William E. Miller
William E. Miller | |
---|---|
District Attorney of Niagara County, New York | |
In office 1948–1951 | |
Preceded by | John S. Marsh |
Succeeded by | Jack E. Gellman[1] |
Personal details | |
Born | William Edward Miller March 22, 1914 Lockport, New York, U.S. |
Died | June 24, 1983 Buffalo, New York, U.S. | (aged 69)
Resting place | Arlington National Cemetery |
Political party | Republican |
Spouse |
Stephanie Wagner (m. 1943) |
Children | 4, including Judge Advocate General's Corps |
Battles/wars | World War II |
William Edward Miller (March 22, 1914 – June 24, 1983) was an American politician who served in the
A native of
Miller was an assistant district attorney in Niagara County, New York, from 1946 to 1948. In January 1948, the district attorney's position became vacant, and the governor of New York appointed Miller. Miller was elected to a full term later that year, and served as district attorney until January 1951, when he resigned.
In 1950, Miller was a successful Republican candidate for the
After leaving Congress, Miller resumed practicing law in Lockport. He died in Buffalo on June 24, 1983, and was buried at Arlington National Cemetery.
Early life and education
William Edward Miller was born in
Career
Military service
Miller enlisted in the United States Army on July 1, 1942, and received training in the Military Intelligence branch.[7] After serving with an Intelligence unit in Richmond, Virginia, in May 1945, Miller received his commission as a first lieutenant and was assigned to the War Criminals Branch of the War Department staff.[5] In August 1945, he was assigned as assistant prosecutor of Nazi war criminals during the Nuremberg trials.[5] Miller was discharged in March 1946, and returned to Lockport.[5]
Politics
District attorney
Miller served as an assistant district attorney of Niagara County, New York from 1946 to 1948.[6] Governor Thomas E. Dewey appointed Miller to fill a vacancy as district attorney in January 1948, and Miller won election to a full term in November.[6] He served until resigning in January 1951 as he prepared to assume his seat in Congress.[8]
Congressman
In August 1950, Miller won the Republican nomination in New York's 42nd Congressional district after defeating Melvin L. Payne and James W. Heary in a primary.[9] He won the general election in November by defeating the Democratic nominee, Mary Louise Nice.[10]
After redistricting placed Miller in New York's 40th Congressional District, he was easily reelected every two years from 1952 to 1962.[11] He rose through seniority to become the second-ranking Republican on the Judiciary Committee, and received credit for two major pieces of legislation.[12] The first was a compromise on the development of Niagara Falls hydroelectric power, and the second was a law authorizing construction of a new Lake Erie‐Lake Ontario canal east of the Niagara River.[7][13] Miller voted in favor of the Civil Rights Acts of 1957,[14] 1960,[15] and 1964,[16] as well as the 24th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.[17]
Miller became influential with respect to the internal workings of the House.
Republican National Committee
Miller's success with the 1960 House elections led to his selection as head of the Republican National Committee.[7] He served from 1961 to 1964, and advocated for the party to become more conservative, including tacitly supporting Goldwater for the 1964 presidential nomination.[7]
As chairman, Miller oversaw the party's efforts during the 1962 Congressional elections.[18] Though Republicans lost five seats in the Senate, they gained four in the House.[18] In addition, Democratic candidates in several races throughout the South experienced tougher than expected races, indicating that the domination the Democrats had enjoyed regionally since the Civil War was in peril.[18] These included the moderate-to-liberal Senator J. Lister Hill of Alabama, who defeated business Republican businessman James D. Martin by just 50.9 percent to 49.1.[19] Martin's strong showing demonstrated his viability as a candidate, and in 1964 he was elected to the U.S. House.[20]
In the early 1960s, leading Republicans including Miller and Senator
Miller concurred with Goldwater, and backed the
Vice presidential candidate
After winning the Republican presidential nomination, Goldwater chose Miller to be his running mate.[6] In Goldwater's telling, he picked Miller because "he drives Johnson nuts" with his Republican activism.[29] But by some other accounts, Johnson "was barely aware of Miller's existence."[29] Miller's Eastern roots and Catholic faith balanced the ticket in some ways, but ideologically he was conservative like Goldwater.[29] His relative obscurity—"he was better known for snipes at President Kennedy than for anything else"—gave birth to the refrain "Here's a riddle, it's a killer / Who the hell is William Miller?"[29]
In the
Later life
Following the defeat of the Goldwater–Miller ticket, Miller returned to his hometown of
He participated in an interview in 1979 in which he stated that he did not miss politics as he had "had such a saturation of it in my life".[33]
On June 5, 1983, he was admitted to Millard Fillmore Suburban Hospital in Williamsville, New York, for diagnostic tests.[34] He suffered a stroke in mid-June and died in Buffalo, New York, on June 24, 1983.[34] Miller was buried at Arlington National Cemetery.[6][35] In noting Miller's passing, Goldwater stated "he was one of the greatest men I have ever known and I feel his loss very deeply".[36]
Personal life
Miller and his wife, Stephanie (Wagner) (1923–2023) were the parents of three daughters and a son.
