A community activist and third-generation pastor of a large
Baptist church in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, William H.
Gray III defeated a longtime incumbent to take his seat in
the U.S. House of Representatives. Though new to elective
office, Gray proved adept at congressional politics, rising
meteorically in power during his 12 years in Congress.
Gray was the first Black Member of Congress to chair the
powerful Budget Committee, where he oversaw national
spending priorities. Gray continued up the leadership ladder
to become the first Black Majority Whip. At the height of
his political career, he abruptly resigned to take a position to
assist historically Black colleges and to return to the pulpit.
Soon after he announced his retirement from Congress,
Gray told his congregation, “I want people to be able to
say, ‘He was a preacher and a public policy leader, but most
important, he opened the doors for a whole new generation
of black people.’”1
William Herbert Gray III was born in Baton Rouge,
Louisiana, on August 20, 1941. The second child of
Dr. William H. Gray Jr. and Hazel Yates Gray, he had
an older sister, Marion. William Gray spent the first nine
years of his life in St. Augustine and Tallahassee, Florida,
where his father served as president of Florida Normal and Industrial College (now Florida Memorial College) and
Florida Agricultural and Mechanical College (now Florida
A&M University). His mother was a high school teacher
and once served as dean of Southern University in Baton
Rouge, Louisiana. When William Gray III’s grandfather
and namesake died in 1949, the Grays moved to North
Philadelphia, where William Gray Jr. took over his father’s
pastoral position at Bright Hope Baptist Church, which
William Gray Sr. had held since 1925. William Gray
graduated from Simon Gratz High School in Philadelphia
in 1959 and earned a bachelor’s degree from Franklin and
Marshall College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, in 1963. Gray
majored in sociology, but one of his professors encouraged
him to become involved in politics. During his senior year
in college, Gray interned for Philadelphia Representative
Robert N.C. Nix Sr.2
After college, Gray followed his father and grandfather
into the ministry. He received a master’s degree in divinity
from Drew Theological Seminary in Madison, New Jersey,
in 1966 and a master’s degree in theology from Princeton
Theological Seminary in 1970. He became a community
activist in 1970 while living in Montclair, New Jersey, after
he won a housing discrimination suit against a landlord who denied him an apartment because of his race. The case
generated national attention and the New Jersey superior
court awarded him financial damages, setting a legal
precedent. Gray founded the nonprofit Union Housing
Corporation in Montclair to build affordable homes for
low-and moderate-income tenants. In 1971, he married
Andrea Dash, a marketing consultant. They raised three
sons: William IV, Justin, and Andrew. After his father died
in 1972, Gray assumed the pastor’s position at Philadelphia’s
Bright Hope Baptist Church. The congregation swelled
to more than 4,000 members, and Gray continued
his community activism. In 1975, he cofounded the
Philadelphia Mortgage Plan, an organization that helped
people in low-income communities to obtain mortgages.3
Concern about community housing issues and the high
unemployment rate in his West Philadelphia neighborhood
drew Gray into politics in 1976. Having never held
elected office, Gray took an interest in the northwest
Philadelphia congressional district that was represented
by his former boss, Robert Nix, a longtime Representative
and a Philadelphia political powerbroker. Gray had
become disillusioned with what he perceived as Nix’s
unresponsiveness to his constituents, nearly one-third of
whom lived below the poverty line. Gray challenged Nix in
the Democratic primary but lost by only around 300 votes.
Gray returned in 1978 to challenge the incumbent again,
dubbing Nix “the phantom” because of the infrequency of
the aging Representative’s visits to his district. Gray also
called attention to the district’s ailing economy, which had
the highest unemployment rate in the state. Encouragement
from former Representative Andrew Young of Georgia, who
was serving as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, gave
Gray the confidence to enter elective politics. “Bill, if you
can pastor Bright Hope Baptist Church, Congress will not
be difficult,” Gray recalls Young telling him. “It is essentially
pastoring, ministering to the folks in your district.” Bright
Hope Baptist members played an integral part in Gray’s
campaign, hosting events and helping him plan strategy.
Gray defeated Nix in the 1978 primary, winning 58 percent
to 41 percent. Winning the primary was tantamount
to victory in the district, which was overwhelmingly
Democratic and about 65 percent Black.4
Unconcerned about the general election, Gray spent
the time between the primary and the November election
lobbying for choice committee posts. His friendship
with Young provided Gray with important connections in Washington. After winning the general election by a
wide margin over Republican Roland Atkins, Gray received
several plum committee assignments in the 96th Congress
(1979–1981) as a result of his earlier lobbying efforts. In
addition to a seat on the Committee on the District of
Columbia, the only post he would hold for his entire career,
Gray also occupied seats on the prestigious Budget and
Foreign Affairs Committees. House Democratic leadership
as well as the leaders of the Congressional Black Caucus
(CBC) took note of his political acumen and pegged him
as a rising star. CBC chair Parren J. Mitchell of Maryland
called Gray’s skills “top flight.” The caucus elected Gray as
its secretary, and in his second term he served as vice chair.
