William J. Green III
William J. Green III | |
---|---|
Mayor of Philadelphia | |
In office January 7, 1980 – January 2, 1984 | |
Preceded by | Frank Rizzo |
Succeeded by | Wilson Goode |
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania | |
In office April 28, 1964 – January 3, 1977 | |
Preceded by | William J. Green Jr. |
Succeeded by | Raymond Lederer |
Constituency | 5th district (1964–1973) 3rd district (1973–1977) |
Chairman of the Philadelphia Democratic City Committee | |
In office December 1, 1967 – December 26, 1969 | |
Preceded by | Frank Smith |
Succeeded by | Peter Camiel |
Personal details | |
Born | William Joseph Green III June 24, 1938 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
Political party | Democratic |
Spouse | Patricia Green |
Children | 4, including Bill IV |
Parent |
|
Residence(s) | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
Education | Saint Joseph's University (BS)[1] Villanova University (JD)[1] |
Occupation | Attorney |
William Joseph Green III (born June 24, 1938) is an American politician from
Youth
Green grew up in the Kensington neighborhood's 33rd Ward with his brothers and sisters Mary, Anne, Michael, Dennis and Patrick. His father,
William J. Green III attended
Congressional career
At the age of 25, Green was elected as a Democrat in a special election on April 28, 1964, to the Eighty-eighth Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the death of his father. He was reelected to six successive Congresses and served until January 3, 1977.
Upon his election to Congress, Green and his wife Pat moved to Frankford. As a congressman in
Green served from December 1967, through December 1969, in his father's old post as Democratic city chairman but resigned after the Democratic City Committee refused to adopt his reform plan following a
He was an unsuccessful candidate for the Democratic nomination for mayor of Philadelphia in 1971, losing to former Police Commissioner Frank Rizzo's "law and order" candidacy. In the 1972 congressional redistricting, Green's opponents tried to gerrymander him out of his seat, placing him in the same district as Congressman James Byrne, in office since 1952. The newly merged district had voted heavily for Rizzo in the mayoral election and had been represented mainly by Byrne, for whom Rizzo campaigned actively. The grassroots organization Green put together for his mayoral campaign, however, enabled him to defeat Byrne decisively. He was then easily re-elected in the overwhelmingly Democratic year of 1974.
Senate campaign
In 1976, U.S. Senator
Backed by Governor
After losing to Heinz, Green was admitted to the Pennsylvania bar, and he joined the now-defunct Philadelphia law firm
As mayor
He declined to run in the 1978 gubernatorial election but won the Democratic nomination for Mayor of Philadelphia in 1979, defeating runner-up Charles Bowser, former deputy mayor. Other candidates for the nomination, former City Controller William Klenk and former Commerce Director Al Gaudiosi, withdrew near the end of the primary.
In the general election, Green defeated Republican David Marston, a former United States Attorney, and former City Councilman Lucien Blackwell, a future U.S. Congressman and the Consumer Party nominee, to win election as mayor.
As mayor, Green was often forced by circumstances to make difficult and unpopular choices. He was required to balance a city budget still at a record high $285 million deficit inherited from Mayor Rizzo, the largest ever inherited by an incoming Philadelphia mayor. The resulting disputes with municipal labor unions, open battles with City Council, quiet disputes with campaign contributors, and an adversarial relationship with the mass media sapped his morale. "Reporters are the type of people who tore the wings off flies when they were young," he complained at the time. His efforts to balance the budget were successful, however, and for the first time in years new businesses were choosing to relocate to Philadelphia, which won a national marketing award during the Green administration. In a city divided by race, Green appointed the first African American managing director, future Mayor
Green decided not to seek re-election during the Democratic primary and concentrated on his family when his wife Patricia became pregnant. Pat Green was 40 and Green feared for her health and the health of his unborn child if she faced the stress of a political campaign during the pregnancy. After his youngest child, Maura Elizabeth Green, was born healthy near the end of his term, Green joked, "I am the winner" of the 1983 mayoral contest.
Material in Mayor Green's city archives files include correspondence, reports, and other materials relating to the various city departments, boards, commissions, and other city offices. Information is also available on the General Business Tax, the Mayor's Tax Committee, the Mayor's Scholarship Program of 1979–1980, cable TV, Century IV celebration, CETA, the bicentennial of the U.S. Constitution, Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission, energy, the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers Strike of 1981, the Educational Nomination Panel of 1981–1982, Mayor's and Cabinet members' schedules for 1980–1982, Conversation Hall renovations that were started by Green, council legislation, Freedom Festival, among many other topics.[2]
Post-mayoral career
After his term as Mayor expired, Green practiced law, opened two restaurants in the emerging
In the late 1980s, the 1990s, and the 2000s, Green pursued a successful career as vice president of government relations for MacAndrews & Forbes, a large holding company that includes Revlon.
In 2003, Green retired from MacAndrews & Forbes and returned with his wife to Philadelphia, where he has since kept a low political profile. Some of his associates while he was mayor have dominated Republican mayoral politics in the decades since he has left office, but none has won election in an overwhelmingly Democratic city.
His son, William J. "Bill" Green, IV, was elected to Philadelphia City Council in 2007.
References
- ^ a b Martindale-Hubbell Online Profile
- ^ These records can be found in the City Archives, 3101 Market Street, Philadelphia PA 19104.
External links
- United States Congress. "William J. Green III (id: G000420)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.