Electoral history
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Republican | William E. Miller | 75,377 | 58.57% | +7.52% | |
Democratic | Mary Louise Nice | 53,310 | 41.43% | -5.21% | |
Total votes | '128,687' | '100.00%' |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Republican | William E. Miller (incumbent) | 102,565 | 59.64% | +1.07% | |
Democratic | E. Dent Lackey | 69,087 | 40.17% | -1.26% | |
American Labor | John Touralchuk | 329 | 0.19% | +0.19% | |
Total votes | '171,981' | '100.00%' |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Republican | William E. Miller (incumbent) | 77,016 | 60.92% | +1.28% | |
Democratic | Mariano A. Lucca | 46,956 | 37.14% | -3.03% | |
Liberal | Louis Longo | 2,233 | 1.77% | +1.77% | |
American Labor | Nick Curtis | 222 | 0.18% | -0.01% | |
Total votes | '126,427' | '100.00%' |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Republican | William E. Miller (incumbent) | 117,051 | 64.34% | +3.42% | |
Democratic | A. Thorne Hills | 64,872 | 35.66% | -1.48% | |
Total votes | '181,923' | '100.00%' |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Republican | William E. Miller (incumbent) | 90,066 | 60.80% | -3.54% | |
Democratic | Mariano A. Lucca | 54,728 | 36.94% | +1.28% | |
Liberal | Helen J. Di Pota | 3,354 | 2.26% | +2.26% | |
Total votes | '148,148' | '100.00%' |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Republican | William E. Miller (incumbent) | 104,752 | 53.62% | -7.18% | |
Democratic | Mariano A. Lucca | 85,005 | 43.51% | +6.57% | |
Liberal | Albert J. Taylor | 5,621 | 2.88% | +0.62% | |
Total votes | '195,378' | '100.00%' |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Republican | William E. Miller (incumbent) | 21,579 | 76.49% | ||
Republican | Donald C. Chaplin | 6,633 | 23.51% | ||
Total votes | '28,212' | '100.00%' |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Republican | William E. Miller (incumbent) | 72,706 | 52.04% | -1.58% | |
Democratic | E. Dent Lackey | 67,004 | 47.96% | +4.45% | |
Total votes | '139,710' | '100.00%' |
See also
References
- Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Fighter for His Party; William Edward Miller". The New York Times. January 22, 1960. Archived from the original on July 23, 2018. Retrieved July 23, 2018.
- ^ "Bill Miller: The Man Who Wanted to be Vice Presidenet by Libby Miller Fitzgerald, Notre Dame Magazine Online - University of Notre Dame". Archived from the original on December 12, 2006. Retrieved 2006-12-12.
- ^ U.S. Congress Joint Committee on Printing (1951). Official Congressional Directory of the 82d Congress. Washington, D. C.: US Government Printing Office. pp. 94–95 – via Google Books.
- ^ ISBN 9780160845789.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j McGill, Douglas C. (25 June 1983). "Ex-Rep. William Miller, 69, Dies; Goldwater's 1964 Running Mate". The New York Times. New York, NY. p. 14. Archived from the original on 2018-09-04. Retrieved 2018-06-04.
- ^ a b c d e f g Weaver, Warren Jr (September 6, 1964). "Miller Spurned the Usual Road to Political Advancement". The New York Times. New York, NY – via Times Machine.
