Moorhead, William S. (William Singer), 1923-1987

The organization was concerned with stopping conflict.

From the description of Pittsburgh branch of the National Security League, notes of an address 1918 [manuscript] (Historical Society of W Pennsylvania). WorldCat record id: 314413504

William Singer Moorhead was born on April 8, 1923 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He graduated from Phillips Andover Academy, Yale University (Class of 1944), and Harvard Law School. Moorhead was first elected to Congress in 1958 and represented the 14th Congressional District of Pennsylvania in the House of Representatives until 1980. He was active on a wide range of legislative fronts which included rescuing New York City and Chrysler corporation from their respective fiscal difficulties, establishment of the National Endowments for the Arts and Humanities, and establishment of a synthetic fuels corporation. Moorhead died on August 4, 1987 in Baltimore, Maryland.

William Singer Moorhead was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on April 8, 1923, the son of a prominent local attorney. He studied at Shady Side Academy in Pittsburgh and at Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts. Moorhead received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Yale University in 1944. Upon graduation, he received a Navy commission as a lieutenant junior grade aboard a destroyer in the Pacific. He served as a combat information center officer and navigator until after the Japanese surrender. He also served in China in 1946 and was released from service later that year. Moorhead graduated cum laude from Harvard Law School in 1949.

Moorhead joined the law firm of Moorhead and Knox founded by his father. He served as assistant city solicitor of Pittsburgh from 1954-1957 and as a member of the Allegheny County Housing Authority from 1956-1958. He participated in the rejuvenation of Pittsburgh inspired by Richard K. Mellon and Mayor David Lawrence.

Moorhead was elected to Congress in 1958 and served as a Democrat for Pennsylvania's fourteenth district in the House of Representatives for twenty-two years. During his eleven terms, from 1958 to 1981, Moorhead served on numerous congressional committees and subcommittees.

In 1964-1965, Moorhead sponsored legislation to create the National Foundation for Arts and Humanities, the forerunner of the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Often referred to as a "watchdog" of government overspending, Moorhead uncovered waste in foreign aid operations, especially in Southeast Asia, in his capacity as chairman of the Subcommittee on Foreign Operations and Government Information. While serving on a subcommittee of the Government Operations Committee, Moorhead revealed cost overruns in the procurement process and in the construction of the C-5A giant transport in particular.

In 1973-1974, Moorhead sponsored amendments to the Freedom of Information and Privacy Acts which allowed the public greater access to government documents and limited government dissemination of information pertaining to citizens.

In response to the OPEC oil embargo of 1973, Moorhead was the chief sponsor of a bill that eventually established a synthetic fuels corporation. The enactment of the Energy Security Act of 1980 was regarded by Moorhead as the capstone of his legislative career, addressing not only the energy needs of the nation, but also the economic interests of western Pennsylvania, which is the home to great stores of coal, the raw material for synthetic fuels.

As chairman of the Economic Stabilization Subcommittee of the Banking, Finance, and Urban Affairs Committee, Moorhead presided over the 1978 hearings for federal loan assistance to financially distressed New York City. He initiated federal loan guarantees to rescue New York City and the Chrysler Corporation from bankruptcy, despite critics' fears of setting the precedent for government bailouts.

Moorhead retired from the House in 1981 rather than run for a twelfth term. He joined the law firm of Coan, Couture, Lyons and Moorhead in Washington.

William S. Moorhead died on August 3, 1987, of lung cancer at Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore. He is survived by his wife, formerly Lucy Galpin; a daughter, Perrin Moorhead Grayson; and three sons, William S. III, Stephen G., and James B. Moorhead.

From the guide to the William Singer Moorhead Papers, 1935-1988, (Manuscripts and Archives)