Cahill, William T. (William Thomas), 1912-1996

Biography

William T. Cahill (1912–1996) was a lawyer, prosecutor, state legislator, U.S. Representative, and Governor of New Jersey. Born on June 25, 1912, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, he moved to Camden, New Jersey, in 1919. He graduated from Camden Catholic High School in 1929, St. Joseph’s College in Philadelphia with an A.B. degree in 1933, and the College of South Jersey School of Law (later Rutgers School of Law) with an L.L.B. in 1937.

Cahill worked as a teacher in Camden public schools while attending law school at night. After graduating, he served as a special agent for the FBI in Washington, D.C., Little Rock, Arkansas, and St. Louis, Missouri, from 1937 to 1938. Admitted to the New Jersey bar in 1939, he practiced law in Camden and later became a founding partner of the firm Cahill and Wilinski in 1956.

Public Service Career

• 1944–1945: Served as Camden City Prosecutor.
• 1948–1951: Served as First Assistant Prosecutor for Camden County.
• 1951: Appointed Deputy Attorney General to investigate organized crime and illegal gambling in Bergen County. Elected to the New Jersey General Assembly from Collingswood.
• 1958: Elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from New Jersey’s First Congressional District, representing Camden, Gloucester, and Salem Counties (later reapportioned to Burlington, Ocean, and parts of Camden Counties). Served from 1959 to 1970.

Key Congressional Contributions

• 1959: Appointed to the House Judiciary Committee, serving on subcommittees for patents, trademarks, copyrights, state taxation of interstate commerce, immigration, and naturalization. Advocated for civil rights and supported a $1.25 minimum wage.
• 1961: Introduced H.J. 415, a constitutional amendment prohibiting gender-based denial of equal rights.
• 1963: Introduced H.R. 3141 (Civil Rights Act of 1963), H.R. 4803 (college tuition tax deduction), and H.R. 6721 (Equal Rights Act of 1963, prohibiting racial segregation in business).
• 1964: Introduced H.J. 922, proposing a constitutional amendment for presidential appointment of a vice president in case of vacancy.
• 1965: Introduced H.R. 5801, proposing self-governance for the District of Columbia. Supported the creation of the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
• 1966: Introduced H.R. 14501 (National Veterans’ Cemeteries Act) and H.R. 15521 (Federal Civil Rights Crimes Act). Advocated for a permanent UN peacekeeping force and supported anti-poverty funding.
• 1967: Led a House Judiciary Committee study of the automobile insurance industry.
• 1968: Advocated for de-Americanization of the Vietnam War.
• 1969: Secured a Justice Department investigation of the automotive insurance industry for antitrust violations before resigning to assume the governorship.

Governorship (1970–1974)

• 1970: Elected Governor of New Jersey, defeating Robert B. Meyner. Implemented a 2% state sales tax increase and signed the Medical and Dental Education Act, merging Rutgers Medical School and the New Jersey College of Medicine and Dentistry into the College of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey.
• 1970: Created New Jersey’s first Department of Environmental Protection and established the Governor’s Management Study Commission and the New Jersey Tax Policy Committee.
• 1971: Proposed and secured the creation of the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority. Signed a migrant labor bill establishing a minimum wage for farm workers.
• 1972: Faced the *Robinson v. Cahill* ruling, declaring New Jersey’s public school financing system unconstitutional. Supported a graduated state income tax, which was voted down by the General Assembly. Signed consumer protection and no-fault auto insurance bills.
• 1973: Lost the Republican gubernatorial nomination to Charles W. Sandman. Signed campaign finance legislation limiting expenditures to $0.50 per voter.

Later Life

• 1974: Returned to private law practice in Collingswood, New Jersey, after leaving office.
• 1974–1978: Served as a senior fellow at Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs.
• 1996: Died on July 1 in Haddonfield, New Jersey, at age 84. Interred at Calvary Cemetery in Cherry Hill, New Jersey.

Archival Collections

The William T. Cahill Congressional Papers (1959–1970) are held at Rutgers University Libraries, Special Collections and University Archives, documenting his tenure in the U.S. House of Representatives.