William Joseph Campbell

William Joseph Campbell (March 19, 1905 – October 19, 1988) was a United States federal judge and the longest serving Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. In 1970 the Library of the United States Courts of the Seventh Circuit was named "The William J. Campbell Library of the United States Courts.". Judge Campbell's son is the former five-term U.S. Representative Tom Campbell of California.

William Joseph Campbell was born in Chicago, and was a graduate of St. Rita High School. He received an J.D. degree from Loyola University in 1926 and an LL.M. from the same school in 1928.

Admitted to the Illinois Bar, he was an attorney for Travelers Insurance Company in Chicago from 1925 to 1930, Campbell was in Private Practice in Chicago until 1940, opening the firm of Campbell and Burns. The new firm's first major client was the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago. It was at this time that Campbell first got involved in Chicago Democratic politics.

An early supporter of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Campbell formed the Young Democrats for Roosevelt in 1932. For his efforts he was named Illinois administrator for the president's National Youth Administration in 1935 where he served until 1938 when he38 he was designated United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois where he served until 1940. As a federal prosecutor, he helped convict Al Capone of tax evasion and challenged the city's political leaders and their system of influence.

On September 24, 1940, Campbell was nominated by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to a new seat on the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois created by 54 Stat. 219. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on October 7, 1940, and received his commission on October 10, 1940. Early in his time on the bench he conducted one of the few treason trials ever held in the United States.

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