Changes

| term_start4=1947​

| term_start4=1947​

| term_end4=1951​

| term_end4=1951​

| party=[[Democratic Party|Democrat]]; switched to [[Republican Party|Republican]]​

| party=[[Democratic Party|Democrat]]; switched to [[Republican Party|Republican]]​ (1968)

| birth_date=July 29, 1912​

| birth_date=July 29, 1912​

| birth_place=[[Dallas]], [[Texas]]​

| birth_place=[[Dallas]], [[Texas]]​

| spouse= Marjorie Lou Ashcroft Wilson (married 1948-1984, her death)​

| spouse= Marjorie Lou Ashcroft Wilson (married 1948-1984, her death)​

| children=Two sons, including Will Wilson, Jr.​

| children=Two sons, including Will Wilson, Jr.​

| alma_mater=[[University of Oklahoma]]<br/>​

| alma_mater=[[University of Oklahoma]]​

[[Southern Methodist University]]​

[[Southern Methodist University]]}}

}}

​

​

'''Will Reid Wilson, Sr.''' (July 29, 1912 &ndash; December 14, 2005), was a prominent [[Democratic Party|Democratic]] [[politician]] in his native [[Texas]] best known for his service as attorney general of [[Texas]] from 1957 to 1963. In 1968, he joined the [[Republican Party]] to support the election of [[Richard M. Nixon]] as [[U.S. President]]. Nixon thereafter named Wilson an assistant U.S. attorney general under [[John Newton Mitchell]]. Wilson left the federal post a year before the [[Watergate]] break-in began to shatter the Nixon administration.​

'''Will Reid Wilson, Sr.''' (July 29, 1912 &ndash; December 14, 2005), was a prominent [[Democratic Party|Democratic]] [[politician]] in his native [[Texas]] best known for his service as attorney general of [[Texas]] from 1957 to 1963. In 1968, he joined the [[Republican Party]] to support the election of [[Richard M. Nixon]] as [[U.S. President]]. Nixon thereafter named Wilson an assistant U.S. attorney general under [[John Newton Mitchell]]. Wilson left the federal post a year before the [[Watergate]] break-in began to shatter the Nixon administration.​

==Background==

==Background==

Wilson was born to Will R. and Kate Wilson in [[Dallas]], where he graduated from Highland Park High School i University Park. He received his Bachelor of Science degree in [[Geology]] at the [[University of Oklahoma]] at Norman.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://tarlton.law.utexas.edu/justices/spct/wilson.html|title=Will Reid Wilson, Sr. (1912-2005)|publisher=Tarlton Law Center of University of Texas|accessdate=December 24, 2008}}</ref> Then he entered the Dedham Law School of [[Southern Methodist University]] in Dallas, which named him a "Distinguished Graduate." He joined the law firm of Turner, Rogers, and Wynn and served as an aide to Dallas [[Mayor]] Woodall Rogers, who served in the nonpartisan position from 1939 to 1947. Wilson left Dallas to become an assistant Texas attorney general in the state capital in [[Austin]].<ref name=obit>Will R. Wilson, Sr., [[obituary]], ''[[Austin American-Statesman]]'', December 16, 2005</ref> ​

Wilson was born to Will R. and Kate Wilson in [[Dallas]], where he graduated from Highland Park High School i University Park. He received his Bachelor of Science degree in [[Geology]] at the [[University of Oklahoma]] at Norman.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://tarlton.law.utexas.edu/justices/spct/wilson.html|title=Will Reid Wilson, Sr. (1912-2005)|publisher=Tarlton Law Center of University of Texas|accessdate=December 24, 2008}}</ref> Then he entered the Dedham Law School of [[Southern Methodist University]] in Dallas, which named him a "Distinguished Graduate." He joined the law firm of Turner, Rogers, and Wynn and served as an aide to Dallas [[Mayor]] Woodall Rogers, who served in the nonpartisan position from 1939 to 1947. Wilson left Dallas to become an assistant Texas attorney general in the state capital in [[Austin]].<ref name=obit>Will R. Wilson, Sr., [[obituary]], ''[[Austin American-Statesman]]'', December 16, 2005</ref

