Will Reid Wilson, Sr. (July 29, 1912 – December 14, 2005), was an American politician and lawyer who served as attorney general of Texas from 1957 to 1963.[1][2]
Will Reid Wilson, Sr. | |
|---|---|
 | |
| 41st Attorney General of Texas | |
| In office 1957–1963 | |
| Governor | Allan Shivers Price Daniel |
| Preceded by | John Ben Shepperd |
| Succeeded by | Waggoner Carr |
| Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of Texas | |
| In office January 2, 1951 – June 1, 1956 | |
| Preceded by | William Taylor |
| Succeeded by | Abner McCall |
| Personal details | |
| Born | July 29, 1912 Dallas, Texas, U.S. |
| Died | December 14, 2005 (aged 93) Austin, Texas, U.S. |
| Resting place | Texas State Cemetery |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse |
Marjorie Wilson
(m. 1948; died 1984) |
| Children | Two |
| Residence(s) | Austin, Texas |
| Alma mater | University of Oklahoma Southern Methodist University |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  United States |
| Branch/service |  United States Army |
| Rank | Major |
| Battles/wars | World War II |
Texas legal career
editWilson was a senior partner in a Dallas law firm and also served as a Texas state Supreme Court justice, and Texas attorney general.
He was a member of Democrats for Nixon in the 1968 general election.[3]
U.S. Department of Justice
editHe was head of the Criminal Justice Division of the U.S. Department of Justice in the Nixon administration. Wilson was appointed by Attorney General John Mitchell in 1970 to supervise the Internal Revenue Service investigation into the tax returns of Alabama Gov. George Wallace, the governor's brother, Gerald Wallace, and financial supporters who had done business with the state of Alabama. Dubbed the Alabama Project by Mitchell, the oversight was a result of President Richard Nixon's keen interest in pressing for eventual indictment of George Wallace prior to the 1972 presidential election. (Wilson in 1970 had provided U.S. Rep. Gerald Ford with derogatory information about Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas in an effort to impeach or otherwise force Douglas to retire; Nixon had suggested to Wilson that he might be nominated to the court.) Shortly after Wallace decided to drop a third-party bid for president and focus on the Democratic nomination, the Nixon administration decided not to pursue the criminal case.[4]
Wilson was forced out of the Nixon administration after he became embroiled in a Texas stock scandal.
References
edit- ^ "Will Reid Wilson, Sr. (1912-2005)". Tarlton Law Center of University of Texas. Retrieved December 24, 2008.
- ^ Will R. Wilson, Sr., obituary, Austin American-Statesman, December 16, 2005
- ^ Olien, Roger M. (1981). From Token to Triumph: The Texas Republicans Since 1920. Dallas, Texas: Southern Methodist University Press. p. 62. ISBN 978-0-87074-180-7. Retrieved November 4, 2023.
- ^ Carter, Dan T. (1995). The politics of rage : George Wallace, the origins of the new conservatism, and the transformation of American politics. New York: Simon & Schuster. pp. 400–414. ISBN 0-684-80916-8. OCLC 32739924. Retrieved March 4, 2024.