William Winter (politician)

William Winter
58th Governor of Mississippi
In office January 22, 1980 – January 10, 1984
Lieutenant	Brad Dye
Preceded by	Cliff Finch
Succeeded by	Bill Allain
25th Lieutenant Governor of Mississippi
In office January 18, 1972 – January 20, 1976
Governor	Bill Waller
Preceded by	Charles L. Sullivan
Succeeded by	Evelyn Gandy
45th State Treasurer of Mississippi
In office January 21, 1964 – January 16, 1968
Governor	Paul B. Johnson, Jr.
Preceded by	Evelyn Gandy
Succeeded by	Evelyn Gandy
Personal details
Born	February 21, 1923 (1923-02-21) Grenada, Mississippi
Political party	Democratic
Religion	Presbyterian

William Forrest Winter (born February 21, 1923, in Grenada, Mississippi) is an American politician from Mississippi. He served as the 58th Governor of Mississippi from 1980 to 1984 as a Democrat. He is known for his strong support of public education, freedom of information, racial reconciliation, and historic preservation. Winter is best remembered for the passage of the Mississippi Education Reform Act. The law was the first serious attempt at improving state education in over 20 years and, among other things, established public kindergartens.

Biography

He is a graduate of the University of Mississippi and the Ole Miss law school, where he served as Editor of the Mississippi Law Journal. During his time at Ole Miss, he was an active member of the Phi Delta Theta chapter. During World War II, Winter served in the United States Army infantry in the Philippines where he attained the rank of captain. On Luzon Island in the Philippines, the subject was Liaison Officer and Acting Assistant G-3 of the 86th Infantry Division. Upon graduating first in his class at Fort Benning, Georgia and receiving his commission as second lieutenant, he was sent to "one of the two African-American infantry training regiments in the Army".During the Korean War the subject was stationed at Fort Jackson, SC until he received a hardship discharge in December of 1951 a couple of months after his father suffered a heart attack and his mother needed his assistance on the farm. After the Korean War Major William Forrest Winter served in the Mississippi National Guard in the "Dixie Division" or 31st Infantry Division until his retirement in 1957.

Winter first entered politics in 1947. While in law school, Winter was elected to the Mississippi House of Representatives. He was subsequently re-elected in 1951 and 1955. He served as Tax Collector of the State of Mississippi as well as State Treasurer. He ran for the Democratic nomination for governor in 1967 as a segregationist although one who wanted to focus on "bread-and-butter issues, not the old emotional ones—not racial issues." He eventually lost the bitterly contested race in the runoff to John Bell Williams. He was then elected to and served as Lieutenant Governor from 1972 to 1976. He again lost the Democratic nomination for governor in 1975 to Cliff Finch. He won the nomination in 1979, serving as governor form 1980 to 1984. When Governor Winter told members of the state Democratic Party executive committee in May 1980 that he wanted to have a white chairman of the executive committee, Aaron Henry who had been a co-chair, filed an official complaint with the Judicial Council of the Democratic National Committee accusing the Governor of racism and sexism. Supporters of presidential candidate Senator Edward Kennedy made accusations against the subject of manipulating the state party process in electing executive committee members and convention delegates using pre-determined slates.

After finishing his term as governor, he unsuccessfully ran for the United States Senate against Republican incumbent Thad Cochran.

William Winter currently practices law as Special Counsel in the Government Relations Practice Group of the law firm of Jones Walker of New Orleans, Louisiana, with offices in Jackson, Mississippi. He was a member of President Clinton’s Advisory Board on Race in 1997-1998. The William Winter Institute for Racial Reconciliation on the University of Mississippi's Oxford campus is named in his honor, as is the William F. Winter Professorship in the Department of History.

In March 2008, he was given the Profile in Courage Award by the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum for his work advancing education and racial reconciliation.

External links

• NPR: William Winter and the Education of Mississippi
• William Winter Institute for Racial Reconciliation
• Mississippi History Now
• Center for a Better South Interview with William Winter
• The Measure of Our Days Writings of William F. Winter
• William Winter Teacher Scholar Loan

Political offices
Preceded by Evelyn Gandy	State Treasurer of Mississippi 1964–1968	Succeeded by Evelyn Gandy
Preceded by Charles L. Sullivan	Lieutenant Governor of Mississippi 1972–1976	Succeeded by Evelyn Gandy
Preceded by Cliff Finch	Governor of Mississippi 1980–1984	Succeeded by William Allain