 

During [[World War II]], Wilson joined the [[United States Army]] and advanced to the rank of major, having served in the Pacific theater of operations in [[New Guinea]] and the [[Philippines]], where he was on the staff of [[General]]s Walter Kruger I.P. Swift. He was the battalion commander of the 465th Field Artillery. He accepted the surrender of the staff of the [[Japanese people|Japanese]] General Yamashita and received the [[Bronze Star]] for heroism in [[combat]] from General Swift. After the war, Wilson returned to Dallas to practice law.<ref name=tsc>{{cite web|url=http://www.cemetery.state.tx.us/pub/user_form.asp?step=1&pers_id=2793|title=Cemetery burials|publisher=Texas State Cemetery, Austin, Texas|accessdate=December 24, 2008}}</ref>​

During [[World War II]], Wilson joined the [[United States Army]] and advanced to the rank of major, having served in the Pacific theater of operations in [[New Guinea]] and the [[Philippines]], where he was on the staff of [[General]]s Walter Kruger I.P. Swift. He was the battalion commander of the 465th Field Artillery. He accepted the surrender of the staff of the [[Japanese people|Japanese]] General Yamashita and received the [[Bronze Star]] for heroism in [[combat]] from General Swift. After the war, Wilson returned to Dallas to practice law.<ref name=tsc>{{cite web|url=http://www.cemetery.state.tx.us/pub/user_form.asp?step=1&pers_id=2793|title=Cemetery burials|publisher=Texas State Cemetery, Austin, Texas|accessdate=December 24, 2008}}</ref>​

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==Attorney General Wilson==​

==Attorney General Wilson==​

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In 1946, Wilson was elected to a four-year term as district attorney of Dallas County, having served from 1947 to 1951. In 1950, he was elected to the nine-member Texas Supreme Court, the final authority in civil cases and juvenile matters in the state. He left the court as associate justice in 1956 to run for attorney general to succeed the Democrat [[John Ben Shepperd]].<ref name=obit/> ​

In 1946, Wilson was elected to a four-year term as district attorney of Dallas County, having served from 1947 to 1951. In 1950, he was elected to the nine-member Texas Supreme Court, the final authority in civil cases and juvenile matters in the state. He left the court as associate justice in 1956 to run for attorney general to succeed the Democrat [[John Ben Shepperd]].<ref name=obit/>

 

While he was attorney general, Wilson received the Wymann Memorial Award for 1959–1960 as the "Outstanding Attorney General in the United States."<ref name=tsc/> He moved to halt [[prostitution]] in several cities, including [[Galveston, Texas|Galveston]], Victoria, Cuero, Big Spring, Texarkana, [[Beaumont, Texas|Beaumont]], and [[Port Arthur, Texas|Port Arthur]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.southernhistory.net/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=9225&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0|title=Prostitution in Texas|publisher=''Southern History''|accessdate=December 24, 2008}}</ref> Wilson's service as the top lawyer for state government ended in January 1963, when he was succeeded by fellow Democrat Vincent Waggoner Carr of [[Lubbock]].

While he was attorney general, Wilson received the Wymann Memorial Award for 1959–1960 as the "Outstanding Attorney General in the United States."<ref name=tsc/> He moved to halt [[prostitution]] in several cities, including [[Galveston, Texas|Galveston]], Victoria, Cuero, Big Spring, Texarkana, [[Beaumont, Texas|Beaumont]], and [[Port Arthur, Texas|Port Arthur]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.southernhistory.net/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=9225&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0|title=Prostitution in Texas|publisher=''Southern History''|accessdate=December 24, 2008}}</ref> Wilson's service as the top lawyer for state government ended in January 1963, when he was succeeded by fellow Democrat Vincent Waggoner Carr of [[Lubbock]].

