William Benjamin Harrison was mayor of Louisville, Kentucky

Louisville, Kentucky

Louisville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kentucky, and the county seat of Jefferson County. Since 2003, the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's population at the 2010 census was 741,096...

 from 1927 to 1933. He graduated from Louisville Male High School

Louisville Male High School

Louisville Male Traditional High School is a public secondary school serving students in grades 9 through 12 in the southside of Louisville, Kentucky, USA. It is part of the Jefferson County Public School District....

 in 1907 and the University of Virginia

University of Virginia

The University of Virginia is a public research university located in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States, founded by Thomas Jefferson...

 School of Law in 1910. He served as a captain in 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...

 during World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

. From 1922 to 1929 as president of the Kentucky Refrigerating Company.

He was elected mayor in 1927 after the Kentucky Court of Appeals

Kentucky Court of Appeals

The Kentucky Court of Appeals is the lower of Kentucky's two appellate courts, under the Kentucky Supreme Court. Prior to a 1975 amendment to the Kentucky Constitution the Kentucky Court of Appeals was the only appellate court in Kentucky....

 threw out the election of Arthur A. Will

Arthur A. Will

Arthur A. Will was Mayor of Louisville, Kentucky from 1925 to 1927. The son of a building contractor, Will was born in the Portland neighborhood of Louisville and educated in public schools. He dropped out at age 16 to become a carpenter, and eventually founded his own construction company with his...

. He was re-elected to a full term in 1929. As mayor, Harrison arranged the finances for the construction of the Municipal Bridge (later renamed George Rogers Clark Memorial Bridge), securing private financing after a bond initiative failed. He also supported the purchase of the Von Zedtwitz estate, with the goal of establishing Bowman Field, the city's first airport. Numerous suburbs surrounding the airport were also carved out of the property.

Harrison ran for Governor of Kentucky

Governor of Kentucky

The Governor of the Commonwealth of Kentucky is the head of the executive branch of government in the U.S. state of Kentucky. Fifty-six men and one woman have served as Governor of Kentucky. The governor's term is four years in length; since 1992, incumbents have been able to seek re-election once...

 in 1931 but was defeated by Ruby Laffoon

Ruby Laffoon

Ruby Laffoon was a politician from the U.S. state of Kentucky. He was the state's 43rd governor, serving from 1931 to 1935. At age 17, Laffoon moved to Washington, D.C. to live with his uncle, U.S. Representative Polk Laffoon...

. After his term as Mayor, Harrison served as chairman of the Louisville Industrial Foundation for 14 years. He died in 1948 and was buried in Cave Hill Cemetery.