William T. Cahill

William Thomas Cahill
46th Governor of New Jersey
In office January 20, 1970 – January 15, 1974
Preceded by	Richard J. Hughes
Succeeded by	Brendan Byrne
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New Jersey's 6th district
In office January 3, 1967 – January 19, 1970
Preceded by	Florence Dwyer
Succeeded by	Edwin B. Forsythe
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New Jersey's 1st district
In office January 3, 1959 – January 3, 1967
Preceded by	Charles A. Wolverton
Succeeded by	John E. Hunt
Member of the New Jersey General Assembly
In office 1951-1953
Personal details
Born	(1912-06-25)June 25, 1912 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Died	Haddonfield, New Jersey
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Elizabeth M. Cahill
Alma mater	Saint Joseph's University Rutgers University-Camden
Religion	Roman Catholic

William Thomas Cahill (June 25, 1912 – July 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 to Irish immigrant parents, Cahill moved to South Jersey with his family 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, Cahill was the city prosecutor of Camden, New Jersey in 1944 and 1945, was the first assistant prosecutor of Camden County from 1948–51 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 1951-53. 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.

Tenure as Governor

In 1969, Cahill ran for Governor of New Jersey, facing off against Democrat Robert B. Meyner, who had previously held the office from 1954 to 1962. Cahill defeated Meyner and became New Jersey's first Republican governor in 16 years. As of the most recent election in 2013, Cahill's raw vote tally of 1,411,905 is the highest ever received by any candidate for governor in state history.

Cahill served as governor from January 20, 1970 to January 15, 1974, and assumed office with a Republican-controlled legislature to support him. Among his accomplishments as governor were new automobile emission standards, an increase in the sales tax from 3 to 5 percent, the introduction of the state lottery, and the passage of no-fault auto insurance. He also played a role in bringing the New York Giants from Yankee Stadium to a new field in the Hackensack Meadowlands.

On Thanksgiving Day 1971, two months after the Attica State prison riots in upstate New York, a similar rebellion rose at Rahway State Prison. The revolt was quieted without violence, and Cahill's role in ending the conflict was widely commended. Cahill also appointed a commission that recommended the creation of a state income tax, which proved to be controversial with voters. The proposal was defeated in July 1972, but a state income tax was finally instituted four years later, after Cahill left office.

In spite of his many successes as governor, Cahill's term was derailed by scandal. In 1972, Secretary of State Paul Sherwin was convicted for fixing a $600,000 state highway contract with a contractor who returned the favor with $10,000 to Cahill's associates. Then, in April 1973, former New Jersey Republican State Committee chairman Nelson G. Gross and State Treasurer Joseph McCrane, who had been finance chairman for Cahill's 1969 campaign, were both charged with illegally making campaign donations to the governor as tax deductions. Both men were convicted the following year. Although investigators were unable to implicate Cahill in either affair, his reputation suffered as a result of these setbacks.

Cahill, viewed as a moderate Republican, ran for re-election in 1973 but was challenged in the Republican primary election by the more conservative Congressman Charles Sandman. Cahill, damaged by the scandals in his administration, was defeated by Sandman, who went on to lose the general election to Democrat Brendan Byrne. During his final months as governor, Cahill named his predecessor, Richard J. Hughes, a Democrat, as chief justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court.

After his term as governor, Cahill was a senior fellow at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University from 1974-78.

Death

Cahill died at his daughter's house in Haddonfield, New Jersey on July 1, 1996 of peripheral artery 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.

See also

• List of Governors of New Jersey

External links

• William T. Cahill at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Biography of William T. Cahill (PDF), New Jersey State Library
• New Jersey Governor William T. Cahill, National Governors Association
• William Thomas Cahill at The Political Graveyard
• William Thomas Cahill at Find a Grave

United States House of Representatives
Preceded by Charles A. Wolverton	U.S. House of Representatives 1st District of New Jersey January 3, 1959–January 3, 1967	Succeeded by John E. Hunt
Preceded by Florence Dwyer	U.S. House of Representatives 6th District of New Jersey January 3, 1967–January 19, 1970	Succeeded by Edwin B. Forsythe
Political offices
Preceded by Richard J. Hughes	Governor of New Jersey January 20, 1970–January 15, 1974	Succeeded by Brendan Byrne
Party political offices
Preceded by Wayne Dumont	Republican Nominee for Governor of New Jersey 1969	Succeeded by Charles W. Sandman, Jr.