William Lockhart Clayton (February 7, 1880 – February 8, 1966) was an
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
business leader and government official. Born near
Tupelo, MississippiTupelo is the largest city in and the county seat of Lee County, Mississippi, United States. It is the seventh largest city in the state of Mississippi, smaller than Meridian, and larger than Greenville. The Tupelo area — specifically the nearby village of Blue Springs — was selected during the...
, he grew up in
Jackson, TennesseeJackson is a city in Madison County, Tennessee, United States. The total population was 59,643 at the 2000 census. Jackson is the primary city of the Jackson, Tennessee metropolitan area, which is included in the Jackson-Humboldt, Tennessee Combined Statistical Area...
. Leaving school at age 13, he became an expert stenographer, which earned him a job as private secretary to Jerome Hall, a
Saint LouisSt. Louis is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. With an estimated population of 354,361 in 2008, it is the principal municipality of Greater St. Louis, population 2,866,517, the largest urban area in Missouri and sixteenth largest in the United States...
cottonCotton is a soft, staple fiber that grows in a form known as a boll around the seeds of the cotton plant, a shrub native to tropical and subtropical regions around the world, including the Americas, India and Africa. The fiber most often is spun into yarn or thread and used to make a soft,...
merchant. In 1896, Clayton went to work for the American Cotton Company in
New York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States, and the center of the New York metropolitan area, which is among the most populous urban areas in the world. A leading global city, New York exerts a powerful influence over worldwide commerce, finance, culture, fashion and entertainment...
, becoming an assistant general manager in 1904.
William Lockhart Clayton (February 7, 1880 – February 8, 1966) was an
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
business leader and government official. Born near
Tupelo, MississippiTupelo is the largest city in and the county seat of Lee County, Mississippi, United States. It is the seventh largest city in the state of Mississippi, smaller than Meridian, and larger than Greenville. The Tupelo area — specifically the nearby village of Blue Springs — was selected during the...
, he grew up in
Jackson, TennesseeJackson is a city in Madison County, Tennessee, United States. The total population was 59,643 at the 2000 census. Jackson is the primary city of the Jackson, Tennessee metropolitan area, which is included in the Jackson-Humboldt, Tennessee Combined Statistical Area...
. Leaving school at age 13, he became an expert stenographer, which earned him a job as private secretary to Jerome Hall, a
Saint LouisSt. Louis is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. With an estimated population of 354,361 in 2008, it is the principal municipality of Greater St. Louis, population 2,866,517, the largest urban area in Missouri and sixteenth largest in the United States...
cottonCotton is a soft, staple fiber that grows in a form known as a boll around the seeds of the cotton plant, a shrub native to tropical and subtropical regions around the world, including the Americas, India and Africa. The fiber most often is spun into yarn or thread and used to make a soft,...
merchant. In 1896, Clayton went to work for the American Cotton Company in
New York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States, and the center of the New York metropolitan area, which is among the most populous urban areas in the world. A leading global city, New York exerts a powerful influence over worldwide commerce, finance, culture, fashion and entertainment...
, becoming an assistant general manager in 1904. He left the company later that year to join with two other partners in starting Anderson, Clayton and Company, a cotton marketing firm based in
Oklahoma CityOklahoma City is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, the city ranks 31st among United States cities in population. The city's estimated population as of 2008 was 551,789, with an estimated metro-area population of 1,206,142...
. In 1916, the firm moved its headquarters to
Houston, TexasHouston is the fourth-largest city in the United States and the largest city within the state of Texas. As of the 2008 U.S. Census estimate, the city has a population of 2.2 million within an area of 600 square miles . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of...
, where it grew to be the world's largest cotton-trading enterprise.
Clayton entered government service in
World War IWorld War I , also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All Wars, was a global military conflict which involved most of the world's great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances: the Triple Entente and the Triple Alliance...
as a member of the Cotton Distribution Committee. Although he was a
DemocratThe Democratic Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. It is the oldest political party in continuous operation in the United States and it is one of the oldest parties in the world. In the U.S...
, he opposed the
New DealThe New Deal was the name that United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt gave to his complex package of economic programs 1933-36 with the goals of what historians call the 3 Rs, of giving Relief to the unemployed and badly hurt farmers, Reform of business and financial practices, and promoting...
agriculturalAgriculture is the production of food and goods through farming and forestry. Agriculture was the key development that led to the rise of human civilization, with the husbandry of domesticated animals and plants creating food surpluses that enabled the development of more densely populated and...
policies of Democratic
PresidentPresident is a title held by many leaders of organizations, companies, trade unions, universities, and countries. Etymologically, a "president" is one who presides, who sits in leadership...
Franklin D. Roosevelt, but the New Deal's
free tradeFree trade is a type of trade policy that allows traders to act and transact without interference from government. According to the law of comparative advantage the policy permits trading partners mutual gains from trade of goods and services....
policies led him to support Roosevelt in the 1936 election.