- Newspapers.com.
- Newspapers.com.
- ^ Buffalo News Staff (November 16, 1993). "Mary Louise Nice, Twice Ran for Congress". The Buffalo News. Buffalo, NY.
- ^ United States Congress (1971). Biographical Directory of the American Congress 1774–1971. Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office. p. 1413 – via Google Books.
- ^ US House Committee on Printing (1964). Part II, District of Columbia Code, "Judiciary and Judicial Procedure, Effective January 1, 1964. Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office. p. II – via Google Books.
- ^ US House Committee on Appropriations, Subcommittee on Public Works Appropriations (1961). Public Works Appropriations for 1963. Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office. p. 921 – via Google Books.
- ^ "HR 6127. CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1957". GovTrack.us. Archived from the original on 2019-10-20. Retrieved 2020-01-07.
- ^ "HR 8601. PASSAGE". Archived from the original on 2020-01-03. Retrieved 2020-01-07.
- ^ "H.R. 7152. PASSAGE". Archived from the original on 2020-02-21. Retrieved 2020-01-07.
- ^ "S.J. Res. 29. Constitutional Amendment to Ban the Use of Poll Tax as a Requirement for Voting in Federal Elections". GovTrack.us.
- ^ a b c Schwengel, Rep. Fred (May 23, 1963). "Extension of Remarks: Republicans Have the Best Candidates in Years". Congressional Record. Vol. 109, Part 7. Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office. p. 9402 – via Google Books.
- ISBN 978-1-5572-8710-6 – via Google Books.
- ^ Roberts, Sam (October 31, 2017). "James Martin, Who Spurred G.O.P. Gains in the South, Dies at 99". The New York Times. New York, NY. p. B14.
- Newspapers.com.
- ^ Newspapers.com.
- Newspapers.com.
- Newspapers.com.
- ISBN 978-0-7391-7363-3 – via Google Books.
- ISBN 978-0-8131-6440-3 – via Google Books.
- Newspapers.com.
- ^ Newspapers.com.
- ^ ISBN 9780786744152 – via Google Books.
- ^ "1964 Presidential Election". 270 to Win.com. Atlanta, GA: Electoral Ventures LLC. Retrieved May 22, 2020.
- ^ Guess Who? Archived 2011-01-22 at the Wayback Machine, Time (Feb. 17, 1975)
- ^ Barabak, Mark Z. (20 June 2016). "Ticket to the White House or political oblivion? The challenge for Donald Trump as he seeks a running mate". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 20 June 2016. Retrieved 21 June 2016.
- Newspapers.com.
- ^ Newspapers.com.
- ^ Burial Detail: Miller, William E (section 5, grave 93) – ANC Explorer
- Newspapers.com.
- ^ Lawrence Kestenbaum. "The Political Graveyard: Index to Politicians: Miller, U to Z". Archived from the original on 11 May 2016. Retrieved 4 May 2016.
- ^ "NY District 42 1950". May 22, 2010. Archived from the original on June 3, 2016. Retrieved February 27, 2020.
- ^ "NY District 40 1952". December 6, 2007. Archived from the original on June 3, 2016. Retrieved February 27, 2020.
- ^ "NY District 40 1954". November 27, 2007. Archived from the original on June 3, 2016. Retrieved February 27, 2020.
- ^ "NY District 40 1956". November 16, 2007. Archived from the original on June 3, 2016. Retrieved February 27, 2020.
- ^ "NY District 40 1958". November 10, 2007. Archived from the original on June 3, 2016. Retrieved February 27, 2020.
- ^ "NY District 40 1960". March 9, 2011. Archived from the original on June 3, 2016. Retrieved February 27, 2020.
- ^ "NY District 40 1962 Republican primary". January 10, 2015. Archived from the original on March 13, 2016. Retrieved February 27, 2020.
- ^ "NY District 40 1962". March 8, 2011. Archived from the original on June 3, 2016. Retrieved February 27, 2020.
External links
- Official Congressional Biography
- Fitzgerald, Libby Miller (2004). Bill Miller: Do You Know Me? A Daughter Remembers. Warwick House. ISBN 1-890306-73-8.