William J. Green III | |
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120th Mayor of Philadelphia | |
In office January 7, 1980 – January 2, 1984 |
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Preceded by | Frank Rizzo |
Succeeded by | Wilson Goode |
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania's 3rd district |
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In office January 3, 1973 – January 3, 1977 |
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Preceded by | James Byrne |
Succeeded by | Raymond Lederer |
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania's 5th district |
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In office April 28, 1964 – January 3, 1973 |
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Preceded by | Bill Green Jr. |
Succeeded by | John Ware |
Chairman of the Philadelphia Democratic City Committee |
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In office December 1, 1967 – December 26, 1969 |
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Preceded by | Frank Smith |
Succeeded by | Peter Camiel |
Personal details | |
Born |
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
June 24, 1938
Political party | Democratic |
Spouse(s) | Patricia Green |
Children | 4 |
Residence | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
Alma mater | St. Joseph's University, Villanova University |
Occupation | Attorney |
William Joseph "Bill" Green III (born June 24, 1938) is a former member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania. Green also served as the 120th Mayor of Philadelphia.
Green grew up in the Kensington neighborhood's 33rd Ward with his brothers and sisters Mary, Anne, Michael, Dennis and Patrick. His father, Bill Green, Jr., the dean of U.S congressmen from Philadelphia at his death, was among the most powerful Democratic members of the U.S. House. This upbringing gave Green and his siblings extraordinary access to top Democratic Party leaders. The Harry Truman Presidential Library website, for instance, contains a picture of the Green family meeting with Harry Truman in the White House. And the records of the administration of President John F. Kennedy frequently mention the senior Green as well.
William J. Green III attended St. Joseph's Prep School and received his bachelor's degree from Saint Joseph's University in 1960. He also graduated from Villanova Law School.
At the age of 25, Green was elected as a Democrat by 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 Lyndon B. Johnson's "Great Society" era, Green assumed leadership on issues such as meat inspection, rat control, and tax reform and led the charge in Congress to eliminate the oil depletion allowance. He voted for the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the Fair Housing Act of 1968, the Immigration Reform Act of 1965, and the Medicare Act of 1965, other pieces of President Johnson's sweeping program of domestic reform, and was one of the original cosponsors of the Equal Rights Amendment. He had a 100 percent rating from the AFL-CIO, the NAACP, and the Americans for Democratic Action for his fourteen years in Congress.