Gray’s fellow first-term Democrats also elected him as their
representative to the Steering and Policy Committee, which
sets committee assignments for Democratic Members and
writes party policy. Gray left the Foreign Affairs Committee
after his first term. He served on the Budget Committee
in the 96th Congress and again from the 98th through
100th Congresses (1983–1989). He became the first Black
Member to chair the Budget Committee in 1985, a position
he held until 1989. Gray initially left the Budget Committee
in 1981 for a spot on the Appropriations Committee,
where he remained for the rest of his career, but returned
to the Budget Committee in 1983. Gray later chaired the
Temporary Joint Committee on Deficit Reduction in the
99th and 100th Congresses (1985–1989) and served on
the House Administration Committee during the 102nd
Congress (1991–1993).5
Gray typically won re-election with little opposition,
generally garnering margins of at least 90 percent. Careful
not to suffer the same fate as Nix, he kept in close contact
with the district and remained attentive to the needs of the
Black community. Throughout his congressional career,
Gray continued to preach two Sundays per month at Bright
Hope Church. “I was elected to Congress,” he once told
the Washington Post, “I was called to preach. One I do
because people allow me to do it. The other I have to do.”
In May 1985, Gray’s dedication to his constituents was
tested. His district was the scene of disaster after members
of MOVE, a radical Black liberation group, clashed
with police. Following a shootout with the organization,
Philadelphia police dropped a bomb from a helicopter onto
the MOVE townhouse, killing 11—six MOVE members
and five children who were in the house—and burning
several city blocks in a West Philadelphia neighborhood. The bombing caused a national uproar. Gray responded
to his constituents’ needs by touring the scene of the
destruction and obtaining federal aid for the victims from
the Department of Housing and Urban Development.6
Gray’s work on the Foreign Affairs Committee
focused on Africa. In 1980, he joined a delegation led by
Andrew Young and W. Averell Harriman to observe the
independence ceremony in Zimbabwe. Gray called this the
“highest moment in my life in Congress.” “Have you ever
heard the sound of freedom being born in a nation that
is black?” he added. As a member of the Foreign Affairs
Committee, Gray sponsored a bill that created the African
Development Foundation, which delivered U.S. aid to
African villages. Gray continued to advocate for better
resources and support the continent throughout his career.
In a 1985 speech, he called for “a new Marshall Plan” for
Africa, referring to an aid program that provided billions
of dollars to war-torn Europe after World War II. “If we
can do it for Europe, we can do it for Africa,” he implored.
In 1983, he sponsored a floor amendment guaranteeing
minority-owned businesses, private organizations, and
historically Black universities greater participation in
international relief programs administered by the U.S.
Agency for International Development. In 1984, Gray
co-led a congressional delegation to Ethiopia to witness
the country’s ongoing famine. He criticized the Ronald
Reagan administration for its delayed response in providing
emergency food rations to the starving nation. Three years
later, he made a rare break from his own party, supporting
a Republican-sponsored bill to condemn Ethiopia’s
Communist leaders for human rights violations and for
exacerbating the famine. Gray was the lead sponsor of
the Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act of 1986, which
imposed economic sanctions on South Africa until it
ended its policy of racial apartheid.7
Gray received his initial position on the Budget
Committee with the blessing of outgoing panel member,
Representative Parren Mitchell, who was eager to find a
CBC member to replace him on the committee in 1979.
Serving his first term on the Budget Committee, Gray
grew frustrated with committee Democrats’ seemingly
weak defense against cuts in social spending. When the
committee proposed to balance the 1981 budget, partly
through large cuts in social welfare spending, Gray declared,
“There will be 17 votes—those of the Congressional black
caucus—against this resolution when it comes to the floor.” His prediction was correct. All 15 voting Members of the
CBC voted against the resolution. Two CBC Members,
Melvin H. Evans of the Virgin Islands and Walter E.
Fauntroy of the District of Columbia, did not have voting
privileges on the House Floor. Throughout his career, Gray
continued to defend spending for social aid programs, but
as he came to occupy a position of power, as chair of the
Budget Committee and later in the Democratic leadership,
he was more receptive to compromise. Gray often skillfully
arbitrated differences between House and Senate versions
of the federal budget.8
House Rules allowed Members to serve on the Budget
Committee for a maximum of six successive years. In 1984,
chair Representative James Robert Jones of Oklahoma faced
the end of his allotted term. He and outgoing Representative
Leon Edward Panetta of California, who also aspired to
the chairmanship, sought a change in the rule so that they
could continue serving, but last-minute opposition from
Speaker Thomas P. “Tip” O’Neill Jr. of Massachusetts
thwarted their plan. Having quietly secured support in case
the rule had not changed, Gray was the only member of
the panel who had enough votes for the chairmanship upon
Jones’s departure, despite a late bid by Democratic Texas
Representative Jonas Martin Frost. Nearly 2,000 of Gray’s
proud constituents, organized by Bright Hope congregants,
flooded the Capitol to watch his swearing-in as the first
Black chairman of the Budget Committee. Gray downplayed
the symbolism. “There is no title here called ‘Black America
Budget Chairman,’” Gray declared. “It’s called House Budget
Committee Chairman. I happen to be black and there is no
conflict in that . . . it’s been proven over the years that blacks
can provide leadership in Congress.”9
A natural politician, Gray tactfully managed the
often-contentious, partisan Budget Committee as chair.
