Biography of William T. Coleman Jr.

William Thaddeus Coleman Jr. (July 7, 1920 - March 31, 2017) was an American attorney. Coleman was the fourth United States Secretary of Transportation (March 7, 1975 - January 20, 1977) and the second African American to serve in the United States Cabinet. As an attorney, Coleman played a major role in significant civil rights cases. At the time of his death, he was the oldest living former Cabinet member.

Secretary Coleman's Memoir

Some of his most notable achievements:

• Served as the third African American member of the Harvard Law Review and graduated first in his class at Harvard Law School.
• Served as law clerk for Justice Felix Frankfurter on the U.S. Supreme Court.
• Served as the chief assistant to Thurgood Marshall in developing the strategy and preparing for and arguing the groundbreaking Brown v. Board of Education case.
• After Thurgood Marshall was appointed to the Supreme Court by President Johnson, he became Chairman of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund (LDF).
• Served as Senior Counsel on the Warren Commission investigating the Kennedy assassination.
• Served as the U.S. Transportation Secretary in the Ford Administration (and second African American to serve as a member of a U.S. President's Cabinet).
• Argued 18 cases before the Supreme Court, half involving commercial or governmental disputes, and half civil rights matters with LDF. For example:
  • Bob Jones Univ. v. United States, 461 U.S. 574 (1983) - Private universities with discriminatory policies based on religious belief do not qualify for tax deductions.
  • McLaughlin v. Florida, 379 U.S. 184 - Statute prohibiting interracial couples from occupying the same room overnight ruled unconstitutional.
• Served on the boards of PepsiCo, IBM, Ford Motor Company, Chase Manhattan, CIGNA, Pan American Airways, and Goldman Sachs.
• Testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee regarding Judge Bork's nomination; his remarks on "original intent" and precedent drew widespread praise.

"Whether Judge Bork should or should not be on the Court will be decided by the whole body, but I can tell you that there is not a President now or in the future who would make a mistake by putting you on the Supreme Court of the United States."
- Senator Joe Biden, Chairman of the Judiciary Committee

• Awarded the Medal of Freedom by President Clinton.
• Received the Thurgood Marshall Lifetime Achievement Award (LDF), Judge Henry Friendly Medal (ALI), Chief Justice John Marshall Award (ABA), and the Harvard Law School Medal.
• Named an Officer of the National Order of the Legion of Honor by the President of France.
• The U.S. Department of Transportation headquarters was named after Norman Y. Mineta and William T. Coleman Jr., the first Asian American and first African American Secretaries of Transportation, respectively.

Secretary Coleman passed away in 2017 and was laid to rest in Arlington National Cemetery alongside his wife Lovida, near Justice Thurgood Marshall and Cecelia Marshall, and Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Martin Ginsburg.