William T. Cahill

170
William T. Cahill bigraphy, stories - Governor of New Jersey and Member of the United States House of Representatives from New Jersey

William T. Cahill : biography

June 25, 1912 – July 1, 1996

William Thomas Cahill (June 25, 1912July 1, 1996) was an American Republican Party politician who served as the 46th Governor of New Jersey, from 1970 to 1974, and who represented New Jersey’s 1st congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1959 to 1967 and the state’s 6th district from 1967 to 1970.

Biography

Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Cahill moved to New Jersey with his parents in 1919. He attended Camden Catholic High School in Camden, New Jersey, and graduated in 1929. Afterwards, Cahill graduated St. Joseph’s College (now Saint Joseph’s University) at Philadelphia in 1933. He returned to Camden to study at the Rutgers School of Law – Camden, receiving his law degree in 1937.

In 1937 and 1938, Cahill was a special agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. In 1939 he was admitted to the bar and began his political career. Living in Collingswood, New Jersey,Wright, George Cable. , The New York Times, October 8, 1962. Accessed March 10, 2011. "The couple have eight children and live in Collingswood." Cahill was the city prosecutor of Camden, New Jersey in 1944 and 1945, was the first assistant prosecutor of Camden County from 1948–1951 and was a special deputy attorney general of the State of New Jersey in 1951. Cahill was a member of the New Jersey General Assembly from 1951-1953.

Cahill was elected to the Eighty-sixth and to the five succeeding Congresses until his resignation from his congressional seat to assume his seat as Governor, serving from January 3, 1959 to January 19, 1970.

Cahill served as Governor of New Jersey from January 20, 1970 – January 15, 1974. He ran for re-election in 1973 but was challenged in the Republican primary election by then-Congressman Charles Sandman. Cahill, viewed as a moderate Republican, was defeated by the more conservative Sandman. During his final months as governor, Cahill named his predecessor, Richard J. Hughes, a Democrat, as chief justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court.Schwaneberg, Robert. , The Star-Ledger, December 29, 2005. Accessed August 6, 2007. "In October 1973, Chief Justice Pierre Garven, a Republican, died after less than two months in the post. Then-Gov. William T. Cahill was a lame duck, having been dumped by the Republican Party in the primary. Democrats won both the governor’s office and control of the Senate in the November election. Cahill nominated his Democratic predecessor, Richard J. Hughes, who had been a judge before becoming governor."

After his term as governor, Cahill was a senior fellow at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University from 1974-1978.

He died in Haddonfield, New Jersey on July 1, 1996 of peripheral vascular disease. He was interred at Calvary Cemetery in Cherry Hill Township, New Jersey. The William T. Cahill Center for Experiential Learning and Career Services at Ramapo College in Mahwah, New Jersey was dedicated in his honor on September 10, 1997.