending impeachmentImpeachment
Impeachment is a formal process in which an official is accused of unlawful activity, the outcome of which, depending on the country, may include the removal of that official from office as well as other punishment....
, and ultimate resignation from the Oval Office
Oval Office
The Oval Office, located in the West Wing of the White House, is the official office of the President of the United States.The room features three large south-facing windows behind the president's desk, and a fireplace at the north end...
. The conservative Wilson switched to the Republican Party more than five years before Connally. Ironically, it was Connally, considered a political pragmatist, whom Nixon most highly regarded, having appointed him U.S. Secretary of the Treasury in 1970 and reportedly having considered Connally for the vice-presidential nomination vacated in 1973 by Spiro T. Agnew.
Family and death
Wilson was married for thirty-six years, until her death, to the former Marjorie Lou Ashcroft (1918–1984). The couple had two children and five grandchildren. Known for his cowboyCowboy
A cowboy is an animal herder who tends cattle on ranches in North America, traditionally on horseback, and often performs a multitude of other ranch-related tasks. The historic American cowboy of the late 19th century arose from the vaquero traditions of northern Mexico and became a figure of...
humor, Wilson operated two ranch
Ranch
A ranch is an area of landscape, including various structures, given primarily to the practice of ranching, the practice of raising grazing livestock such as cattle or sheep for meat or wool. The word most often applies to livestock-raising operations in the western United States and Canada, though...
es: Brushy Creek in Williamson County
Williamson County, Texas
Williamson County is a county located on both the Edwards Plateau to the west, consisting of rocky terrain and hills, and Blackland Prairies in the east consising of rich, fertile farming land, The two areas are roughly bisected by Interstate 35...
and Little River Ranch in Milam County. He served as director of the Brushy Creek and Upper Brushy Creek Water Control Improvement Districts for two decade
Decade
A decade is a period of 10 years. The word is derived from the Ancient Greek dekas which means ten. This etymology is sometime confused with the Latin decas and dies , which is not correct....
s. He was also chairman of the Cullum and Boren and the Wilson Land and Cattle companies.
Wilson died at the age of ninety-three and was interred on December 17, 2005, alongside his wife in the Patriot's Hill section, Row R, No. 24, of the Texas State Cemetery
Texas State Cemetery
The Texas State Cemetery is a cemetery located on about just east of downtown Austin, the capital of Texas. Originally the burial place of Edward Burleson, Texas Revolutionary general and Vice-President of the Republic of Texas, it was expanded into a Confederate cemetery during the Civil War...
in Austin.