Gray’s colleague, Washington Democrat Michael Edward
Lowry, speculated about the origins of Gray’s ability to
broker compromises: “It’s maybe his professional training
as a minister. He’s a great judge of knowing how far he
can push his members. He never gets mad.” Gray often
unified an increasingly diverse Democratic Party—and
some Republicans—around a budget that incorporated his
commitment to social spending, forging a strong coalition
that spanned the party’s broad fiscal spectrum. Surprisingly,
Gray found allies in the “boll weevils,” southern Democrats
who tended to support the Reagan administration’s
cuts in social spending; two boll weevils, Representatives James Marvin Leath and Charles Walter Stenholm, both
from Texas, were among Gray’s biggest supporters.10
Despite his reputation for compromise, Gray did not
back down from creating a budget consistent with his liberal
Democratic ideals. He guided four successive Democratic
budget resolutions through the House—often over vehement
protests from many committee Republicans. One observer
remarked, “Gray treated the budget process as a political
puzzle, not an economic problem; he saw the budget for
what it is: a political statement rather than a blueprint for
fiscal governance.” However, the increasing federal deficit
became a sticking point. Gray battled Republican attempts
to reduce deficit spending. His focus was preserving funding
for social programs, and he believed efforts to reduce the
deficit should not override compassionate spending. “A
balanced budget is good for the country, the affluent and
poor alike,” Gray noted. “I seek [a budget] that doesn’t
sacrifice programs for the poor and minorities, one that is
fair and equitable.” The Budget Committee under Gray
virtually ignored the Gramm–Rudman–Hollings Act of
1985, and its revisions in 1987, which demanded automatic
across-the-board budget cuts if the President and Congress
did not cap the deficit at a specific annual level. As a result,
Gray oversaw the first trillion-dollar budget in U.S. history
for fiscal year 1988. Few rank-and-file Democrats voted
against Gray’s budgets. A record low of 15 Democrats
refused to support their party’s budget resolution in Gray’s
first year as chairman. A total of 53 Democrats voted against
his first three budget resolutions combined; previously, this
figure was more typical for a single year.11
By the late 1980s, Gray sought to move up in
Democratic Party leadership. In 1987, Gray began
lobbying to succeed Representative Richard Andrew
Gephardt of Missouri as chair of the House Democratic
Caucus in order to coordinate the party’s political goals
and dole out committee assignments. Gray’s experience
as Budget Committee chair and as the leader of the
Democrats’ platform drafting committee for the 1988
National Convention demonstrated his ability to unite
the various party factions. The House Democratic Caucus
overwhelmingly elected Gray as Democratic Caucus chair
in December 1988. Again, Gray downplayed the milestone
he had achieved as the first African-American chair of the
House Democratic Caucus, noting that his new position
called for building coalitions, not representing one arm of
the Democratic Party. “I hope we can tie our ropes together so we can be one party and show the nation what we stand
for as Democrats,” Gray declared. Just six months later,
Gray took one more step up the leadership ladder when
he succeeded Representative Tony Coelho of California as
Majority Whip. While he was running for the position,
several media outlets reported that the FBI was conducting
a preliminary investigation into allegations that an employee
on Gray’s office payroll was not showing up for work.
The FBI soon clarified that Gray was not the target of its
investigation, but the incident elicited anger among Gray
and his Democratic colleagues, who suspected that the leak
was an attempt to sabotage Gray’s career.12
As Majority Whip, Gray was responsible for determining
and organizing votes from the Democratic Members for
issues of party interest. Gray, who held the third-ranking
leadership position in the House, was the highest-ranking
African American in congressional history. As Whip, Gray
transitioned from budget specialist to generalist. “You have
to develop expertise on every issue that’s going to come to
the floor,” he noted. He wasn’t afraid of tackling unpopular
legislation, overseeing passage of a bill to raise the salaries
of Members of Congress while restricting their ability to
collect speaking fees and other forms of outside income.13
At the peak of his political power, Gray abruptly
announced his resignation from Congress on June 20, 1991,
effective the following September 11. Gray left Congress to
head the United Negro College Fund (later known as the
College Fund/UNCF)—which allocates federal money to
augment the facilities, programs, and faculty at historically
Black colleges and universities—saying his new duties were
“just as important as being a member of the leadership in
Congress.” Gray’s departure sent shockwaves through the
political community. Gray served as president and CEO
of the College Fund/UNCF until March 2004. In 1994,
President William J. Clinton asked Gray to serve as his
special adviser on Haiti, which was then embroiled in civil
war. Gray’s efforts to restore democracy to the island nation
won him a Medal of Honor from Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. Gray continued to serve as minister of
Bright Hope until he retired in January 2007. Gray died
suddenly on July 1, 2013, in London, England.14
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