William Knowland

William Knowland
Senate Minority Leader
In office
January 3, 1955 – January 3, 1959
DeputyLeverett Saltonstall
Everett Dirksen
Preceded byLyndon B. Johnson
Succeeded byEverett Dirksen
Senate Majority Leader
In office
August 4, 1953 – January 3, 1955
DeputyLeverett Saltonstall
Preceded byRobert A. Taft
Succeeded byLyndon B. Johnson
Leader of the Senate Republican Conference
In office
August 4, 1953 – January 3, 1959
DeputyLeverett Saltonstall
Everett Dirksen
Preceded byRobert A. Taft
Succeeded byEverett Dirksen
Chair of the Senate Republican Policy Committee
In office
January 3, 1953 – August 4, 1953
LeaderRobert A. Taft
Preceded byRobert A. Taft
Succeeded byHomer S. Ferguson
United States Senator
from California
In office
August 26, 1945 – January 3, 1959
Preceded byHiram Johnson
Succeeded byClair Engle
Member of the California State Senate
from the 16th district
In office
January 7, 1935 – January 2, 1939
Preceded byArthur Breed Sr.
Succeeded byArthur Breed Jr.
Member of the California State Assembly
from the 14th district
In office
January 2, 1933 – January 7, 1935
Preceded byFrank Israel
Succeeded byCharles Wagner
Personal details
Born
William Fife Knowland

(1908-06-26)June 26, 1908
Alameda, California, U.S.
DiedFebruary 23, 1974(1974-02-23) (aged 65)
Guerneville, California, U.S.
Cause of deathSuicide by gunshot
Political partyRepublican
Spouses
Helen Davis Herrick
(m. 1926; div. 1972)
Ann Dickson
(m. 1972)
Children3, including Joe, and 2 stepchildren
RelativesJoseph R. Knowland (Father)
EducationUniversity of California, Berkeley (BA)
Military service
Allegiance United States
Branch/service United States Army
Years of service1942–1945
RankMajor
UnitForward Echelon Communications Zone
Fifteenth United States Army
Battles/warsWorld War II

William Fife Knowland (June 26, 1908 – February 23, 1974) was an American politician and newspaper publisher. A member of the Republican Party, he served as a United States Senator from California from 1945 to 1959. He was Senate Majority Leader from August 1953 to January 1955 after the death of Robert A. Taft, and would be the last Republican Senate Majority Leader until Howard Baker in 1981.

As one of the most powerful members of the Senate and with his strong interest in foreign policy, Knowland helped set national foreign policy priorities and funding for the Cold War, the policy regarding Vietnam, Formosa, China, Korea and NATO, as well as other foreign policy objectives. He opposed sending American forces to French Indochina and was a sharp critic of Communist China under Mao Zedong. Knowland represented the right wing of the party and considered some of President Dwight D. Eisenhower's policies too liberal.[1]

After the Republicans lost their majority in the 1954 election, he served as Minority Leader from January 1955 to January 1959. Knowland voted in favor of the Civil Rights Act of 1957.[2][3] He was defeated in his 1958 run for Governor of California. He succeeded his father, Joseph R. Knowland, as the editor-in-chief and publisher of the Oakland Tribune.

  1. ^ Gayle B. Montgomery, and James W. Johnson, One Step from the White House: The Rise and Fall of Senator William F. Knowland (1998) pp 166-80
  2. ^ "Senate – August 7, 1957" (PDF). Congressional Record. 103 (10). U.S. Government Printing Office: 13900. Retrieved February 18, 2022.
  3. ^ "Senate – August 29, 1957" (PDF). Congressional Record. 103 (12). U.S. Government Printing Office: 16478. Retrieved February 18, 2022.