In 1940, Clayton returned to government service in the
Reconstruction Finance CorporationThe Reconstruction Finance Corporation was an independent agency of the United States government chartered during the administration of Herbert Hoover in 1932. It was modeled after the War Finance Corporation of World War I. The agency gave $2 billion in aid to state and local governments and made...
, then moved to the
Export-Import BankThe Export-Import Bank of the United States is the official export credit agency of the United States federal government...
, where he worked to procure strategic materials for the United States and to deny them to
Nazi GermanyNazi Germany and the Third Reich are the common English names for Germany between 1933 and 1945, while it was led by Adolf Hitler and the National Socialist German Worker's Party . The name Third Reich refers to the state as the successor to the Holy Roman Empire of the Middle Ages and the German...
. After a series of administrative shuffles, Clayton found himself working under Vice-President
Henry A. WallaceHenry Agard Wallace was the 33rd Vice President of the United States , the 11th Secretary of Agriculture , and the tenth Secretary of Commerce...
. Disagreements between them led Clayton to resign in January 1944, only to return to government service a month later as
Surplus War Property AdministratorThe War Assets Administration was established in the Office for Emergency Management, effective March 25, 1946, by EO 9689, January 31, 1946.- Predecessor Agencies :...
under
James F. ByrnesJames Francis Byrnes was an American statesman from the state of South Carolina. During his career, Byrnes served as a member of the House of Representatives , as a Senator , as Justice of the Supreme Court , as Secretary of State , and as Governor of South Carolina...
in the
Office of War MobilizationOffice of War Mobilization - Federal agency headed by Former Supreme Court Justice James F. Byrnes that coordinated all government agencies involved in the war effort during World War II...
.
At the end of 1944, Clayton was named the first Assistant
Secretary of StateThe United States Secretary of State is the head of the United States Department of State, concerned with foreign affairs. The Secretary is a member of the President's Cabinet and the highest-ranking cabinet secretary both in line of succession and order of precedence. The current Secretary of...
for Economic Affairs, a post that allowed him to promote the free trade policies that he believed in. He was a member of the
Interim CommitteeThe Interim Committee was a secret high-level group created in May 1945 by United States Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson with the approval of President Harry S. Truman to examine the problems that could result from the creation of the atomic bomb....
appointed to advise
Secretary of WarThe Secretary of War was a member of the United States President's Cabinet, beginning with George Washington's administration. A similar position, called either "Secretary at War" or "Secretary of War," was appointed to serve the Congress of the Confederation under the Articles of Confederation...
Henry L. StimsonHenry Lewis Stimson was an American statesman, who served as Secretary of War, Governor-General of the Philippines, and Secretary of State. He was a conservative Republican, and a leading lawyer in New York City...
and President
Harry S. TrumanHarry S. Truman was the 33rd President of the United States . As President Franklin D. Roosevelt's third vice-president and the 34th Vice President of the United States, he succeeded to the presidency on April 12, 1945, when President Roosevelt died less than three months after beginning his...
on problems expected to arise from the development of the atomic bomb and he was an economic advisor to Truman at the
Potsdam ConferenceThe Potsdam Conference was held at Cecilienhof, the home of Crown Prince Wilhelm Hohenzollern, in Potsdam, occupied Germany, from 16 July to 2 August 1945. Participants were the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States...
.
Truman appointed Clayton as the first Under Secretary of State for Economic Affairs, a post Clayton held for 1946-47. Clayton strongly supported American economic aid to rebuild Europe after
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
and had a major role in shaping the
Marshall PlanThe Marshall Plan was the primary plan of the United States for rebuilding and creating a stronger foundation for the countries of Western Europe, and repelling communism after World War II...
in 1947. In 1948, he returned to his private business in Houston, but remained active in efforts to promote free trade and economic cooperation between the United States and its allies during the
Cold WarThe Cold War was the continuing state of political conflict, military tension, and economic competition existing after World War II , primarily between the USSR and its satellite states, and the powers of the Western world, including the United States...
. In 1963, when Clayton was in his eighties, President
John F. KennedyJohn Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
asked him to work on the national export expansion program and the
limited nuclear test ban treatyThe Treaty banning Nuclear Weapon Tests In The Atmosphere, In Outer Space And Under Water, often abbreviated as the Partial Test Ban Treaty , Limited Test Ban Treaty , or Nuclear Test Ban Treaty is a treaty prohibiting all test detonations of nuclear weapons...
. The William L. Clayton Professorship of International Economics at the
Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International StudiesThe Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies , a division of Johns Hopkins University based in Washington, D.C., is one of the world's most prestigious and leading graduate schools devoted to the study of international affairs, economics, diplomacy, and policy research and...
, a part of the
Johns Hopkins UniversityThe Johns Hopkins University, commonly referred to as Johns Hopkins, JHU, or simply Hopkins, is a private research university located in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Johns Hopkins also maintains full-time campuses elsewhere in Maryland, Washington, D.C., Italy, China, and Singapore...
, is named for him.