M. William Bray
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M. William ("Bill") Bray (1889-Jan. 17, 1961) was an American politician who served as Lieutenant Governor of New York for three terms, from January 1st, 1933 to December 31st, 1938.
Bray's base was Oneida County, New York. In 1914, after graduating from Union College (1911) and Albany Law School, he moved to Utica in Oneida County to practice law. Bray, a Democrat, immediately became involved in politics. In 1924, he became Oneida County's Democratic Party chairman and, thereafter, finance chairman of the Democratic State Party.
In 1928, New York Governor Al Smith selected Bray to become New York State Chairman of the Democratic Party and, in that year, Bray managed both Franklin D. Roosevelt's successful campaign for Governor and, within New York State, Smith's unsuccessful campaign for president. After Smith's defeat, Bray continued to chair the party for much of Governor Roosevelt's first term (1929-31), but Bray had disagreements with FDR and his key assistant Louis Howe and generally was passive about party building and candidate support activities that they desired. Bray's recalcitrance led Howe increasingly to promote, and FDR increasingly to turn to, James A. Farley for political counsel. At the New York State Democratic Party Convention in September 1930, FDR forced Bray to resign as State Party Chairman and replaced him with Farley.
At New York's State Democratic Convention in 1932, Governor Roosevelt, former Governor Smith and Party Chairman Farley forced the nomination of Herbert H. Lehman for governor, over the opposition of Tammany Hall and its allies. As a peace offering, Farley permitted Tammany to choose the candidate for lieutenant governor. It chose Bray, who then was nominated by the convention. That November, Governor Lehman and Lieutenant Governor Bray were elected for the first time.
In the next two New York State political cycles, Bray overcome movements to dump him from the ticket. Lehman and Bray were renominated and reelected in 1934 and again in 1936. In 1938, Bray was dumped from the ticket in favor of Lehman's counsel Charles Poletti.
Before Governor Lehman left office in 1942, he appointed Bray to New York's Public Service Commission. In later years, Bray served as a referee in bankruptcy cases and, in 1950, as president of the New York State Bar Association.
Sources: Frank Freidel, Franklin D. Roosevelt: The Triumph (1956); Associated Press obituary, M. William Bray Is Dead Upstate, New York Times, Jan. 18, 1961, p. 33.
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| Political offices | ||
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| Preceded by Herbert H. Lehman |
Lieutenant Governor of New York 1933 – 1938 |
Succeeded by Charles Poletti |
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