Robert L. Williams

Robert Lee Williams ( born December 20 1868 in Brundidge, Pike County, Alabama, † April 10, 1948 in Durant, Oklahoma) was an American lawyer and politician and from 1915 to 1919, the third Governor of the State of Oklahoma.

Early years and political rise

Robert Williams attended the Southern University, after which he was briefly employed as a teacher. After a subsequent law degree, he began to practice as a lawyer in Troy. In 1893 he moved to Guthrie in the former Indian Territory, now part of Oklahoma. After a brief return to Alabama, Williams had to settle permanently in Oklahoma.

He was a member of the Democratic Party and was from 1904 to 1908 the Democratic National Committee at. In 1906 he was a delegate to the Constitutional Convention of Oklahoma. He was significantly involved in the founding of the State of Oklahoma. The first governor, Charles N. Haskell, he was appointed to the Oklahoma Supreme Court, where he was Chief Judge of this body. This office he held until 1914.

Governor of Oklahoma

In 1914, Williams was elected Governor of Oklahoma, where he prevailed with 39.7 percent of the vote just ahead of Republican John Fields. He began his four-year term on 11 January 1915. During his tenure, most government buildings were completed and occupied in the new capital Oklahoma City. Some administrative bodies have been incorporated merged and partially in a new ministry ( State Board of Affairs ). Through tax increases Williams tried to consolidate the budget. In 1915 had to be changed after a ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court, the right to vote in Oklahoma, because it deprived black voters. In Williams' tenure also the entry of the United States fell in the First World War. Against introduced in all U.S. States military service there was great resistance in Oklahoma, against the governor but by sat.

Federal Judge

After the end of his governorship was Williams Judge at United States District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma. This office he held from 1919-1937. After that he was appointed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to succeed the late George Thomas McDermott on Federal Court of Appeals for the Tenth District Court and remained there on 21 April 1937 until he joined the senior status on March 31, 1939. From 1938 to 1948 he was President of the Oklahoma Historical Society.