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William S. Moorhead

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
William S. Moorhead
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Pennsylvania's 14th district
In office
January 3, 1963 – January 3, 1981
Preceded byGeorge M. Rhodes
Succeeded byWilliam J. Coyne
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from 's 28th district
In office
January 3, 1959 – January 3, 1963
Preceded byHerman P. Eberharter
Succeeded bydistrict eliminated
Personal details
Born
William Singer Moorhead

(1923-04-08)April 8, 1923
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.
DiedAugust 3, 1987(1987-08-03) (aged 64)
Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
SpouseLucy Galpin
Alma materYale University

William Singer Moorhead (April 8, 1923 – August 3, 1987) was an American politician serving as a Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

Moorhead was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the son of prominent attorney William Singer Moorhead, Sr (1883–1952).[1][2] He attended Shady Side Academy, graduated from Phillips Andover Academy in 1941 and from Yale University in 1944, where he was a member of Skull and Bones.[3][4]

He served in the United States Navy from 1943 until he was discharged as a lieutenant (jg.) in 1946 with service in the Pacific Theater. Moorhead married the former Lucy Galpin, and they had four children. He graduated from Harvard Law School in 1949. He served as Assistant City Solicitor of Pittsburgh from 1954 to 1957, as a member of Allegheny County Housing Authority from 1956 to 1958, and the Pittsburgh Art Commission in 1958.[5]

He was elected in 1958 as a Democrat to the 86th Congress and to the ten succeeding Congresses. Moorhead was a prominent critic of Pentagon cost overruns, a leader in establishing the National Endowments for the Arts and the Humanities, floor manager of freedom of information legislation that opened government documents to the public, and chief sponsor of the bill that established a synthetic fuels corporation. He also sponsored legislation to rescue New York City from its 1975 fiscal crisis.[5]

He was not a candidate for reelection in 1980, and instead practiced law in the Washington firm of Coan, Couture, Lyons & Moorhead.[5]

Moorhead died of lung cancer at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore in 1987; he was 64.[5]

Sources

[edit]
  1. ^ http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt?open=514&objID=588463&mode=2
  2. ^ "OBITUARY RECORD OF GRADUATES OF THE UNDERGRADUATE SCHOOLS DECEASED DURING THE YEAR 1951–1952" (PDF). Yale University. 1 September 1969. Retrieved March 26, 2011.
  3. ^ Karnow, Stanley (1991). Vietnam, a history. Viking. pp. 571. ISBN 9780140145335.
  4. ^ Isaacson, Walter; Thomas, Evan (1997). The Wise Men: Six Friends and the World They Made. Simon and Schuster. p. 690.
  5. ^ a b c d "William S. Moorhead Is Dead; Held House Seat for 22 Years". New York Times. August 4, 1987.
[edit]
U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Pennsylvania's 28th congressional district
1959–1963 		Succeeded by
District eliminated
Preceded by Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Pennsylvania's 14th congressional district
1963–1981 		Succeeded by
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