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In the spring of 1961, Wilson, along with some seventy other individuals, paid the $50 filing fee to enter the [[special election]] for the [[United States Senate]] seat vacated by [[Vice President of the United States]] [[Lyndon B. Johnson]],<ref name=tsc/> who along with [[John Connally|John B. Connally, Jr.]], as [[U.S. Secretary of the Navy]], had joined the new administration of [[John F. Kennedy]]. Wilson trailed in fourth place in the special election with 121,961 votes (11.5 percent).<ref>''Congressional Quarterly's Guide to U.S. Elections''</ref> Ultimately, Republican [[John Tower]], then a college [[professor]] from [[Wichita Falls]] and later from Dallas, won the remaining five and one-half years of Johnson's term by approximately ten thousand votes over Senator William Arvis Blakley of Dallas. who had been appointed on an interim basis by Governor Daniel, himself a former U.S. senator and Texas attorney general.​

In the spring of 1961, Wilson, along with some seventy other individuals, paid the $50 filing fee to enter the [[special election]] for the [[United States Senate]] seat vacated by [[Vice President of the United States]] [[Lyndon B. Johnson]],<ref name=tsc/> who along with [[John Connally|John B. Connally, Jr.]], as [[U.S. Secretary of the Navy]], had joined the new administration of [[John F. Kennedy]]. Wilson trailed in fourth place in the special election with 121,961 votes (11.5 percent).<ref>''Congressional Quarterly's Guide to U.S. Elections''</ref> Ultimately, Republican [[John Tower]], then a college [[professor]] from [[Wichita Falls]] and later from Dallas, won the remaining five and one-half years of Johnson's term by approximately ten thousand votes over Senator William Arvis Blakley of Dallas. who had been appointed on an interim basis by Governor Daniel, himself a former U.S. senator and Texas attorney general.​

 

Wilson did not seek a fourth two-year term as attorney general in 1962; instead he entered the Democratic gubernatorial primary against several prominent opponents, including [[incumbent]] Marion Price Daniel, Sr., of Liberty]], highway commissioner Marshall Formby  of Plainview]], General [[Edwin A. Walker]], who made [[anti-communism]] the centerpiece of his campaign, and the leading candidates, former U.S. Secretary of the Navy John Connally of Floresville, and [[liberal]] attorney Don Yarborough of [[Houston, Texas|Houston]] (no relation to his fellow liberal U.S. Senator [[Ralph Yarborough]] of Austin). In the campaign, Wilson was particularly critical of a politician not on the ballot: Lyndon Johnson. Wilson declared that Johnson had engineered Connally's candidacy because the vice president feared a Republican victory in Texas in 1962. According to Wilson, Johnson was engaged in "a move ... to oust Price Daniel, oust me, oust Senator Ralph Yarborough and gain complete control of the state government."<ref>Charles Ashman, ''Connally: The Adventures of Big Bad John,'' New York: William Morrow, 1974, p. 98.</ref>​

Wilson did not seek a fourth two-year term as attorney general in 1962; instead he entered the Democratic gubernatorial primary against several prominent opponents, including [[incumbent]] Marion Price Daniel, Sr., of Liberty]], highway commissioner Marshall Formby  of Plainview]], General [[Edwin A. Walker]], who made [[anti-communism]] the centerpiece of his campaign, and the leading candidates, former U.S. Secretary of the Navy John Connally of Floresville, and [[liberal]] attorney Don Yarborough of [[Houston, Texas|Houston]] (no relation to his fellow liberal U.S. Senator [[Ralph Yarborough]] of Austin). In the campaign, Wilson was particularly critical of a politician not on the ballot: Lyndon Johnson. Wilson declared that Johnson had engineered Connally's candidacy because the vice president feared a Republican victory in Texas in 1962. According to Wilson, Johnson was engaged in "a move ... to oust Price Daniel, oust me, oust Senator Ralph Yarborough and gain complete control of the state government."<ref>Charles Ashman, ''Connally: The Adventures of Big Bad John,'' New York: William Morrow, 1974, p. 98.</ref>​

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