Politics
George Williams, long involved in Missouri Republican politics, was appointed a circuit court judge for the St. Louis region in 1906, a position he would hold until 1912. In that position he was a key player in developing a new juvenile code for Missouri, and took a strong interest in bettering the lives of children that lasted even after he left the court. As chair of the St. Louis Board of Children's Guardians, he helped establish Bellefontaine Farms, a home for troubled, orphaned, and abandoned children.
In 1922 Williams was named as a delegate to the Missouri Constitutional Convention, where his acumen for business law proved especially valuable. The convention allowed Williams to gain some name recognition around the state as well as he chaired several important committees. In 1923, in appreciation for his service, Missouri Valley College awarded him an honorary Doctor of Laws degree. With the unexpected death of Senator Selden Spencer in May, 1925 George H. Williams was tapped by Missouri Governor Sam Baker to fill the remaining eighteen months of Spencer's term until the 1926 general election. As senator, Williams served as chairman of the Committee to Audit and Control the Contingent Expenses, and as a member of the Committee on Private Land Claims. George Williams defeated two fellow Republicans, David M. Proctor and Blodgdett Priest, with 56-percent of the vote to win the August 1926 U.S. Senate primary. However in the November general election he lost to Democratic challenger Harry B. Hawes 52-percent to 48-percent.
Read more about this topic: George Howard Williams
Famous quotes containing the word politics:
“It is not so much that women have a different point of view in politics as that they give a different emphasis. And this is vastly important, for politics is so largely a matter of emphasis.”
—Crystal Eastman (1881–1928)
“The history of American politics is littered with bodies of people who took so pure a position that they had no clout at all.”
—Ben C. Bradlee (b. 1921)