William Thaddeus Coleman Jr.
| William Coleman | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Judge of the United States Court of Military Commission Review | |
|
In office September 21, 2004 – December 17, 2009 |
|
| Appointed by | George W. Bush |
| Preceded by | Position established |
| Succeeded by | Scott Silliman |
| 4th United States Secretary of Transportation | |
|
In office March 7, 1975 – January 20, 1977 |
|
| President | Gerald Ford |
| Preceded by | Claude Brinegar |
| Succeeded by | Brock Adams |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
July 7, 1920 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse(s) | Lovida Hardin |
| Children | Lovida William Hardin |
| Alma mater |
University of Pennsylvania (B.A.) Harvard Law School (J.D.) |
| Military service | |
| Service/branch | United States Army Air Corps |
| Battles/wars | World War II |
William Thaddeus Coleman Jr. (born July 7, 1920) is an American attorney and politician. Coleman was the fourth United States Secretary of Transportation, from March 7, 1975, to January 20, 1977, and the second African American to serve in the Cabinet.
As an attorney, Coleman and Thurgood Marshall have played a major role in significant civil rights cases.
Since the death of Otis Ray Bowen, Coleman is the oldest living former U.S. Cabinet member.
Coleman was born to William Thaddeus Coleman Sr. and Laura Beatrice (née Mason) Coleman in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He attended local public schools before graduating summa cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania with a B.A. in history in 1941 and magna cum laude from Harvard Law School in 1946. He was elected to the Pi Gamma Mu international honor society in 1941. Coleman is also a member of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity. Coleman was awarded an honorary degree from Williams College in May 1975, Gettysburg College on May 22, 2011, and Boston University in May 2012, among other honorary degrees.
He began his legal career in 1947, serving as law clerk to Judge Herbert F. Goodrich of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit and clerk to U.S. Supreme Court Justice Felix Frankfurter in 1948. He was the first African American to serve as a Supreme Court law clerk. Coleman was hired by the New York law firm of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison in 1949. Coleman was one of the lead strategists and coauthor of the legal brief in Brown v. Board of Education (1954) in which the U.S. Supreme Court held racial segregation in public schools to be unconstitutional.
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