William Oswald Mills

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William Oswald Mills (August 12, 1924—May 24, 1973), was a Republican U.S. congressman who represented the 1st Congressional district of Maryland from May 25, 1971 until his death. He was elected to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Rogers C.B. Morton.

Mills was born in Bethlehem, Maryland, and served in the U.S. Army in 1942, during World War II. William Mills never attended college, instead working his way up in rank at the Chesapeake & Potomac Telephone Co. He served on the staff of then congressman Rogers C.B. Morton as a Democrat until finally becoming a Republican in 1970. When Morton was appointed Secretary of the Interior in 1971, Mills won a special election to succeed him.

Mills was found dead in the doorway of a barn about a mile from his home in Easton, Maryland on May 24, 1973, having died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the chest at the age of 48. A 12-gauge shotgun lay nearby.

It became apparent five days prior to the suicide that Mills had received an unreported, illegal contribution of $25,000 from then-President Richard Nixon's Campaign Committee, part of an unreported $900,000 in cash spent by the Nixon campaign committee before the April 1972 mandatory disclosure date. If Mills had been convicted, he could have faced up to one year in prison and a $1,000 fine. The money was transferred to Mills' congressional campaign committee to assist him in his 1971 special election victory.

Mills initially denied any wrongdoing, and Maryland authorities never expressed interest in prosecuting him. However, he became increasingly concerned about the incident ruining his political and personal career. Mills left several suicide notes, including one to his son and one to his constituents, apologizing for his misconduct.

[edit] External links

Time Magazine article on Mills' Death

[edit] References

• William Oswald Mills at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress

Preceded by Rogers Morton

Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Maryland's 1st congressional district 1971 – 1973

Succeeded by Robert Bauman

Representatives to the 92nd United States Congress from Maryland
92nd	Senate: C. Mathias | J. Beall	House: E. Garmatz | C. Long | G. Gude | L. Hogan | G. Byron | P. Mitchell | W. Mills | P. Sarbanes