William C. Marland

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William C. Marland

24^th Governor of West Virginia
In office 1953 – 1957
Preceded by	Okey L. Patteson
Succeeded by	Cecil H. Underwood

Born	March 26, 1918 Johnson City, IL
Died	November 26, 1965 Barrington, IL
Political party	Democratic
Profession	Politician

William Casey Marland (March 26, 1918–November 26, 1965), a Democrat, was governor of West Virginia from 1953 to 1957. He is best known for being employed as a taxi driver in Chicago, Illinois after his term.

He was born in Johnson City, Illinois on March 26, 1918. His parents moved to a tiny coal mining community in Wyoming County, West Virginia when he was seven. Marland graduated from the University of Alabama, where he was a star football player, and from the West Virginia School of Law. During World War II, he served as a Navy lieutenant in the Pacific theater.

1 Term as governor
2 Alcoholism and stint as taxi driver
3 Trivia
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Term as governor

He became a member of the Democratic "machine" that controlled the state's politics and was slated by it for high office. After winning election as the state's Attorney General in 1948, he was selected to run for governor in 1952. At the time of Marland's inauguration, he was the youngest governor in West Virginia history. (That title subsequently went to his successor, Cecil H. Underwood.)

Marland began his term with a bold move to enact a severance tax on coal, but the measure was overwhelmingly rebuffed in the industry-friendly state legislature. Marland was also credited for his handling of school desegregation, which went by without notable violence or uproar in West Virginia.

Because of his support for reform measures and his firings of many patronage employees, Marland lost favor with the state's political establishment. He was constitutionally prohibited from running for re-election in 1956 and instead ran in a special election for the United States Senate seat vacated by the death of Harley M. Kilgore. He lost to Republican W. Chapman Revercomb. Marland lost a second bid for another open Senate seat in 1958.

[edit] Alcoholism and stint as taxi driver

The pressure of the office and the investigations exacerbated his lifelong alcoholism and led to "lost weekends". Cecil Underwood, who served as State House Minority Leader during Marland's term, recalled that the governor laced his coffee with bourbon at 9:00 a.m. meetings. After a televised debate with Revercomb, many observers said Marland appeared inebriated.

After his second Senate loss, Marland left the state to accept a job with a Chicago coal company.

In 1965 he was recognized at a YMCA "all-you-can eat" dinner by a Chicago Sun-Times reporter. Marland indicated that he was working as a taxi driver, and the subsequent article was released to wire services with much ado on April 13, 1965. The story, "Drink my Downfall", received great attention in West Virginia and nationally. At a press conference, Marland claimed he was working in the position as a kind of therapy and had overcome his alcoholism.

Later that year, he returned to West Virginia as the proprietor of a horse racing company. He died suddenly of cancer on November 26, 1965 in Barrington, Illinois.

[edit] Trivia

Marland may have been the inspiration for a flash-forward scene from The Simpsons, in which Springfield Mayor Joe Quimby is shown as a destitute taxi driver after being forced from office.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Preceded by Ira J. Partlow	Attorney General of West Virginia 1949–1952	Succeeded by Chauncey H. Browning, Sr.
Preceded by Okey L. Patteson	Governor of West Virginia 1953–1957	Succeeded by Cecil H. Underwood