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An advocate of [[states' rights]], Williams was a member of his state's delegation to the 1948 [[Democratic National Convention]] in [[Philadelphia]], [[Pennsylvania]]. He rejected the nomination of President [[Harry Truman]] and vice-presidential nominee [[Alben Barkley]] of [[Kentucky]]. Williams then supported [[South Carolina]] Governor [[Strom Thurmond]]'s [[Dixiecrat]] presidential campaign. Thurmond easily carried the electoral vote in Mississippi, [[Louisiana]], [[Alabama]], and South Carolina as the official Democratic nominee in those states.

An advocate of [[states' rights]], Williams was a member of his state's delegation to the 1948 [[Democratic National Convention]] in [[Philadelphia]], [[Pennsylvania]]. He rejected the nomination of President [[Harry Truman]] and vice-presidential nominee [[Alben Barkley]] of [[Kentucky]]. Williams then supported [[South Carolina]] Governor [[Strom Thurmond]]'s [[Dixiecrat]] presidential campaign. Thurmond easily carried the electoral vote in Mississippi, [[Louisiana]], [[Alabama]], and South Carolina as the official Democratic nominee in those states.

After the [[United States Supreme Court]] issued its ''[[Brown v. Board of Education]]'' opinion on May 17, 1954, which outlawed racial segregation in public schools, Williams made a speech on the House floor branding the day as "Black Monday."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/brown/brown-aftermath.html |title=With an Even Hand": Brown v. Board at Fifty|accessdate=September 24, 2008|publisher=Library of Congress }}</ref> Along with the entire Mississippi House delegation, Williams signed the [[Southern Manifesto]] in 1956. In 1952, Williams had supported the Democratic [[Adlai Stevenson|Stevenson]]-[[John Sparkman|Sparkman]] campaign against [[Dwight D. Eisenhower and Nixon, but he favored unpledged Democratic electors in 1956 against Stevenson and [[Estes Kefauver]] and in 1960 against Kennedy and Nixon. In the latter year, Mississippi did vote for an unpledged elector slate.<ref name=nyt/>

After the [[United States Supreme Court]] issued its ''[[Brown v. Board of Education]]'' opinion on May 17, 1954, which outlawed racial segregation in public schools, Williams made a speech on the House floor branding the day as "Black Monday."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/brown/brown-aftermath.html |title=With an Even Hand": Brown v. Board at Fifty|accessdate=September 24, 2008|publisher=Library of Congress }}</ref> Along with the entire Mississippi House delegation, Williams signed the [[Southern Manifesto]] in 1956. In 1952, Williams had supported the Democratic [[Adlai Stevenson|Stevenson]]-[[John Sparkman|Sparkman]] campaign against [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]] and Nixon, but he favored unpledged Democratic electors in 1956 against Stevenson and [[Estes Kefauver]] and in 1960 against Kennedy and Nixon. In the latter year, Mississippi did vote for an unpledged elector slate.<ref name=nyt/>

In 1964, Williams helped to raise funds in Mississippi for [[Republican Party|Republican]] U.S. Senator [[Barry Goldwater]] of [[Arizona]] in the presidential [[general election]] against [[U.S. President]] [[Lyndon B. Johnson]]. Goldwater carried Mississippi with 87 percent of the vote. The Democratic Caucus then stripped the House seniority of Williams and a colleague, [[Albert Watson]] of South Carolina.<ref name=nyt/>Williams remained a Democrat and retained his seat in 1966, when the [[Republican Party|GOP]] gained forty-seven U.S. House seats. Watson defected in 1965 to the Republicans and ran unsuccessfully for governor in 1970 in a hard-fought race against the Democrat [[John C. West]].

In 1964, Williams helped to raise funds in Mississippi for [[Republican Party|Republican]] U.S. Senator [[Barry Goldwater]] of [[Arizona]] in the presidential [[general election]] against [[U.S. President]] [[Lyndon B. Johnson]]. Goldwater carried Mississippi with 87 percent of the vote. The Democratic Caucus then stripped the House seniority of Williams and a colleague, [[Albert Watson]] of South Carolina.<ref name=nyt/>Williams remained a Democrat and retained his seat in 1966, when the [[Republican Party|GOP]] gained forty-seven U.S. House seats. Watson defected in 1965 to the Republicans and ran unsuccessfully for governor in 1970 in a hard-fought race against the Democrat [[John C. West]].