Harrison A. Williams

Harrison A. Williams
United States Senator from New Jersey
In office January 3, 1959 – March 11, 1982
Preceded by	Howard Smith
Succeeded by	Nicholas Brady
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New Jersey's 6th district
In office November 3, 1953 – January 3, 1957
Preceded by	Clifford Case
Succeeded by	Florence Dwyer
Personal details
Born	Harrison Arlington Williams, Jr. December 10, 1919 Plainfield, New Jersey
Died	November 17, 2001 (aged 81) Denville, New Jersey
Political party	Democratic
Religion	Presbyterian

Harrison Arlington "Pete" Williams, Jr. (December 10, 1919 – November 17, 2001) was a Democrat who represented New Jersey in the United States House of Representatives (1953–1957) and the United States Senate (1959–1982). Williams was convicted on May 1, 1981 for taking bribes in the Abscam sting operation,^[1] and resigned from the U.S. Senate in 1982 before a planned expulsion vote.^[2]

Biography

Williams was born in Plainfield, New Jersey, and graduated from Oberlin College in 1941. He engaged in newspaper work in Washington, D.C., and studied at the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service of Georgetown University until called to active duty as a seaman in the United States Naval Reserve in 1941. He became a naval aviator and was discharged as a Lieutenant, junior grade, in 1945. After being employed in the steel industry for a short time, he graduated from Columbia Law School in 1948, and was admitted to the bar and commenced practice in New Hampshire. He returned to Plainfield in 1949 and continued to practice law, and was an unsuccessful candidate for the New Jersey General Assembly in 1951 and for city councilman in 1952.

Congressional service

Williams was elected to the House of Representatives in a special election in 1953, and was re-elected in 1954 but defeated for re-election in 1956. He was elected to the Senate in 1958 and re-elected in 1964, 1970 and 1976. In 1976, he defeated David A. Norcross, who went on to serve the Republican Party in state and national leadership roles.

He became the first Democratic senator in the history of New Jersey ever to be elected four times. Known as "Pete," Williams fought for a range of social welfare laws and urban transit programs. He was instrumental in passage of such landmark laws as the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, which protects worker pensions, and the 1969 Coal Mine Safety and Health Act.

He also helped pass legislation that created the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and had a major role in passage of the Urban Mass Transportation Act of 1964, the first federal law to provide mass transportation assistance to states and cities. He also was the chairman of the United States Senate Special Committee on Aging from 1967 through 1971.

Williams was the sponsor of the 1968 Williams Act (named after him), which regulates tender offers.

Scandal and retirement

In 1980, Williams, a resident of Westfield, New Jersey at the time, was convicted of bribery and conspiracy in the Abscam scandal for taking bribes in a sting operation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).^[3] The Senate Committee on Ethics recommended that Williams be expelled because of his "ethically repugnant" conduct. Prior to a Senate vote on his expulsion, Williams resigned on March 11, 1982. Sentenced to three years, he served two years in Federal prison as Inmate #06089-050, the first time in over 80 years that a senator had spent time in prison. Williams was also charged a $50,000 fine in addition to prison time.^[4] Released on January 31, 1986, he served the remainder of his sentence at the Integrity House halfway house, where he later became a member of the board of directors until his death on November 17, 2001. He also attempted to receive a presidential pardon from President Bill Clinton, but his request was denied.

The Metropark train station had been renamed Harrison A. Williams Metropark Station in 1979, in recognition of his support for its construction. However, the name was removed from the station after his conviction.

Williams died of cancer and heart ailments at St. Clare's Hospital in Denville, New Jersey, on November 17, 2001. He was a resident of Bedminster Township, New Jersey.^[5][6]

References

1. Williams is Guilty on All Nine Counts in ABSCAM Inquiry, New York Times, May 2, 1981
2. Governing under the influence; Washington alcoholics: their aides protect them, the media shields them, Washington Monthly, June 1988. "Former senators who have acknowledged alcoholism included the chairman of the Agriculture Committee (Herman Talmadge); the chairman of the Finance Committee (Russell Long), who went on the wagon in the 1970s; and a senior liberal (Harrison Williams), who later went to prison after an Abscam sting caught him taking bribes.
3. Bachrach, Judy. "Facing Expulsion from the Senate He Loves, Harrison Williams Finds Some Unlikely Supporters", People (magazine), February 1, 1982. Accessed March 5, 2011. "One of them, who asks for anonymity, recalls 'going over to Pete and Nancy's house in Westfield, N.J. and having coffee together. Pete looked about 80 years old—horrible.'"
4. Martin, Douglas (20 November 2001). "Ex-Senator Harrison A. Williams Jr., 81, Dies; Went to Prison Over Abscam Scandal". New York Times. Retrieved 7 October 2014.
5. Martin, Douglas. "Ex-Senator Harrison A. Williams Jr., 81, Dies; Went to Prison Over Abscam Scandal", The New York Times, November 20, 2001. Accessed November 4, 2007. "Harrison A. Williams Jr., the Democratic senator from New Jersey who used his considerable power to further the interests of labor and education before being convicted of bribery and conspiracy in the Abscam scandal, died on Saturday. He was 81 and lived in Bedminster"
6. "Harrison A. Williams Jr. Dies". The Washington Post. 2001-11-20. Retrieved 2009-11-03.

External links

• A film clip "Longines Chronoscope with Harrison A. Williams, Jr." is available for free download at the Internet Archive
• United States Congress. "Harrison A. Williams (id: W000502)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.