Biography
Son of a mining boss, Joseph Wesley and Maude Casey Marland, he was born in Johnston City, Illinois on March 26, 1918. His family moved to a tiny coal mining community in Wyoming County, West Virginia when he was seven. During World War II, he served as a Navy lieutenant in the Pacific theater, completing four tours. He attended the University of Alabama, where he was a star football player, and received a law degree from West Virginia University in 1947. He married Valerie Allen Marland in 1942, and they got three children: William Allen, Susan Lynn, and John Wesley.
Allen was appointed law clerk to Federal Judge Ben Moore, and in August 1948, he was appointed Assistant Attorney General. Upon resignation of former Attorney General Ira J. Partlow December 1, 1949, he was appointed Attorney General. In November 1950, he was elected to the office.
Read more about this topic: William C. Marland
Famous quotes containing the word biography:
“In how few words, for instance, the Greeks would have told the story of Abelard and Heloise, making but a sentence of our classical dictionary.... We moderns, on the other hand, collect only the raw materials of biography and history, “memoirs to serve for a history,” which is but materials to serve for a mythology.”
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“There never was a good biography of a good novelist. There couldn’t be. He is too many people, if he’s any good.”
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