W. Willard Wirtz
Willard Wirtz | |
---|---|
10th United States Secretary of Labor | |
In office September 25, 1962 – January 20, 1969 | |
President | John F. Kennedy Lyndon B. Johnson |
Preceded by | Arthur Goldberg |
Succeeded by | George Shultz |
Personal details | |
Born | William Willard Wirtz March 14, 1912 DeKalb, Illinois, U.S. |
Died | April 24, 2010 Washington, D.C., U.S. | (aged 98)
Political party | Democratic |
Spouse |
Jane Quisenberry
(m. 1936–2002) |
Children | 2 |
Education | Beloit College (BA) Harvard University (LLB) |
Signature | |
William Willard Wirtz (March 14, 1912 – April 24, 2010) was a U.S.
Early life
Wirtz was born on March 14, 1912, in DeKalb, Illinois, the son of Alpha Belle (née White) and William Wilbur Wirtz.[1] He attended Northern Illinois University, where he became a brother of Alpha Phi Omega.[2] While a student at Beloit College, he met the former Mary Jane Quisenberry. They married in 1936. They had two sons, Richard and Philip Wirtz.[3]
Career
He graduated from
His students included future U.S. Supreme Court justice John Paul Stevens, whom Wirtz recommended for what became his 1947–48 clerkship with Justice Rutledge. He was active in Democratic politics and wrote speeches for Adlai Stevenson during his 1952 Presidential campaign.[4] Wirtz was appointed by the Under-Secretary of Labor in 1961.
He held the post of
While serving in the Labor Department, Wirtz developed programs for the Johnson administration's
Later life
Following his public service, he practiced law in
Personal life and death
Wirtz was married to Mary Jane Quisenberry (1913-2002)[7] with whom he had 2 children. He died in an assisted living facility in Washington, D.C., on April 24, 2010.[8] At the time of his death he was the oldest living former cabinet member and the last surviving cabinet member of the Kennedy administration.
References
- ^ New York Times. Retrieved March 7, 2023.
William Willard Wirtz was born March 14, 1912, in DeKalb, Ill., the first child of William Wilbur Wirtz and Alfa Bell White Wirtz. He used his middle name to avoid confusion with his father.
- ^ Scanlon, Joseph; Plessner, Gerald M., eds. (November 1962). "Alpha Phi Omega Enters the President's Cabinet" (PDF). Torch & Trefoil. Kansas City, Missouri: Alpha Phi Omega. Retrieved March 12, 2017.
- ^ "In the Rear View Mirror", W. Willard Wirtz p.19
- ^ a b c d Weil, Martin (April 25, 2010). "Labor secretary for Kennedy, Johnson". Washington Post. p. C6.
- ^ a b Arellano, Gustavo (23 August 2018). "When The U.S. Government Tried To Replace Migrant Farmworkers With High Schoolers". NPR. Retrieved 2018-08-24.
- U.S. Department of Labor. Archived from the originalon 2009-04-04. Retrieved 2009-04-06.
- ^ Mary Jane Quisenberry Wirtz U.S. Department of Labor, 2002 accessed 18 August 2018
- ^ "Willard Wirtz, labor secretary for JFK". The Washington Post. Published April 24, 2010.